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HISTORY 



OF THE 



CITY OF NEW YORK 



1609-1909. 



From the Earliest Discoveries to the 

HUDSOX-FULTO.V CELEBR.4TI0y 

Together with 

Brief Biogr.4phies of Men Represextative of the 

Business Interests of the City 



BY 



JOHN WILLIAM LEONARD 







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Seal of Ne\v Amsterdam 



New York 
THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE AXD COMMERCIAL BULLETIN 



1910 



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Copyright, 1910, by 

JOSEPH & SEFTON 

New York, N. Y. 



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I have read somewhere — in Dionysius of HaHcarnassus, I think 
-that History is Philosopliy teaching by Examples. 

— Hexry St. John — On the Study ami Use of History. 



History is the essence of innumerable biographies. 

— Carlyle — Essa\ on History. 



In a word, we may gather out of History a policy no less wise 
than eternal ; by the comparison and application of other men's fore- 
passed miseries with our own like errors and ill deservings. 

— Sir Walter Raleigh — History of tJic World. 




INTRODUCTION 



PREFACE 

^^ HE CITY OF NEW YORK has recently celebrated with much 
5^ enthusiasm the tercentenary of the discovery of its site by civilized 
man. Its citizens have been brought into retrospective mood, and 
not only residents, but many outsiders, have been aroused to a 
new interest in the story of the birth, growth and present preeminence of New 
York among- American cities. Therefore, it has been deemed an appropriate 
time for the production of a history which is neither too voluminous to be 
available to the average reader, nor so abbreviated as to be inadequate. 

It has been the aim, in planning' and writing the present volume, not 
only to tell a true and interesting story, but also to make the narrative explain 
and illustrate the factors that have led up to the present greatness of our 
metropolis; giving its record of crude and misdirected beginnings, of the men 
and events which have helped or retarded its earlier and later growth, and of 
the integers and personalities of its present greatly expanded importance and 
its metropolitan interests. 

In the earlier portion of this history there will be found much recorded 
which relates to the Province of New Netherland at large, rather than to the 
local happenings of New Amsterdam. At that time the two were, at many 
points, inseparably connected, and the provincial problems, worked out in the 
city, controlled its destinies and affected its interests in so many ways, that 
the story of the province becomes equally that of the city. After the Revo- 
lution this closeness of relation greatly diminishes, and State and national 
questions only impinge upon the civic story to the extent of the participation 
of the city in them. 

Wherever clarity in the narration of historical events involves interpre- 
tation of character or motives, the endeavor has been made, in this volume, 
to be just. Judicial fairness in historical criticism is greatly benefited by per- 
spective, and it is more possible to fairly interpret those events which occurred 
before our own time than those which, because of nearness, each observer 
must see from his individual angle. For this reason the events of the city's 
earlier history are dealt with in a more critical spirit than those of later days, 
and there has been no endeavor to attempt, in this history, the interpretation 
of any events so recent as to be in the realm of present controversy. Even 
as to the events of the city's earlier days, the estimate of motive and charac- 
ter is difficult, because many things which, in the evolution of ethics, we have 
come to regard as outrageous, were then looked upon with complacency, if not 
with approval. 



HISTORY OF XEU' YORK 



A] any books have Ijcen written about the history of New York, but it has 
Ijeen twenty years since one was published coyering the general history of 
the city front its beginning" to that date. That pu])lication, The ]\Ieniorial 
History of the City of New York, in f<:iur large ^'olunles, was ably edited by 
General James Grant \\'ilson. It is a collection of monographs, by several 
authors, on the various periods and subjects, and is very valuable to the special 
student of New York history, but too voluminous for the purposes of the more 
casual reader. Other older and shorter histories by AI. J. Laml), Alary L. Booth, 
William L. Stone and others, seem, in our day, when there is so much historical 
material available w^hich w'as not then accessiljle to these authors, scarcely ade- 
quate for those who desire a history which shall combine a fair degree of com- 
pleteness of historical detail with conciseness of statement. Besides these, there 
are many volumes relating to phases and periods of the history of the City 
of New York, of which by far the most valuable, and in fact, the ablest, most 
exhaustive and most scholarly contribution to the history of the city \vhich 
has vet been made is the recently published two-volitme History of the City of 
New York in the Seventeenth Century, l)y Airs. Schuyler van Rensselaer, LL.D. 

Every writer dealing with the early history of the City of New York 
must be indebted to the careful and painstaking work of J. R. Brodhead, E. 
B. O'Callaghan and B. Fernow in the collection and compilation of the docu- 
ments relating to the Dutch, Colonial and early State periods, including the 
ten volumes (and additional index volume) of New York Colonial Documents 
Procuretl in Holland, England and France by J. R. Brodhead (edited by 
O'Callaghan), and the other three volumes, edited by B. Fernow; the Docu- 
mentary History of the State of New York, l)y O'Callaghan. four volumes; 
and the History of the State of New York, by Brodhead (two volumes). The 
History of New Nelherland, or New York Under the Dutch, by O'Callaghan, 
also contains much valuable material. 

The story of New York as given in the ]iresent voktme has been prepared 
after an extensive reading and study of many documents and numerous vol- 
umes, including" 1)esides all those mentioned above, scores of others bearing on 
the city's history. The History of the City of New York, by D. T. X'alentine, 
has furnished valual)le material, as have the Alanuals, of various dates, by the 
same author; the Alanual of the Reformed Church in America, by Rev. Dr. 
Edward T. Corwin, has also proven very useful, as has Historic New- York, 
edited l)y Goodwin, Royce and Putnam ; New York Old and New, Ijy R. R. 
Wilson (two volumes) ; Nooks and C(M-ners of Old New York, by Charles 
Hemstreet; Janvier's In Old New York; Inness' New Amsterdam and Its 
People; Satterlee's Political History of the Province of New York; also, for 
the Revolutionary period, John Fiske's History, various lives of Washington, 
and The Declaration of Independence — Its History, by John EI. Hazelton. 



PREFACE 



General histories of the United States, by Bancroft, Schouler, McMaster and 
others ; Rise of the Dutch Repubhc, and innumerable standard reference books 
have been consulted, as well as a large number of pamphlet monographs, 
family histories, articles in historical journals, and, for the latest period, the 
files of New York newspapers. To all of the publications mentioned and to 
many others less extensively consulted, the respectful acknowledgments of the 
author of this present volume are due. 

Accuracy has been regarded as the first and highest essential of the vol- 
ume, and wherever the authorities or documents have seemed to l^e in conflict, 
there has been an earnest endeavor to get at the truth. It is believed that 
the story of the city, as here narrated, is as dependable as it can be made by 
careful search and just appraisal of the documents available for the purpose. 
While condensation has been imperative and much of minute detail which 
might make interesting reading has been passed by, there has been constant 
efifort to record, in due proportion, all facts of real historical importance. 

It is unfortunately true that there is a great lack of knowledge of the 
history of the city among its inhabitants. Many of the best educated, who 
could pass a good examination in the histories of the cities of Rome or Athens, 
know practically nothing of that of their own city. Some very cultured New 
Yorkers have been heard to atlmit that the only history of New York they 
have ever read is that of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker, Esq., of happy 
memory. Pleasant as that satire is, as a literary recreation, it is to be feared 
that Irving's narrative is responsible for the more than ignorance w4iich manv 
New Yorkers have of their city's history, due to misconceptions of the char- 
acter of the early burghers inspired by his quaint and fanciful story. 

"We are citizens of no mean city ;" of one, indeed, the development of 
which is the greatest marvel of urban growth in recorded history. To con- 
tribute in a worthy and illuminating way to the elucidation of the how and 
why of its evolution is the aim and purpose of the present book. 

The portion of the book devoted to the biographies of men identified in 
the most definite and constructive way with the interests and activities which 
contribute in the most important degree to the city's material greatness will, it 
is believed, prove no less interesting than the historical narrative. The names 
of those whose careers are detailed in that part of the volume have been 
selected with discriminating care, and are thoroughly representative. 

New York is still a growing city, and as the years go by and the news of 
to-day becomes the historical reminiscence of to-morrow, the printed records 
grow in value. This volume has aimed to bring the record, in a concise but 
worthy and dependable form, down to this present date. 

John W. Leonard 

New York, September 30, igio 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface vii 

Table of Chxtexts 2 

List of Illustrations i J 

Errata 15 

CHAPTER I 

Early discoveries of Columbus, the Cabots and Americus \'espucius — 
Letjends of Norse. Irish and Welsh discoveries in pre-Columbian 
times — A'errazano in Xew York Bay — His letter to Francis I — 
Estevan Gomez's visit to Sandy Hook — Hudson's discovery, its ]uir- 
pose, its story and its end — His subsequent career and death 17-26 

CHAPTER II 

Results of Hudson's discovery — Early Dutch visitors to [Manhattan — 
Voyages of Christiaensen, Block and others — The Captain Argall 
m\tli — Fort Nassau founded -up the Hudson — The United New 
Xetherlantl Company and its charter — -The Indian aborigines, their 
tribal divisions, homes, habits, government and religion -"-34 

CHAPTER III 

New ventures toward New Netherland — The L'nited New Netherlaiid 
charter expires — Several voyages licensed — West India Company or- 
ganized — The I'ilgrims want to go — English claim to the country — 
Walloon faiuilies come to New Netherland — Early directors of the 
colony — New Netherland gets a seal 33-3S 

CHAPTER I\' 

Peter Minuit, first director-general of New Netherland, arrives and 
appoints his Council — Buys Manhattan Island from the Indians — 
Scarcity of records of the period, and why — Minuit corresponds with 
Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony — Development of Fort 
Clrange (now Albany) — Patroonships established — English claims to 
New Netherland — Minuit returns to Holland — Industries established 
— Social and religi(pus conditions — Domine Michaelis and the Re- 
formed Dutch Church — Ailininistration of I^.astiaen Janszen Crol as 
director-general 39-45 

CHAPTER \' 

Wouter van Twiller, third director-general — His officers and his Coim- 
cil — Arrival of The William and conduct of \'an Twiller — Accounts 
of his administration — Some of his grants — The "Anneke Jans 
Farm"' — Van Twiller's quarrels with Domine Bogardus and \*an 
Dincklagen, and his recall 47-5- 



TABLE OF COXTEXTS 



CHAPTER VI PAGE 
Administration of Wilhelm Kieft, fourth director-general — Its autocratic 
character— Trouble with the Swedes and New Englanders— Efforts 
at colonization — Dutch immigration and land grants — Kieft arouses 
resentment of the River Indians — The Twelve Men organized— In- 
flux of men of many nations — Outbreak of the Indians — Massacre 
of Indians at Pavonia followed by open war — The Commonalty elects 
the Eight Men — Indian massacres in the Bronx region and on Long 
Island — The Eight Men memorialize the West India Company and 
the States-General, and turn upon Kieft — He is recalled — His dis- 
sensions with Domine Bogardus, Melyn and Kuvter 53-68 

CHAPTER \TI 
General Pieter Stuyvesant, fifth director-general — His record and char- 
acter — His Council and officials appointed — He sides with Kieft — 
Departure of Kieft. Bogardus, Kuyter, Melyn and others — Wreck of 
the ship and death of Kieft and Bogardus — The Nine Men chosen, 
and what they did — Trouble with the English — Complaints against 
Stuyvesant — His contest with the Nine Men — Melvn and Kuyter 
return — The "Petition" and "Remonstrance" carried to Holland, and 
their reception — English settlers support Stuyvesant — The Hartford 
Treaty — Stuyvesant plants a fort and settlements on the Delaware — 
The Amsterdam Chamber orders a "suitable burgher government" 
for New Amsterdam 69-82 

CHAPTER XIU 
Stuyvesant appoints burgomasters, schepens and other officers — Organi- 
zation of courts — Magistrates complain to the West India Company 
directors — Aleetings complain of grievances and oppressions and 
adopt a "Remonstrance" and "Petition," much to Stuyvesant's rage — 
Threats of invasion from England — Stuyvesant captures Forts Casi- 
mir and Christina on the Delaware and ends Swedish dominion in 
America — Indians perpetrate massacres at Pavonia, Staten Island and 
Harlem, ami destroy nnich property — Disputes and conflicts with 
English settlers and with the Colony of Connecticut — Indian trou- 
bles renewed, ending with almost complete destruction of Esopus 
tribe by force under Alartin Cregier — Great and small burgher-right 
established in New Amsterdam — Land frauds and political plots of 
Baxter and Scott — Turmoil on Long Island — King Charles grants 
the Duke of York all the land from the Connecticut River to Dela- 
ware Bay, and appoints a commission to inquire into the state of 
New England, and under that disguise sends a fleet to New Nether- 
land — The expedition, headed by Colonel Richard Nicolls, demands 
and receives the surrender of New Amsterdam 83-96 

CHAPTER IX 
Rich.ard Nicolls, first English governor, ajipoints English officials for 
province, which becomes New York, the same name also being given 
to the city — Nicolls prepares a code which he calls "the Duke's 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



PAGE 

Laws" — Appoints Thomas Willett first ma_vor of New York, with 
two English and three Dutch aldermen — Duke of York gives awa)- 
the region west of the Hudson, which becomes New Jersey — War 
between England and Holland, which ends in the treaty of Breda — 
Nicolls tires of his charge and asks to he relieved — Stuyvesant before 
the States-General — Goes to England in behalf of himself and Dutch 
residents — Returns and becomes resident of New York — Colonel 
Francis Lovelace becomes governor and Colonel Nicolls returns to 
England 97-103 

CHAPTER X 
Antecedents of Governor Francis Lovelace, second English governor — 
Appoints a Council — Improvement of trade and shiiibuilding after 
the treaty — The governor estaljlishes the Merchants' Exchange, also 
a postal service to Hartford and Boston — Commerce languishes be- 
cause of restrictive navigation laws — War between England and Hol- 
land — While Lovelace is at New Haven, Dutch fleet, under Evertsen 
and Benckes, enters harbor and demands surrender of New York — 
The Dutch enter ; Captain Anthony Colve becomes governor, changes 
the name of New York to "New Orange," and inaugurates Dutch 
city government — Lovelace is taken to Holland, leaving heavy debts 
— Colve gives a good administration 104-109 

CHAPTER XI 
New York restored to England by Treaty of Westminster — Sketch of Sir 
Edmund Andros, third English governor — His Council — Restores 
citv government to English fomi — Ca])tain John Manning, who sur- 
rendered fort, taken by Dutch to Fayal — Returns to New York and 
is court-martialed — Retires to island in East River, which his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Blackwell, inherits, and which is still known as I'.lackwell's 
Island — Colve's confiscations set aside — Dutch, after some denuir, 
take oath of allegiance — Rev. Nicolaus van Rensselaer causes trou- 
ble between the Dutch Church and the governor — He is finallv de- 
posed — The \ an Rensselaer famih' — The people ask f(ir an Assem- 
bly — Andros visits England and is appointed vice admiral — Returns 
and gives Mayor's Court jurisdiction as an admiralty court — Andros 
claims jurisdiction over New Jersey, but is overruled — Andros again 
goes to England, leaving Lieutenant Brockholls in charge — Dispute 
about the customs laws and Captain Dyre, collector, is accused of 
treason and finally sent to England, where his case is dismissed — 
Disputes in the colony — Colonel Dongan is appointed governor by 
the Duke of York 111-121 

CHAPTER XII 
Colonel Thomas Dongan, fourth English governor ; his career — He estab- 
lishes a General Assembly — Some of its members — It enacts a Char- 
ter of Liberties and Privileges, and other laws — Charles II dies, the 
Duke of York becomes King James II, and New York becomes a 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 

royal province — Second Assembly called — Governor Dongan grants 
a charter to the city — Its provisions — Sir Edmund Andros is com- 
missioned captain general and governor in chief of New England — 
The Provincial Charter of Liberties is vetoed by James — Governor 
Dongan treats with the Indians — The jurisdiction of Andros is ex- 
tended over New York and New Jersey, and Dongan resigns his 
authority to Andros, retiring to Staten Island — He is charged with 
being in a "Papist" conspiracy — His later life 123-133 

CHAPTER XIII 
Lieutenant-Governor I'rancis Nicholson left in charge by Andros — Like 
Dongan, he is a Catholic, and there is much anti-Catholic feeling — 
End of Stuart rule and accession of William and Alary stirs the colo- 
nists — Andros arrested and im|)risoned in Boston — Conflict of parties 
— Large party arrayed against the Stuart-appointed Council and Gov- 
ernor Nicholson — a large meeting requests Jacob Leisler to take com- 
mand of the fort — He does so and later refuses to deliver the money 
in the fort to Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson — The conflict between 
the appointees of James II and the Leisler party — Committee of 
Safety elected, and ask Leisler to act as lieutenant governor — French 
and Mohawks march on Schenectady and massacre the inhabitants — 
Leisler sends relief, calls an Assembly, and equips a fleet to join the 
movement on Quebec — Major Ingoldesby, with soldiers, arrives and 
demands possession of the fort, which Leisler denies him — Governor 
Sloughter arrives and Leisler, as well as the members of his Council, 
are arrested — He and his son-in-law, Jacob Milborne, are tried, sen- 
tenced and executed for treason ; others also convicted — Governor 
Sloughter's administration, after four months, ends with his death, 
and Major Richard Ingoldesljy acts as lieutenant governor ad iii- 
teritii 135-144 

CHAPTER XIV 

Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, appointed governor, arrives — Aligns himself 
with the anti-Leislerians — Feeling against the Jacobite Council — 
Other Leislerian prisoners released — Bolting and baking monopoly 
of New York City abolished — Fletcher holds a grand Indian coun- 
cil — The King's Farm is leased for Trinity Church, and afterward 
granted to it — Its first rector — Fletcher given the government of 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, in addition to New York — Secures 
William Bradford, who comes to New York from Philadelphia, as 
the first printer in New York — Fletcher's leniency toward pirates 
and smugglers, and excessive grants of land — He is recalled and 
the Earl of Bellomont is appointed governor 145-151 

CHAPTER X\' 
Career of the Earl of Bellomont — He is of Leislerian sympathies — His 
acquaintance with Robert Livingston, and his connection with the 
career of Captain Kidd as a privateer — Bellomont fights illegal trad- 



HISTORY OF XEJ]- YORK 



PAGE 

inj^f — Restores the Leisler ])roperties tn the heirs, and organizes a 
new Council — Secures passage of a bill by the Assembly vacating 
the excessive Fletcher grants and angers Domine Dellius and the 
rector uf Trinitv — The earl, also governor of Massachusetts, spends 
fourteen months in Boston — Captain Kidd, the privateer, having 
turned pirate, comes to America and is taken before Bellomont, is 
sent to England for trial, convicted and hanged — Xew City Hall 
built in WM Street — T'ellomont dies in Xew York 152-160 

CHAPTER XM 
Lord Cornljurv becomes governor — Lord Macaulay's estimate of his 
character — He sides with the aristocrats and dismisses the Leisle- 
rians from the Council — Seizes Presbyterian property and gives it to 
Episcopalians — Takes money appropriated for fortifications and con- 
verts it to his own use — The Assembly thereupon makes its grants 
conditional upon their right to appoint their own treasurer — Ccrn- 
bury persecutes nonconforming ministers, but secures the fee simple 
grant of the Queen's Farm and Queen's Garden for Trinity Church 
— The Assembl}" formulates charges against the governor, and he is 
recalled — His absolute badness 161 -168 

CHAPTER XMI 
Jiihn, Lord Lovelace, becomes governor, and finds his way to New York 
via Flushing and a rough land and ferry journey through a Decem- 
ber storm — Serves less than six months and dies of pneumonia — 
Lieutenant-Governor Ingoldesby serves as governor until the arrival 
of General Robert Hunter, appointed by Queen Anne ti^ the place — 
He brings a colony of Palatines and settles them in the colony — 
Makes a friend of Colonel Lewis Morris — Organizes troops and ves- 
sels to attack Canada, England being at war with France — Hostili- 
ties end with the peace of L'trecht — Slaveholding in Xew York — 
Governor Hunter establishes a court of chancery — George I succeeds 
Anne on English throne — Hunter retires from the governorship and 
secures it for a friend, William Burnet 169-176 

CHAPTER XVIII 
Governor Burnet selects a Council and calls the old Assembly — Starts his 
administration favorably, and eight months after arrival marries into 
a prominent Dutch faiuily — Burnet secures legislation to stop the 
traffic of French traders in Xew York, and takes steps to encourage 
trade with the Indians — Establishes a trading post at Oswego — 
Social life, trade and public finance in the early Eighteenth Century 
— Some opposition to Burnet, led by Adolph Philipse and Stephen 
DeLancey — He is transferred as governor of Massachusetts, but dies 
soon after — I-'irst newspaper in Xew York established — Colonel John 
Montgomerie becomes governor of Xew York — Settles the boundary 
line between Xew York and Connecticut — Prepares and promulgates 
a new charter for Xew York — Serves acceptably for over three 
years, and dies in Xew Y<irk City 1 77-184 



TABLE OF COXTEXTS 



CHAPTER XIX PAGE 

Rip van Dam, senior meniljer of the Council, becomes governor pro tciii. 
— His antecedents and career — Administers the government peace- 
ably for over a year — Has a census taken — Colonel William Cosby 
is appointed governor — His wife and family, and their gayeties — 
His daughter's romance and marriage in the fort — White slaver\- in 
New York — Cosby wants \'an Dam to divide his salary, and sues 
him, but is beaten — Dismisses Morris from the chief justiceship and 
appoints James DeLancey to the place — John Peter Zenger starts a 
paper which criticises the governor and his administration — His 
paper is ordered burned — Later he is arrested, and after long im- 
prisonment is tried for criminal libel — Andrew Hamilton defends 
him and he is accjuitted — Cosby dies and is succeeded by George 
Clarke, president of the Council, as governor ad interim 185-198 

CHAPTER XX 
The personality of Lieutenant-Governor Clarke — He dissolves the Assem- 
bly, and its successor, and is no better suited with a third — Paul 
Richard, the mayor, prohibits impressment of seamen in the city — 
Clarke's wife dies — The Negro Plot of 1741 — Political controversies 
■ — After seven years of service Clarke is superseded by appointment 
of Commodore George Clinton as governor — Clinton's family and 
career — The colonies take part in the war between Great Britain and 
France — Sir Peter Warren captures Louisburg and the Lsland of 
Cape Breton and brings in a French prize to New York — Disputes 
between the Assembly and the governor, and between the governor 
and DeLancey — William Johnson secures the good will of the Six 
Nations — Indian Congress in New York City — Sir Danvers Osbom 
becomes governor and DeLancey lieutenant governor — The first 
Merchants' Exchange liuilt 199-208 

CPIAPTER XXI 
Sir Danvers Osborn's antecedents — He arrives in New York, is sworn 
in and feted, but commits suicide six days after landing — DeLancey 
rules as lieutenant governor — His dealings with the Assembly — In- 
tercolonial convention on Indian affairs held at Albany — Founding 
of King's College — Sir Charles Hardy becomes governor — He takes 
an active part in the French and Indian War — After two years he 
resigns and DeLancey fills the governorship for three years until his 
death — Dr. Cadwallader Colden, president of the Council, becomes 
acting governor for a year, then receives his commission as lieu- 
tenant governor — Soon after General Robert JMonckton is appointed 
govenor general — Successful course of the French and Indian War, 
ended by Wolfe's victory — Major General Amherst receives the free- 
dom of the city 209-218 

CHAPTER XXII 
General Monckton arrives and is sworn in, but a month later takes com- 
mand of the expedition for the capture of JNIartinique from the 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



PAGE 

French, from which he returns victorious seven months later — After 
a year's administration he leaves Lieutenant-Governor Golden in 
charge, going to England — George III becomes king — The Parlia- 
ment of England and its course toward America — Large increase of 
British soldiery — The Assembly's bold address — The Stamp Act 
passes, and the colonies are aroused to fury — The Sons of Liberty 
act — James McEvers, a stamp agent, resigns — The Stamp Act Con- 
gress held in Xew York — The Stamp Ship arrives, but as the new 
governor, Sir Henry Moore, is expected, unloading is postponed — 
Meetings and mobs oppose the stamp policy — Cadwallader Golden 
and others hung in effigy — Sir Henry Moore, the governor, arrives, 
and declares he will let the stamps sleep — Sons of Liberty organize — 
Conflicts between soldiers and citizens — Stamps destroyed on the brig 
Polly — Constant turmoil until news comes of the repeal of the 
Stamp Act 219-234 

CHAPTER XXni 
Great rejoicing on the King's Birthday — The Assembly refuses to au- 
thorize the billeting of troops on the people — Conflicts between citi- 
zens and soldiers — Several Liberty Poles cut down — English Parlia- 
ment passes hostile legislation, and enacts the Townshend tarifif — 
The first Nonimportation Agreement — The Assembly declares in 
favor of correspondence between the colonies in defense of rights 
and liberties, and is dissolved — Its successor, the last of the Colonial 
Assemblies, is elected — Death of Sir Henry IMoore 235-243 

CHAPTER XXIV 
Cadwallader Golden again in authority — ]\Iore trouble between citizens 
and soldiers — The Battle of Golden Hill — James McDougall charged 
with libel — New York Chamber of Commerce chartered — Lord Dun- 
more becomes governor — McDougall is freed on bail but again 
arrested and placed in jail — Lord Dunmore is transferred to Vir- 
ginia, and Governor William Tryon, of North Carolina, is trans- 
ferred to New York — His history — The Livingston dispute in the 
Assembly — News of the Boston Massacre stirs the people 244-254 

CHAPTER XXV 
The tea agitation and how it started — Organizing against importation of 
tea in all the colonies — The Boston Tea Party — Fire at the fort — 
Governor Tryon sails for England and Cadwallader Golden is gover- 
nor again — Captain Lockyer, of the tea ship Nancy, goes back with 
his cargo — The ship London is examined and eighteen cases of tea 
destroyed — Committee of Fifty-one appointed — Nonintercourse 
agreements are made — The Assembly petitions the king — Delegates 
to Continental Congress — News of the Battle of Lexington received 
— General Committee of One Flundred chosen, also deputies to the 
Provincial Congress 255-262 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XXVI page 

Governor Tryon returns, and General Washington passes through- 
Militia organization and drill — The bold act of Marinus Willett — 
Lamb's Artillery Company organized and removes the guns from the 
battery — Cannonade from H. M. S. Asia — Governor Tryon goes 
abroad — Isaac Sears and Connecticut horsemen raid the printing 
office of James Rivington — Washington orders troops to concentrate 
at New York, and General Charles Lee busies himself with defences 
— Tories leave the city — General Israel Putnam supersedes General 
Lee — Fortifications progress — A traitor executed in the Continental 
camp — The Declaration of Independence passed, and read to the 
troops in New York — Provincial Congress meets at White Plains — 
Rector Inglis describes the "Rebels' " work — British ships mass in 
New York harbor — General Howe tries to go up the river but is 
prevented — The Battle of Long Island and the retreat to Manhattan 
— Several skirmishes and the Battle of White Plains — Forts Wash- 
ington and Lee captured by the British, and Washington with his 
army retires beyond White Plains 263-279 

CHAPTER XXVII 

New York under military rule — Tories concentrate there — Fire in the 
lower city — Execution of Nathan Hale — The shameful military pris- 
ons — Movements of the armies — Constitutional Convention meets at 
Kingston — Gayety of the British officers — Surrender of Burgoyne — 
Benedict Arnold's treachery — The capture of Major Andre — Army 
movements end in the Treaty of Peace — Loyalists go and patriots 
enter New York 280-290 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

Some of the Royalists who left — Reorganization — James Duane appointed 
mayor — Trade has an impetus — The first bank — King's College be- 
comes Columbia — Lafayette and Baron Steuben visit the city — 
Capital placed at New York — George Washington and John Adams 
elected President and Vice President of the United States — Their 
inauguration — Presidential appointments — The Society of the Cin- 
cinnati and the St. Tammany Society or Columbian Order, and their 
participation in patriotic events — Washington bids adieu to the city. .291-301 

CHAPTER XXIX 
Political activities of the city — Celebration of the third centennial of the 
discovery of America — Clinton becomes governor — The visit and 
errand of Citizen Genet, his conflict with Washington — He makes 
his home in New York — He and Citizen Gompard, captain of L'Am- 
buscade, are entertained — Jay's Treaty — Yellow fever plague — Death 
of Washington — Aaron Burr becomes Vice President — His duel with 
Alexander Hamilton 302-31 1 

CHAPTER XXX 
Corner stone of present City Hall laid — Beginning of the public schools — 
DeWitt Clinton as mayor — Robert Fulton and the genesis of steam 



10 HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 

PAGE 

navigation — Ciiancellor Livingston's share in the work — Jefferson's 
embargo and its effect on Xew York's commerce — Bicentennial of 
Hudson's discovery — Canal laid out to drain lower ^Manhattan — 
Commissioners lay out the city — War with Great Britain — Privateers 
outfitted from New York — Locally interesting incidents of the war — 
Jackson's victory, the Treaty of Ghent and Peace 312-328 

CHAPTER XXXI 
Recovery from war — Politics and Tammany's dislike of Clinton — General 
Jackson's toast — "Clinton's Folly" — The AUiany Regency — The 
"Clipper" packets — The Hudson frozen over — P)Urning of the Park 
Theatre — .Another yellow fever visitation — Lafa}-ette's visit — Clinton 
elected governor — Canal celebration in Xew York — First gas pipes 
laid and first horse railroad in operation — Asiatic cholera epidemic of 
1832 — First elected mayor in 1834 — Great fire of 1835 — Panic of 
1837 3-^9-344 

CHAPTER XXXH 

Resumption of the banks — Immigration to Xew York — "Xative x\mer- 
ican" movement — Croton Celebration of 1842 — The telegraph reaches 
New York — Police Department established — New York in the Mexi- 
can War — The Macready-Forrest feud and resulting serious riots — 
Astor Free Public Library established — The Free Academy opens its 
doors — Five Points Mission — Yovmg Men's Christian Association — 
Jenny Lind at Castle Garden — Arctic exploration — Crystal Palace 
opened — The America wins the Queen's Cup — Central Park set aside 
— Power of the antr bcUuiii press of Xew York — ?vletroi)nlitan Police 
Board established — The p<:ilice riot — Panic of 1857 and winter suffer- 
ing of the poor — Cooper Institute established — Field cable completed, 
but breaks — Crystal Palace burns — Quarantine riots — X'isit of the 
Prince of Wales 345-366 

CHAPTER XXXIII 
Dissension Ijetween Xorth and South — John A. Dix and his famous dis- 
jiatch — Xew York, thrilled by the firing on Sumter, sends troops to 
the South — The shooting of Colonel Ellsworth — Union Defense 
Committee — United States Sanitary Commission — Enrollment for the 
draft — The bloody Draft Riot — Union League Club organized — I'air 
of the United States Sanitary Commission — P)od\' of President Lin- 
coln lies in state in the City Hall 3*^'7-38o 

CHAPTER XXX1\' 
American shipping lost by the war — Rivers frozen over in winter of 
1866-1867 — Paid Fire Department established — Atlantic cable com- 
pleted — Metropolitan Board of Health established — L<_iew's bridge 
over Broadwa> — Formation, career and downfall of the Tweed Ring 
— Escape, recapture and death of Tweed — Panic of 1873 — Blowing 
up of Hallets" Point Rocks at Hell Gate — Seventh Regiment Armory 



TABLE OF COXTEXTS H 



PAGE 

built — Egyptian Olielisk in Central Park — Political strife between 
Stalwarts and Half-P>reeds — Conkling and Piatt resign from Xew 
York Senate 381-39" 

CHAPTER XXXV 
Completion of Brooklyn Bridge — Grant & Ward failure — The Jeaimette 
and Greeley Arctic expeditions — Death of General Grant — Yacht 
contests for the America's Cup — Fatal blizzard and death of Roscoe 
Conkling — Washington Memorial Arch erected — Columbus Ouadri- 
centennial Celebration — Panic of 1893 — The Gravesend election 
frauds — The Lexow investigation — Creation of Greater Xew York — 
Raines law hotels — Exciting elections of 1896 and 1897 — \'an Wyck 
elected mayor — X^ew York's share in the Spanish-American War — 
Carnegie branch libraries provided for — Seth Low elected mayor — 
Prince Henry of Prussia visits Xew York — Colonel George B. Mc- 
Clellan elected mayor in 1903, and again, for a four-year term, in 
1905 — Charles E. Hughes elected governor — The Lusitania and 
Mauretania begin voyages — Panic of 1907 — Oueensborough Bridge 
opened — Commander Peary discovers the Xorth Pole — Dr. Cook and 
his claims — Judge William J. Gaynor elected ma_\or — Attempt to 
assassinate Mayor Gaynor — Pennsylvania tunnels opened to traffic — 398-421 

CHAPTER XXXVI 
Description of Xew York Harbor — Hudson River, its traffic and canal 
connections — A'arious names of Hudson River — Inception of Hud- 
son-Fulton Celebration — Earliest methods of traffic on the river — 
Impetus given by the introduction of steam — Hudson-Fulton Cele- 
bration Commission — The features, parades, illuminations and details 
of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration 423-432 

CHAPTER XXX\ II 
Beginnings of commerce in Xew Xetherland — Barter with Indians — 
Wampum and Ijeaver skins as currency — Coins in early use in colo- 
nial Xew York — Rosa Americana coinage and private tokens — Xew 
York bills of credit and Continental currency — Trade under Dutch 
occupancy and English rule — Privateering and the slave trade — 
Commerce in the Seventeenth Century — Some of the exports and 
imports — Effect of the Stamp Act and Xonimportation Agreements 
— Revival in trade after the Revolution — Depressing effect of Xapo- 
leon's Decrees, British Orders in Council, and the Embargoes of 
Jefferson and Madison — Trade during the present century — Railroad 
systems of Xew York City — Horse car lines — Development of rapid 
transit — Water supply of Xew York — The Croton supply and the 
new Catskill water supply project — Gas lighting — Electric service in 
Xew York — Development of the telegraph and telephone in Xew 
York City — Greater Xew York in the Thirteenth Census 433-468 

Biographies and Portr.mts 470-937 

Index 939 



12 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Landing of Henry Hudson from the Half- 

Woon 24 

Indian Village of the Manna-hatas 24 

Old Dutch Cottage in New York, 1679... ,50 

Indians Bringing Tribute 34 

Council of Tawasthena 38 

The Old Fort Amsterdam, built by Peter 

Minuit, 1626 41 

New Amsterdam (New York) about 1667 46 

Wrath of Van T wilier 48 

Massacre of Indians at Pavonia 61 

Seal of New Netherland, 1623-1664 67 

Pieter Stuyvesant (portrait) 68 

Old New York (New Amsterdam), 1659 70 

Seal of Petrus Stuyvesant 82 

The Stadt Huis, built in 1642 84 

The Stuyvesant Mansion 87 

Early Street Scene, Broad Street and 

Exchange Place 96 

Seal of New Orange no 

Old drawing of "Ye New Ingen arrived 

from London" no 

Old Dutch Church in Garden Street, erec- 
ted in i6g6 121 

Map of New York City, 1728 122 

New York Bay from Staten Island, over 

fifty years ago 134 

Old Dutch House in Broad Street, built 

i6g8 141 

Old Dutch House in Pearl Street, built 

1626, demolished 1828 141 

Trinity Church, 1737 (rear view) 148 

Home of Captain William Kidd. 1698.... 151 
City Hall, Wall Street, erected 1700, de- 
molished 1812 160 

French Protestant Church (Pine Street, 

near Nassau) 168 

New York in 1674 176 

Middle Dutch Church, Nassau and Cedar 

Streets 186 

Old Brooklyn Ferry House in 1746 204 

St. George's Chapel in Beekman Street, 

erected 1752 208 

King's College, 1756 213 

Burns' Coffee House, Broadway, opposite 

Bowling Green, 17C10 218 

Old Lutheran Church in Frankfort 

Street, erected 1767 222 

Brick Church in Beekman Street, 1768... 224 
Government House, "Whitehall" ; erected 

in 1786 236 

Fraunces' Tavern, built 1727 241 

Tammany Hall, 1789 . . . 243 

Old Jail, erected before the American 

Revolution 248 

Rhinelander's Sugar House, 1763; used as 

a British prison during the Revolution. 254 
Departure of the "Polly" for England.... 257 
Old view of Jamaica Village, Long Island 264 
Southwest view of New York from Bed- 

loe's Island 267 



P.\GE 

Franklin House. 1760; residence of Wash- 
ington when inaugurated, 1789 269 

Old Sugar House in Liberty Street, prison 

of the Revolution 276 

The Bridewell and a portion of Broad- 
way, 1805 282 

Plan of New York and Long Island in 

the Revolution 285 

No. I Broadway in Revolutionary Times. . 286 
Alexander Hamilton, aide-de-camp (por- 
trait) 290 

Methodist Church in John Street in Olden 

Times 29s 

Federal Hall and Verplanck Mansion 

(Wall Street) : . . . 296 

New York Harbor. 1790, showing Gov- 
ernor's House in background 299 

Manhattanville from Claremont 301 

No. 2 Broadwav, corner Marketfield 

Street, 1798 . . .' 303 

White Conduit House, built about 1782.. . 306 
New York Hospital, Broadway between 
Duane and Anthony (Worth) Streets, 

built about 1773 308 

Tannnany Hall (second home), erected 

lSi2 310 

Southern view of Halls of Justice in Cen- 
tre Street, 1812 311 

Old view of City Hall 313 

The Clermont, Robert Fulton's first Amer- 
ican steamboat 316 

View of Wall Street, 1825 319 

The Stone Bridge at Canal Street and 

Broadway 322 

Map of the City of New York, prepared 

for the Model of New York 324 

St. Paul's Church and Broadway Stages, 

1827 327 

Early view of Broadway from the Park. . 330 
Mount Washington Collegiate Institute 

about 1820 331 

Corner of Broadway and Murray Street, 

1820 2i2 

Castle Garden, a fort in 1812 334 

Corner of Broadway and Grand Street, 

1824 336 

Old Merchants' Exchange ii7 

Gothic Hall, Broadway, 1827 338 

Junction of Broadway and the Bowery 

Road 2,39 

Grace Church and Vicinity, 1828 339 

Old Custom House . 34° 

Tontine Coffee House, as it appeared in 

1812 342 

Broadway, 1836 343 

Northern view of Navv Yard at Brooklyn, 

1835 344 

The House of Refuge, erected 1824, 

burned 1838 .346 

Broadwav Homestead of Mavor Varian, 

1839 ■ •' 347 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



13 



PAGE 

Receiving Reservoir, Croton Celebration, 

.1842 348 

Distributing Reservoir 348 

Aqueduct Bridge 349 

Park Fountain, Croton Celebration, 1S4J. 349 

Columbia College, 1840 351 

Old Post Office, formerly Middle Dutcb ' 

Church, Nassau and Cedar Streets 352 

Broadway Theatre, 1859 353 

The Tabernacle, with entrance on Broad- 
way, 1846 354 

Free Academy, Twenty-third Street and 

Lexington Avenue 355 

Old St. Luke's Hospital 356 

St. Paul's and the Astor House 358 

Former Jewish Hospital, 1852 359 

Orphan Asylum. Seventy-fourth Street and 

Bloomingdale Road 361 

Deaf and Dumb Asylum 362 

South Dutch Church in Murray Street. 

1837 363 

Old Baptist Church, Broome and Eliza- 
beth Streets 364 

Old Scotch Presbyterian Cliurch. Grand 

and Crosby Streets 365 

Sailors' Snug Harbor in i860 366 

Early view of American Museum 368 

City Hall, Trinity Church and Grace 

Church (early view) . ., 370 

Barnum's Museum and St. Paul's Church 371 

Bellevuc Hospital (old view) 373 

Old Roman Catholic Cathedral in Third 

Street 375 

Cooper Institute, Mercantile Library and 

Bible House (old view) 379 

Northwestern view of Brooklyn ( old 

vie w ) 380 

Trinity Church (old view) 382 

Booth's Theatre 384 

Old Building of New York Society Library 386 
Old Building of New York Historical 

Society 389 



PAGE 

Old Custom House 392 

Old view Harlem Lane, from Central Park 

to Manhattanville 396 

Views of Old Estates and Buildings : 

Gargle Estate, Sixtieth Street and Tenth 
Avenue 398 

Caster Estate, near Thirty-si.xth Street 
on Le.xington Avenue 399 

Old Dutch Farm House, Seventh Ave- 
nue and Fiftieth Street 401 

Keyser Estate, Fourth (Park) Avenue 
and Fortieth Street 402 

Old Country Inn ("Croton Cottage"), 
Fifth Avenue and Fortieth Street.... 404 

Old Residence, Madison Avenue and 
Fourth Street 406 

Audubon Estate on the Bank of the 

Hudson 407 

Steinway Hall . ., 409 

Broad Street, looking North 411 

Hudson Terminal Building 415 

College of the City of New York 419 

New Pennsylvania Railroad Station 421 

Trinity Building 422 

Singer Building 425 

Columbia University and Campus 430 

Another view of New Pennsylvania Rail- 
road Station 432 

Custom House 435 

Metropolitan Building 437 

Hilliard Building 440 

New York Stock Exchange Building 445 

New York Public Library 452 

Trinity Church, from the rear 455 

New York Chamber of Commerce 456 

New York Post Office Building, Eighth 

Avenue, Thirty-first and Thirty-second 

Streets 460 

City Investing Building 464 

New Municipal Building 467 

Blair & Company Building facing 468 



PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

AcHESON, Edward Goodrich 726 

Adriance, Adrian Dexter , 704 

Amerman. William Henrv Houghton. .. 658 

Amory. John James 719 

Anyon, James Thornley 893 

Appelbaum, Misha E 702 

Assmann, Frederick Marten 720 

Astor, Colonel John Jacod 504 

Auger, Charles Louis 780 

Baeb, George W 640 

Babbitt, Benjamin Talbot 868 

Bache, Jules Semon , 519 

Bakewell, Allan Campbell 721 

Baldwin, William Delav.\n 665 

Behr. Herman 886 

Benedict, Lemuel Coleman 572 

Blair, John Insley 570 

Bliss, Cornelius Newton 772 

Boas, Emil Leopold 642 

Boker, Carl F 716 



Burden, M.vtthew Ch.aloner Durfee.... 760 

BoRG, Sidney Cecil 546 

Braker, Henry Jones 851 

Brixey, Richard De Wolfe 728 

Brown, Gerald Rudderow 830 

Brown, Simon H 8g6 

Bryan. Benjamin Butters 580 

Cannon, James Graham 538 

Carnegie, Andrew 476 

Carty, John J 682 

Chapman, Henry Stanton 794 

Claflin. John 744 

Clapp, Edw.\rd Everett 523 

Clark, John Mitchell 701 

Clift, Edward Henry 790 

CoMSTocK, Louis K , 710 

Cone, Ceasar 763 

Connor, Washington Everett 564 

CoNovER. Samuel S 559 

Cook, Henry F 889 

Copeland, Charles C 802 



14 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



PAGE 

CoREETT. Marshall Joseph 654 

CoRBix, Flovd Stewart 826 

Corey. William Ellis 666 

CoRTELYOu, George Brlxe 618 

CowLES, David Smith 888 

Cozzens, Stanley Thayer 784 

Cromwell, William Nelson 922 

Cruikshank, Warren 814 

Dale, Chalmers 020 

Degxon, Michael John 892 

De Kay, John Wesley 862 

De Leon, Edwin Warren 625 

De Lima, Elias S. A 396 

DiNKEL. George 811 

DoHERTY, Henry Latham 600 

Dommerich, Louis F 747 

DofGLAS, William Harris 645 

Drewry, William Powell 77i 

Driggs, Marshall Sylvanus 632 

Du Bois, Cornelius 5C9 

Duval, George L 649 

Eaton. Frederick Heber 674 

Elkus. .^bram 1 935 

Elliott, Mortimer F 912 

Emanuel, John Henderson, Jr 592 

Emery, Joseph H 789 

Faber, Eberhardt 877 

Fairchild, Samuel William 841 

Fearey, Frederick Tysoe 696 

Feustman, Leon Philip 713 

Flagler, Henry Morrison 49- 

Fleischer, Nathan 712 

Fleitmann. Frederick Theodore 768 

Fleitm.ann. William Medlicott 769 

Flint, Charles Ranlett 057 

Forstman, C. Julius 796 

Gaillard, William Eyre Gibson 818 

Gary, Elbert Henry 496 

Gennerich, George 856 

GiBB, Arthur 775 

GiBB, Henry Elmer 75' 

Gildersleeve, Oliver 650 

Goodrich, Edward Ismon 791 

Gray, William Steele 849 

Green, Warren Luqueer 8S2 

Grosjean, Florian 7i^ 

Guggenheim, Daniel 910 

Haggin, James Ben .Ali 548 

Hasslacher, Jacob Pius Maria 842 

Hathaway, Charles 552 

Hay, George Taber 652 

Hayden, Charles 574 

Hegema.v, Benjamin Arrowsmith, Jr... (192 

Hendrickson. Charles Le Roy 936 

Higgins, .Andrew Foster O26 

Hill, James Jero.me 608 

HiLLiARD. John Gerald 634 

Hornblower. Willia.m Butler gi i 

Horowitz, Louis J 611 

HoRTON, Harry Lawrence 534 

Hulbert, Henry Carlton f^83 

Hungerford, Uri T 717 

Hunt, Beekman 629 

Hyde, Benjami.n Talbot Babbitt 873 



page 

Jackson, Frank W ■;;i2 

Jacobus, David Schenck 690 

Jennings, Robert E 670 

Jones, Thomas Nathaniel 660 

Josephthal, Louis Maurice 527 

JuHRiNG, John C 855 

Kee.ve, James Robert 926 

Kep.ver, John B 806 

Kelly, John A 638 

Kieckhefer, Ferdinand A. W 680 

Kimball, Francis H 898 

King. Willard Vinton 542 

KiNGSLEY, Darwin Pearl 622 

Klipstein, August 837 

KuNHARDT, Henry Rudolph 656 

Leach, .Arthur Burtis 554 

L'Ecluse, Milton Albert 832 

LiSMAN, Frederick J 537 

Lounsbery, Richard Purdy... 586 

LUTTGEN, WaLTHER 568 

>L\BEN, John Campbell 669 

Mc.Alpi.v, General Edwin .Augustus.... 616 

McCarty, .Anthony J 659 

McCuRDY, Robert Henry 556 

McCuTCHEN, Charles Walter 858 

^L^CKAY. George Devereux gi8 

McKenzie, William 808 

McKiNNEY, Colonel Robert Cochran ... 676 

Mann, Samuel Vernon, Jr 599 

Marqusee, Julil's 878 

^Lvrshall, Waldo Hall 722 

Meany, General Edward P 914 

MiLLIKEN, SeTH MeLLEN 782 

Moore, Charles .Arthur 662 

Moore. William Henry 604 

Montgomery, Richard Malcolm 825 

Morgan. John Pierpont 470 

Morgan, Samuel Tate 860 

morgenthau, maximilian 83i 

Morton, Levi Parsons 482 

NoYES, Charles F 821 

Oakma.n, Walter G 544 

Olcott, Eben Erskine 603 

Oppenheim, .Ansel 582 

Paris, John W 828 

Parker, Robert Meade 880 

Pass ava.vt, Oscar von 756 

Peters, Ralph 614 

Phillips. David Lewis 824 

Poor, Edward E 758 

Poor, James Harper 752 

Poor, Ruel Whitcomb 594 

Pope, James Edward 718 

Potter, Orlando Bro.nson 491 

PouLSON, Niels 698 

Prentiss, Henry 901 

Pyne, Percy Rivington, 2d 560 

Raven, .Anton .Adolph 630 

Rea. Samuel 612 

Read. George Rowland 816 

Reichhelm, Edward Paul 708 

Riker, John Jackson 838 



LIST OF II.LUSTRATIOXS 



!■') 



PAGE 

Rockefeller, John Davison 486 

Rogers. Robert 714 

Rowland, William 646 

Rowley, Henry 850 

Ryle, William 770 

Salomon, William 528 

Sanderson, Henry 578 

ScHiFF, Jacob Henry 516 

SCHNIEWIND, HeINRICH ErNST, Jr 798 

Schuyler, Charles Edward 822 

Seligman, Isaac Newton 524 

Sells, Elijah Watt 895 

Sherman, John Taylor 766 

Siegbert. Louis 804 

Simmons, Charles Herbert 709 

Simon, Herman 776 

S.TOSTROM. P. Robert G 786 

Smith. Francis Marion 846 

Smith, George Carson 902 

Smith, George Theodore 590 

Smith, Lenox 694 

Snow. Elbridge Gerry 495 

SooYSMiTH, Charles 743 

Speyer, James 521 

Speiden, Clement Coote 844 

Spiegelberg. William 1 805 

Spreckels, Claus August 866 

Stanton, John Robert 908 

Stein way. Charles Herman 741 

Steinway. Henry Engelhard y:KA 

Steinway, William 738 

Stettinius, Edward R 904 

Stilson. .'\rthur Theodore 706 



page 

Stoehr, p. R. Eduard 778 

Stone, Isaac Frank 843 

Sturhahn, Carl F 637 

Sulzberger. Ferdinand 916 

Tate, Joseph 577 

Taylor. William H 906 

Tener, Hampden Evans 563 

Tesla, Nikola 724 

Thalmann, Ernst 530 

Thomas, Seth Edward 890 

TiLFORD, Frank 852 

Tod, Andrew Kinnaird 894 

ToMLiNS, William Maddox, Jr 865 

Topping. John Alexander 672 

Towne, Henry R 686 

Turner, Thomas Morgan 764 

Vail, Theodore Newton 510 

Van Cortlandt, Robert B 532 

Vanderlip, Frank .Arthur 540 

Veit, Richard Ch arle.s 607 

ViETOR, George Frederick 754 

Wassermann. Edward 5:67 

Weidmann, Jacob 800 

Wells, Edward Hubbard 688 

Weston. Edward 930 

Whitman. Clarence 748 

VViLLcox. William Goodenovv 515 

Wing. John D 834 

Wright. Joseph H 792 

Young, George Washington 585 



ERRATA 



Page 



54. 
93. 

129, 

191. 
192. 

194. 
196, 
197, 
205, 

3S9. 
403, 



line 13, for "Fifteentli" read "Sixteentli." 

line 10 from bottom, for "he named" read "they named." 

line 5 from liottom. for "Nicoll's" read "NicoUs' ", and 

from Ijottom, for "he" read "Nicolls." 

line 4. for "De JMyer" read "De Aleyer." 

line 8 from bottom, for "Zender" read "Zenger." 

line 16 from bottom, for "Zender" read "Zenger." 

line 2 from bottom, for "Bradford" read "Bradley." 

line 2 from l)ottom. for "Bradford" read "Bradle}'." 

line 16 from bottom, for "C.jovernor" read "Goiuerneur.'' 

line I, for "United States" read "Great Britain." 

line 15 from Ijottom, for "Richard B" read "Richard D." 

line 2 from bottom, for "Thomas L" read "Thomas F." 



hue 3 



C H .-J P T E R N E 

THE DISCOVERY OF 
MANHATTAN ISLAND AND THE HUDSON RIVER 

\\'hen CViluniljiis sailed westwanl with his caravels it was not a new- 
continent which he hoped to discover, hut a new wav to an old one. A'asco 
di Gama, the Portuguese navigator, had found a way hy water to India, having 
rounded the Cape of Storms, which later was rechristened the Cape of Good 
Hope, hut the way was long, and the ships of that day were small. Geogra- 
phers had. even in the days of Greek philos()])hy, reasoned out that the earth 
was a sphere, though there were widely di\-ergent views as to its size, some of 
the greatest authorities believing that its circumference was forty thousand 
miles, while others reckoned it much smaller. 

In Colunihus' day the prevailing scientific 0])inion \vas that from the 
Canary Islands, which was the meridian from which longitude was then cal- 
culated, it was only about nine thousand miles to the eastern coast of "the 
Indies," or "far Cathay," the treasures of which the kings and merchants of 
Europe were alike anxious to tap, and as the conformation of the eastern 
coast of Asia was only slightly known, it might prove to be even a less dis- 
tance a wav. 

In that faith the Genoese navigator, Columbus, after desperate effort to 
interest other monarchs, finally gained the ear and aid of Ferdinand and 
Isabella, and sailed toward the setting sun, flying the flag of Castile and 
Arragon. When he found land, in 141 )-. he thought it was the Indies and so 
named it, the islands retaining the name of "West indies" to this day. In 
1499 he found the mainland of South America, still thinking he had reached 
India, and in that belief he died. He was not the first to see the main- 
land, however, the X'enetian l)rothers Cabot, flying the English flag, and the 
Florentine, Americus Vespucius. having both found the coast of North 
America in 149S. It is the latter from wh(^m the continent takes its name, 
though whether he or the Cal)ots first saw the mainland is a c|uestion that 
still remains in the realm of controversy. The stories of pre-Columl)ian dis- 
covery by Eric the Red and otiier Norsemen are doubtless true, as are, per- 
haps, the traditions of an even earlier knowledge of the Western Continent 
by the Irish, and of a Twelfth Century A-isit by Welsh adventurers. But the 
results of these visits had l)een forgotten and unutilized for centuries, and do 
not dim the lustre of the achievement of Columbus antl his immediate succes- 
sors in the opening up of the New World to commerce and to civilization. 

Vespucius and the Cabots, perhaps, knew it was a new continent they had 
found, although the fact was not fully conceded for nearly half a century; 



]s lUSTORV OF XF.W YORK 

hill ihcv, and after ihcni other navigators, believed that some cleavag'e in the 
continent would he found, by means of wliich thev would discover a passage 
to Cathav. Among those who explored various parts of the North and 
South American coast lines the Spanish and Portuguese were most numerous, 
but it was under the French flag that the h'lorenline navigator, Giovanni 
Verrazano, made the disc(.)very of what is now known as New ^ ork Bay. 
Verrazano was a skillful sailor, whose training- had been obtained on the 
Mediterranean, in 15_'3 he entered the service of Francis I of France, in the 
profession, then deemed honorable, though dangerous, of a privateer, and 
engaged in capturing Spanish ships returning from Mexico with treasure 
taken from Montezuma. Fater that year he jirojected a voyage "for the dis- 
coverv of Cathav." He started with four shi])s, two of which he lost in a 
severe gale which drove him back to port, and after making re])airs he started 
again. The other ship soon returned, its ca])tain having (juarreled with Ver- 
razano, who imrsued the voyage alone in the ship Dolphin, going first to a 
small island south of .Madeira, whence he started toward the West. January 
17, 1524 ((). S. ). 

For fear of encountering anil being captured by tlie vessels of Spain or 
Portugal, which countries claimed the entire New World under the decree of 
P'ope /Me.xander, \'errazano kept north of the much-traversed r()ute taken l)y 
the shi|)s of those countries bound to or from Cuba and Mexico, and steering- 
due west, reached the continental coast at about latitude 34 ' north, on March 
7, 1524. lie sailed s(.)uth fiftv leagues, in order to connect his reckoning with 
the verified discoveries of the l^^rtuguese, then went on a northerly course, 
striking the land again at a point near where the City of Charleston, South 
Carolina, now stands. 

llis vovage northward followed the coast line, and about that voyage an 
account, nuich fuller than that of most travelers of that era, is contained in 
a "Letter" written by that navigator to his i);itron. I'rancis 1, and a ma]i, the 
most correct made in the .Sixteenth Centur\-. of the .Vtlantic Coast from the 
Cai)e of Florida to Cape ISreton. b^rnm his time to the ])resent there have 
been those who have cast doubt upon this X'errazano. and one of the latest 
American encvclop;edias continues the .attitude of ske])ticism, but the intrinsic 
merit of the n.arrative and the most searching tests of modern criticism have 
put the facts of the voyage of this explorer bevond doubt. 

N'errazano's letter is ;ui interesting one. but the stor\" cannot be recited 
here. exce])t in brief reference. He peered into the mouths of C'hesa])eake P)ay 
and of Delaware Bay and thence i)roceeded to New ^'ork Bay. which he 
entered, lie tells how he found a "pleasant situation among some little steep 
hills through which a river of great size, and deep at its mouth, forced its 
wav to the sea." blinding a good anchorage in what we now know as the 



]-RRKAZASO AND GOMEZ 



Narrows, he concluded not to venture u|) the ri\er with liis one ship, so he 
took the boat, and with his men pulled up for halt a league or so, coming into 
a "beautiful lake" which is now known as New York Bay. Verrazano and 
his followers found many of the natives in thirtv or more canoes, who came 
to look with wonder and evident admiration u])on the first white men thev 
had ever seen. They were friendly and unafraid, and showed the visitors the 
best landing place for their boat. On the surrounding shores, well wooded 
but now leafless except for here and there an evergreen pine, he and his men 
saw the smoke of numerous wigwams, and he estimated the size of the lake 
as about three leagues in circumference, which is not far wrong. He spoke 
appreciatingly of the beauties of the scene, but as he was seeking a passage to 
India, he saw that his oliject could not be reached b\' wav of a lake formed 
at the mouth of a swift river. So he returned to the shi]) without g'oing to 
Manhattan, and earlier than he would have done had it not been that a "vio- 
lent contrary wind" blew in from seaward, making it necessary to go l)ack 
to his ship and get her out into open water. His description of the region fits 
no other part of the coast. He landed on the shore of Staten Island, and 
probably Long Island, from New York Bay, and afterward up the coast, 
which he described with accuracy. A triangular island ( Block Island ) 
which he discovered, he named Luisa, after the French king's mother. New 
York Bay he had named San Germano, evidently out of compliment to his 
patron's palace of St. Germaine. Verrazano's career after this vo^-age is not 
certainly known. He went on another voyage, and one account says was cap- 
tured by Spaniards and executed, while another says that he landed on a coast 
inhabited l)v cannibals, by whom he was captured and roasted antl eaten in 
sight of his conn^ades. 

The next visitor after Verrazano was Estevan Gomez, who was a Portu- 
guese but in the service of Spain. There was held a nautical congress at 
Badajos, in 1524, in which the question of a new expedition to the Indies was 
discussed. Gomez was an experienced navigator, but had lost much of his 
prestige by leaving Magellan in the strait now named for that explorer, in 
1 5 19, when he was serving as chief pilot of the expedition, and returning to 
Sj^ain. As a result of the congress, however, Gomez, who seemed ^'ery enthu- 
siastic about his ability to find his way to Cathay by some passage he would 
discover to the north, was outfitted by the Spanish king, aided by some mer- 
chants, and in January or February, 1525, went to Cuba and then north as 
far as the Maine Coast. Fie returned about the end of the same year. No 
outlet to Cathay was found and Gomez, on his return, met with much ridi- 
cule, for he brought liack little knowledge of the country l)e\-ond the statement 
that he found there many trees and fruits "similar to those of Spain," which 
excited little interest in the mind of the Spanish merchants, who dreamed of 



HISTORY OF XElf YORK 



"the treasures of (")rnius and of Ind," or of lands which, Hke [Mexico and South 
America, yielded ,q-old. gems and spices. Gomez left no detailed description 
of his voyage; l)Ut failing to tind his passage to Cathay he loaded his ship 
with Indian captives to be sold into slavery in Europe. 

His voyage was the foundation of a map prepared by Ribeiro, the famous 
cosmographer, in 1521). Upon this map Sandy Hook, much too large, appears 
under the name "Cabo de Arenas" (the Cape of Sands), while Long Island 
is much toc) small, and the stream between it and Staten Island is marked 
"Rio de Sanct Antonio." 

Without further reference to the vo3-age of Gomez, or of the voyagers 
who followed him in cruises along the eastern coast of North America from 
Newfoundland to Florida, it suffices to say that none seems to have paid any 
special attention to New York Bay or the Hudson River, during the Fifteenth 
Century. The Seventeenth Century, however, was full of events which were 
of importance to the future of this region, the first and historically the greatest 
of these being the visit to these shores, in i6oc), of Henry Hudson, an Eng- 
lishman, but at the time commanding the (|uaint Dutch vessel, the Helve ^Nlaen 
(Half-iNIoon), in the service of the Dutch East India Company. 

The recent tercentennial celebration of the achievement of Hudson was 
not inappropriately undertaken, nor was the tribute to the importance of his 
work, which that celebration implied, unworthily bestowed. For while it is 
true that at least one previous party of Europeans — \'errazano and his com- 
panions — had looked upon and admired the rippling" waters and surrounding 
hills of New York Bay, and had brought back some historically valuable 
information full eighty-five years before, and that Estevan Gomez and some 
other navigators had noted Sandy Hook upon their maps, it was Hudson's 
voyage that led to the settlement of the country and fixed the character of its 
future population. Had X'errazano's visit been practically followed up by the 
monarch to whom he addressed his famous "Letter," New York might be, 
under the name of "Nouveau Paris," an Occidental transplantation of Gallic 
blood and characteristics: or if Gomez had been ])raised for what he did dis- 
cover, rather than ridiculed for his failure to capture the ii:;jiis fatmis of a 
western outlet to Cathay, the region between New England and the English 
settlements in \'irginia might have been jjarceled out into baronial estates to 
haughty Spanish hidalgos. But Henry Hudson came, and because of his 
coming", the country was settled by peojile of the (iermanic rather than the 
Latin races. 

Two years before Hudson came with his Half-Moon, the English had 
Itegun the settlement of Virginia at Jamestown, an event the tercentenary of 
which was appropriately commemorated by the holding of the Jamestown 
Exposition, in HjO/. This was not the first English settlement in North 



HnxRv nri>si>\ seeks cathay -n 

America, but the earlier southern settlement on the Carohna Coast, made 
under the auspices of Sir W'aUer Raleg'li, had been wiped out by disease or 
massacre. After the voyages made l)y the Cabots for Eng-land and Spain, of 
\"errazano for France, of Gomez for Spain, John Rut for England and Jean 
Allefonsce for France, several others passed u]) and down the coast from 
Florida to Newfoundland and further north, seeking vainlv for the much 
desired western short-cut to Cathay. E\'en at the beginning of the Seventeenth 
Century the hope that the new route to India might be found in the temperate 
zone was not entirely abandoned; but it became more and more the belief of 
navigators that the new route must be found throug'h Arctic waters, either 
by a Northeast or a Northwest Passage. Acting upon this opinion some 
expeditions had gone out which, while they ended in disaster, yet developed 
nothing to disprove the existence of an Arctic passag'e, east or west. It is 
in connection with another Arctic attempt that Henry Hudson first appears 
in the brief recorded career which has jjjaced him on the roll of fame as one 
of the world's most distinguished historic navigators. 

Of Henry Hudson's early life nothing is definitely known. It is said that 
a man of the same name was in the em])loy of the Muscovv Company in the 
early half of the Sixteenth Century, and from this has been built uj) a theory 
that the navigator was a son or grandson of that Hudson, and that, like some 
other sons of employees of that company, he had been brought up in its 
service, there learnings the art of navigation. However much or little basis 
there may be for this possible but by no means proven story, it is as a man 
already a master of the art of navigation that we have the first glimpse of his 
actual career which has found its way into recorded history. 

In the employ of the 3*Iuscovy Compan}' of London, Henry Hudson sailed 
northward in the ship Hopeful, April iq, 1607, bent upon the endeavor to 
reach the (Jrient through some channel in the Arctic seas. He penetrated as 
far as Spitzbergen, or within ten degrees of the Pole, then returned to Lon- 
don, unsuccessful, so far as regards the object of his voyage, but convinced 
that success, under better climatic conditions, was possible. He went again 
in 1608, once more representing' the Muscovy merchants of London, but again 
unsuccessful in his f|uest, though adding much to the world's knowledge of 
the regions around Nova Zembla. where, during the half century before, sev- 
eral expeditions had come to grief. 

Though the possibility of a more southern passage had not l)een entirely 
abandoned bv Hudson and other navigators, it seemed less probable than one 
further north; and to find an Arctic passage to the Indies had now become the 
greatest obiect of geographical ambition. Not only the Muscovy Company, 
Hudson's English employers, but also France and Holland, had their eye on 
the coveted goal. The States-General of Holland held out a reward of twenty- 



HISTORY OF XFJl' YORK 



five thousand rt(.>rins as an inducement for success in Arctic exploration. In 
the two vovages just mentioned. Hudson, while he had not succeeded in accom- 
plishino- his object, had gone further toward success than any of his predeces- 
sors in that field of adventure, and was evidently the man best fitted to com- 
mand an enterprise of this kind. 

The Seventeenth Centurv was Holland's Golden Age; and the year 1609 
was one of especially marked importance in the commercial history of the Neth- 
erlands, as in January of that year the Bank of Amsterdam was established 
by decree of the municipality. The Dutch merchants of that day were the 
most enterprising in the world; the discovery of the Northern Passage was 
their most eager aml)iti(in, and as Henrv Hudson's was the name that filled 
the ear as the greatest Arctic navigator of his day, it is not at all surprising 
that on January 8, 1609, he was in conference with a committee of two mem- 
bers from the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company, with 
Jodocus Hondius, a citizen of Amsterdam who had formerly lived in London, 
as interjjreter and witness. 

This was not the first interview that ?Iudson had with the company, but 
at the previous one the directors had desired him to postpone the voyage for 
a year. Hutlson was a man with whom activity was a necessity. He was as 
impatient as he was intrepid, and was nnt of the temjierament to brook a year 
of idleness. 

The French ambassador at Amsterdam, hearing that Hudson's services 
had not been engaged, hastened to advise his roval master, Henry IV, of the 
fact, and to counsel the securing of his ser\-ices at the head of a French expe- 
dition. The directors of the Dutch b^ast India Company, hearing of the 
French negotiations, hastened to close with Hudson, and then occurred the 
conference just referred to, at which a contract was signed. It stipulated that 
the directors were to equip a vessel of sixty tons l;)urden for a voyage to the 
North around the northern extremity of Nova Zembla. contintnng eastward on 
that latitude until Ikulson could turn to the Sduth and steer for India. For 
this voyage the directors were to pay the navigator the sum of eight hundred 
florins (or $,^20), as well for his outfit as for the support of his wife and 
children, and the contract said: "in case he do not come back ( which God pre- 
vent ) the directors shall further pay his wife two hundred florins (v$So) in 
cash." In the event of the success of his (|uest, the directors promised to 
reward him in their discretion. 

After neari\- three months of ])reparation, the Halve INIaen, or Half- 
Moon, was fully e(|uii)ped, and on April 4, 1609, sailed from Amsterdam. Two 
days later tlie vessel ])assed out from the Zuvder Zee, through the channel 
between Texel and North Flolland into the North Sea. After about a month 
of sailing it was found impracticalile to reach Nova Zembla, because of the ice, 



HEXRV HUDSOX NF..IC//I-S Xlill' YORK BAY 



and Hudson called his crew of twenty men too-ether. The Northeast Passage 
havino- proved to be impracticable at this time, he had a mind to try a western 
route, either northward through Arctic Seas via Davis' Strait, or by a more 
southward route which was rumored to exist at about latitude 40 ' north, as 
indicated by a map in his possession furnished ])v his friend, Ca|)tain John 
Smith of \"irginia. The crew preferred the northern route, but Hudson, either 
deliberately or because of stormy weather, took the southerly route ; because 
the next thing known of him is that he landed on the coast of New France, 
in latitude 44'^, and replaced his foremast with one cut new from the hitherto 
untroubled forest. From there he went southward until he came to Cape Cod, 
and then went southeast until he reached Chesapeake Bay. Thence he coasted 
northward, intent on the discoverv of the rumored passage, or strait, supposed 
to exist at or about 40' north latitude. He entered Delaware Bay. then went 
north again, keeping in sight of the New Jersey coast, and September 2, 1609, 
cast his anchor in the Lower Bay of New York, in sight of "high hills'" (the 
Navesinks). It was, according to his narrative, "a verv good land to fall in 
with, and a pleasant land to see." There the ship remained for ten days, with 
occasional changes of position, sending out boats to make soundings and find 
channels, and dealing, with much caution, with the natives, who constantly 
flocked around the ship. One boat went u]) the Narrows to explore the bay 
be3'ond, and on this trip one of the crew, named Coleman, lost his life, being 
shot through the throat with an arrow. 

On September 12 the Half-AIoon itself was steered into the oi^ening and 
anchored about two leagues beyond the Narrows, at a point near the site of 
the present Battery Park. Hie next day began the famous ascent and descent 
of the river which now bears the explorer's name. The story, which has often 
been repeated, is derived from the personal journal of Henry Fludson and 
from the logbook of the Half-Moon, kept by his English mate, Robert Juet, 
the other mate being a I^utchmaii. 

Hudson and his men were duly impressed by the beauty of this magnifi- 
cent river, the scenery and surroundings of which still rank with the world's 
foremost beautv s])ots, and were then even more glorious in wealth of primeval 
forest and green-clad with the luxurious foliage of summer time. The cli- 
mate of late September and early October along the Hudson is usually 
glorious, so that the Half-Moon adventurers saw it at its best. The run on 
September 13 was to an anchorage a little al)ove Spuyten Duyvil Creek, and 
on the 14th, when for the first time the Half-Moon had a fair wind, they 
traveled past the Palisades for thirtv-six miles up the stream, and on the next 
day they went twenty leagues higher. After that the way became more ditifi- 
cult, the \-essel grounding occasionally on mudbanks or in sandy shallows. On 
the i8th Hudson made a visit ashore. He came to the habitation of an old 



24 



HISTORY OF XJIJI- YORK 




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HUDSON AT MAXXA-HATA 



chief, which was a circular house with an arched mof covered with 1)ark. The 
chief had a feast ])re|)are(l in his honor, and the menu inckided freshly killed 
])io-eons and a fat dot^', roasted; but the ex])lorer does not say that he partook 
of the last-mentioned item of the meal. He was much impressed by the large 
supplies and excellent quality of vegetable itroducts he saw about the chief's 
house, and the richness of the soil thereabout, which he declared was the most 
fertile he had ever seen. 

September ig was a fair, hot day. A run of two leagues was made, and 
then the voyagers put in their time trading with the Indians, from whom they 
purchased, at trifling cost, valuable beaver and otter skins ; and these trans- 
actions were among the most interesting items of the report of the expedition 
made to its commercial promoters in Amsterdam. On the 20th the boat was 
sent ahead to make soundings and on the following day some of the chief men 
among the natives were invited to the Half-Moon, were taken into the caltin 
and treated to wine and aqua vitac, so that one of them l>ecame drunk, which 
was a new experience with these people. The story of this introduction of 
"tire-water" passed into a legend with the Indian people. On the 22d twenty- 
seven miles were made; but the stream was getting shallower and narrower 
and the hope that this might prove to be a strait between two oceans had to 
be abandoned. 

The descent of the river was begun on the 23d, and took about as much 
time as the ascent. On the 24th some of the men went ashore and gathered 
a good supply of chestnuts. The magnificent forest attracted attention on the 
two days following and several specimen logs were taken aboard as evidence 
of the richness of the country in shipbuilding timbers. On the 27th the Half- 
Moon stuck upon a muddy bank in the vicinity of Xewburg. Contrary 
winds made progress slow, but finally a good day's run took them out of the 
Highlands channel on October i. Late in that day an Indian was caught 
stealing. He climbed Iiy the rudder to the cabin wintlow and stole out Juet's 
pillow, two shirts and two bandoleers. The master's mate shot the Indian, 
killing him ; the ship's boat was manned and sent to reco\-er the stolen goods. 
The Indians swam out to the boat and one of them tried to upset it. The 
cook took a sword and cut off one of the Indian's hantls, and he was drowned. 
The next dav, at a point seven leagues further down the river, an Indian who 
had been kidnaped on the upward journey but had escaped, came to seek his 
revenge, with companions. They made an attack on the ship's company with 
bows and arrows, which fell harmless to the deck. The crew answered with a 
volley from six nuiskets, ^\•hich killed two or three natives. Then about a 
hundred Indians came to a point of land to shoot at the crew again, but Juet, 
firing from a falcon (small cannon), killed two of them and the others fled. 
The Indians manned a canoe to return to the attack. When it came within 



HISTURY of Mill' YORK 



rano-e Juet leveled another falcon, which shot through the canoe, sinking it, 
and several of the Indians struggling in the water were killed bv amither dis- 
charge of muskets. 

Six miles below the scene of this encounter the Half-]\Ioon anchored at a 
point about opposite the Elvsian Fields of Hoboken, for Juet speaks of its 
being ofT a clitT "that looks of the color of white-green, on that side of the 
river whicli is called ' Manna-hata.' " As Octolier 3 was a stormv dav. there 
was trouljle with the anchorage, but they remained in safety in the Upper Bay, 
and October 4 dawned fair, with a favorable wind. The Half-]Mr)on cleared 
the Narrows, and steered a course direct to Europe, being the first direct packet 
from the jiort of Xew York. Some of Hudson's officers favored wintering in 
Xewfountlland and making a dash through Da\'is' Strait to India in the fol- 
lowing' spring; but Hudson feared that a mutinv might occur unless he steered 
the ship homeward. November 7, 1609, the Half-2\Ioon arrived in Dart- 
mouth, and when the English authorities found that this Dutch vessel had an 
English captain they detained the ship in that harbor. After some delay Hud- 
son was permitted to send his reports to the Dutch luist Intlia Company in the 
spring of 1610, and the Elalf-lNIoon was released and arrived in Amsterdam 
in July, 1610: but it is thought that Hudson was not permitted to go there, as 
there is no record of his having done so before A]n-il, \(>io. when he left Eng- 
land in behalf of an association of English Q-entlemen to search for a North- 
west Passage. 

On June 10 he reached the strait \\-hich ])ears his name and from there 
passed into the bay which has also I)een named for him ; and spent three 
months in exploring its coasts and islands. ILarly in November his vessel was 
frozen in. A winter of great suffering, with a scant supplv of jirovisions fol- 
lowed, and serious dissensions occurred. In June, 161 1, the mutineers seized 
and bound Hudson, his son, and seven others of the ship's companv, put them 
into a small boat and set them adrift, never to be heard from again. A few of 
the survivors of those on board the shij) finally reached England. 

Thus ended the career of Henry Hudson, who in four years of heroic 
adventure had made a place for himself on the world's roll of fame, and had 
rendered important service to commerce by finding and describing the site of 
what, in three hundred years, has b.ecome the second largest city in the world 
and is ])rol)ably destined to l)ecome the first. 



CHAPTER T ir 

UNITED NEW NETHERLAND COMPANY 
EARLY DUTCH COMMERCE WITH THE INDIANS 

The directors of the Dutch East Imha Conipanv were disappointed al the 
faikire of Hudson and the Half-Moon to achieve the precise oljject of his 
journey. This was liecause tlieir charter hniited their operations to the East 
Indies, and they were officially unaljle to take advantag'e of the discoveries made 
hy Hudson on the eastern coast of America, their ch;irter exi)resslv forhidding 
them to take part in commerce with tlic coasts and countries Ixirderim;- on the 
Atlantic. 

But the report of Henrv Hudson hore fruit in Amsterdam. An organi- 
zation of merchants was formed, and they dispatched a vessel, under command 
of the Dutch mate of the Half-Moon, and ])art of her crew shipped for this 
second voyage. A cargo of cheap and inex])ensive articles was taken for the 
]iurposes of trade, and a fine return cargo of bea\-er and other furs was secured. 
The eminent success of this enterprise led to other adventures, and in 1612 the 
association dispatched two vessels, the Fortune and the Tiger, on a trading- 
voyage to the Mauritius River, as the present Hudson River had l)een named, 
after Count Maurice of Nassau, the Stadtholder of the Republic of the United 
Netherlands. These vessels were commanded hy Hendrick Christiaensen and 
Adriaen Block, and in 1613 or 1614. three other vessels, under Captains \'ol- 
kertsen, DeWitt and Mey made successful transatlantic voyages with valuable 
commercial results. Christiaensen and Block, u]i(in their return to Hol- 
land, brought with them, besides their cargo of furs, two sons of chiefs; and 
the exhibition in zAmsterdam of these two Indians, to whom the names of 
\'alentine and Orson were given, stinntlated interest in America throughout 
the Netherlands. 

Christiaensen and Block returned with the two Indians, and continued in 
the trade, and decided that it would be well to place it upon a more permanent 
basis by one of them remaining in America. So several rude houses of boards, 
roofed with bark, were built at a spot said to be the site of 29 Broadway. From 
this headquarters Christiaensen would make visits to all favorable points in the 
surrounding countrv. Some early English accounts contain a story, now 
regarded as fictitious, to the effect that in November, 161 3, Manhattan Island 
was visited by an armed English vessel. Because of John Cabot's coasting- 
voyage in I4<j7, the English claimed all of North America between Florida and 
Canada, and after the French had made settlements on the Bay of Fundy, Cap- 
tain Samuel Argall was sent from Virginia with a squadron of three armed 
ships to dislodge them. This was easily accom])lished, as his force was over- 



/IISTORV OF Mil]- YORK 



whelniini^': and the sliijis sailed for a relnni lo \ ii'i^inia. Xnxeiiiber Q, 1613. 
Siinie davs at'terward ihe vessels were se])arated by a gale. ( )ne of them 
foundered, the seeoiid was driven eastward, reaching' the Azores and thence 
sailed to luigiand, and the other, commanded by Captain Argall himself, seek- 
ing shelter from the storm, is said to have fonnd its way into Xew York Bay, 
where, the storv goes, Cai)tain Argall thonght he had discovered a magnificent 
h.'irbor and conntr\- for his government. A\ hen he fnund, hmvever. that it was 
a Dtitch trading post, he was mnch incensed. Finding Christiaensen. he made 
known the claim of England {o sovereignty, and giving Christiaensen the alter- 
native of paying tribute or submitting to the destrtiction of his business and 
property, the Ihilchman promised to pav the tribtite, and Captain Argall went 
back to \'irginia satisfied that he had established England's right to this part 
of America. In the maps of America made about this time and for the 
remainder of the Seventeenth Centurv. those of English origin mark the entire 
region between Florida and Canada, "Xew England,"" while on the Dutch 
maps the region nurth of X'irginia is marked "Xew Xetherland."" 

The story of Captain Argall's claim has been doubted bv most historians, 
and is now generally discredited, though some writers, chiefly English, have 
insisted on its truth : but whatever may be the facts in the matter, there was 
no halt in the operations of the Dutch traders (^n ^lanhattan Island. Chris- 
tiaensen extended his operations, weiu up with his shi|) Fortune to a point 
near the iunclion of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers and there built a stock- 
ade and rude fort, which he called Fort Xassau, after ^Maurice. Count of Xas- 
sau. who had alread\- been honored in the naming of the River Mauritius, now 
the Hudson River, which had l)een tirst named l)y Hudson, the Groof (or 
Great) River. Christiaensen and his men eqtiipped Fort Xassau with two 
cannon and eleven swivel guns. left it under guard of ten or twelve men, headed 
by Jacob Eelkins. and returned to his trading post in ]\Ianhattan. Only a short 
time afterward Christiaensen was killed by Orson, one of the Indians whom 
he had taken to Holland, and Orson was shot on the spot by one of Christiaen- 
sen"s men. 

While Christiaensen was building Fort Xassau. Adriaen Block, in }^Ian- 
haltan. had the misfortune to lose his vessel, the Tiger, which was anchored in 
the Bay. bv tire. P.ul Ulock and his men did not permit this loss to discourage 
them. The\- were ])oorly ecpiipped for tools, but timber was plentiful and the\- 
set to work to build a vesssel. and by the spring of 1614 they had built the 
Oiintst. or Restless: a handsome craft 38 feet keel, 4454 feet over all, 11 feet 
beam and sixteen tons burden; the first vessel built in the port of Xew York. 
W hen this \esscl was finished Block started with it to explore the surrounding- 
waters, and weiu to many places theit inaccessible to larger vessels. First of 
all he passed through Hell Gate, a name then given to the entire East River, 



THE UXITEP A'/Iff XnTHHRLAXD COMP.IXV ■.'!) 

and was the first European navigator to enter Long- Island Sdund. He coasted 
along its northern shore, entered New Haven Inlet, sailed into llie Connecticut 
River, which he named Fresh Water River; and then discovering again the 
three-cornered island mentioned in Verrazano"s "Letter," he gave it his own 
name, and it is still known as Block Island. Eastward he went, entering Nar- 
ragansett Lav, which he named the Bay of Nassau. He doubled Cape Cod, 
and iM-oceeded as far as Salem Harbor, then turned about and made for Man- 
hattan. 

On the way he encountered the Eortune, which had been Christiaensen's 
vessel, now C(immanded by Cornelis Hendricksen, and on its wav to Amster- 
dam with a cargo, and learned of his partner's fate. Block transferred Hen- 
dricksen to command of the Onrust, and himself took charge of the Eortune, 
with which he went direct to Holland, and after that never, so far as any known 
record shows, returned to the New Netherlands. He was afterward in the 
service of the Northern Comi)any and tlie last mention of him is in the capacity 
of commander of a whaling ileet for that compan^' in 1624. 

In March, 1614, the States-General published a decree in the form of a 
General Charter for Those Who Discover New Passages, Havens, Countries or 
Places, ofTering to give to such discoverers a temporary monopoly of trade ; 
providing that within fourteen days after return from such exploring voyage 
the discoverer should make a detailed report of his discovery. Adriaen Block 
arrived, probably, early in October, and October 11, 1614, he appeared before 
the Assembly of the States-General and told the story of his voyage in the 
Onrust through Hell Gate and Long Island Sound; demonstrating the insu- 
larity of Long Island and thus establishing- his claim as discoverer of a "new 
passage," and the discovery of New Haven Inlet and Eresh Water River. He 
also, for the association of merchants with which he was connected, told of the 
explorations of Captain Cornelis Jacobsen Mey, or May, who had not only 
ex|)lore(l the south coast of Long Island, and the Atlantic Coast eastward and 
northward to Martha's Vineyard, but had also gone south to Delaware Bay and 
bestowed his own name on its northern cape. Captain Block's statements were 
eft'ective, in combination with those of other skippers, in securing the charter for 
the merchants associated with them, as The United New Netherland Company. 

The charter runs in favor of "Gerrit Jacobz Witssen (ex-burgomaster of 
the city of Amsterdam), Jonas Witssen, and Simon [Nlorrisen, owners of the 
ship Little Eox, of which Jan DeWitt was skipper ; Hans Hongers, Paulus 
Pelgrom, and Lambrecht ^■an Tweenhu\sen, owners of the two ships called the 
Tiger and the Eortune, of which Adriaen Block and Hendrick Christiaensen 
were skippers; Arnolt van Lybergen, Wessel Schenck, Hans Claessen, and 
Barent Sweertsen, owners of the ship called the Nightingale, whereof Thys 
Volckertsen was skipper, merchants of the city of Amsterdam ; and Peter Clem- 



HISTORV OF XEIJ- YORK 




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entsen r>rou\ver, John Clenientsen Kies and Cornells \'olckertsen, merchants of 
the city of lloorn, owners of the ship called the Fortune, whereof Cornells 
Jacohsen May was skipper, all now united Into one company," and recltlnsf 
the pul)llcatlon of their g-eneral charter of the preceding- March, conferred 
upon the company the privilege of exclusive trade for four vovages within the 
term of three years with "the new lands hetween New France and A^lrginia, 
the sea-coasts of which lie hetween the 40th and 45th degrees, north latitude, 
now^ named New Netherland," this l)elng the first official designation of the 
countrv hy that name. 

The Indians of America, east of the Mississippi, were of two great divi- 
sions, hut of numerous "nations" or tribes. Near the coast they were of the 
Algonquin stock, which was also dominant in the region of the St. Lawrence 
River. To this stock belonged the natives of the seaboard section including 
the site of the present Greater City of New \'ork, among- whom were the 
Indians who fought Fludson on his return from his uji-river trip. To this 
grand division belonged all the "Waf^ajiachki or Men of the East," the Hurons 
of the Canadian region, the Lenni-Lenape, west of the Hudson, and the 
Mohican Sirc'oiioys and others east of it. The subtribe on the Jersev side was 
that of the Saiihikans, while on the east side, in a district now comprising the 
boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx and some adjacent territory, were the Rcck- 
ginvaicojies. a stibtrlbe of the Lczvaiioys. and on Long Island were the Mafoii- 
zcacks ( or ^Montauks ) , and those seen by Hudson in New-ark Bay were the 
Raritans ; the two last-named being subtrlbes or chieftaincies of the Lenni- 
Lenape. 

Up the river, Hudson and the later explorers found tribes of the Mciig- 
zi'cs, better known as the Iroquois, or Five Nations (Mohawks, Oneldas, 
Senecas. Cavugas and Onondagas), afterward augmented to Six Nations by 
admission of the Tuscaroras. They were a warlike and jiowerful people, with 
whom the trl])es to the east were unable to cope. 

Right here it may be well to say that the name "Manhattan" as applied 
to the natives of either the territory in the present city, or any others, is a 
misnomer. Hudson's report speaks of "that side of the river called Manua- 
liata." Edward Manning Ruttenber. in a chapter contributed to the excellent 
Memorial History of New York (edited by James Grant Wilson) discusses 
the derivation of the word "Manna-hata" from its Algonquin origin, and 
finds that its root syllables mean noble and beautiful landscape or object, or 
something- of slnnlar import, and thus represents an exclamation or eulogistic 
expression. The names, in various forms of spelling, of "Manhattans," 
"Manhattce," "INIanatthanes." etc., as applied to the natives of this region 
were of Dutch and not native origin. Yet the name persisted in spite of lin- 
guistic and ethnological inaccuracy and is constantly used by the earlier 



HISTORY OF Mill- YORK 



autliurilies, including' scmie who have wasted much energy and ingenuity to 
give a philological reason for the name. 

Of the variiius local sul)tril)es the i\I(»ntauks of Long Island were the 
finest physical specimens and the handsomest in their attire, as is attested hy 
A'errazano's letter of 1524. Hudson writes of them that "many of the people 
came on hoard, some in mantles of feathers and some in skins of divers sorts 
of good fiu's;" and the earl\- Dutch accounts of the native peo])le of the region 
are full of admiration of the virile attractiveness of the men and the heautv of 
the women. The men were hroad-shouldered, full-chested, slender-waisted and 
had well-formed, symmetrical limhs, l)lack hair and eyes, snow-white teeth, and 
a mild and i;)leasant expression. The graceful and |)leasing appearance, and 
the modest demeanor of the women is mentioned hv all the earlv accounts. 

Both sexes of the Indians were chaste in their lives, clean in their con- 
versation, hospital)le in their treatment of each other and of strangers and 
visitors. Their lives were simple and healthful, and they had few diseases. 
One of the Dutch writers comments on the "grossness" of their food, because 
he savs "thev drank water: having no other beverage." If thev had never 
changed their hal)its in this respect they would have taken a much better place 
in the jiages of modern history. They ate the flesh of all kinds of fish and 
g;ame, baking it in hot ashes; their bread was made of Indian C(irn and baked 
in the same way. Thev also cultivated and used several kinds of beans, 
sf|uashes and other garden products. The men were hunters, fishermen and 
soldiers. The women did the gardening, and made the clothing of skins, the 
mats, and the ornaments wherewith they arraved themselves and the men and 
children of their families, displaying great skill and excellent taste in artistic 
adornment; while in the care of their homes thev were industrious and faith- 
ful workers. If ever there was a suffragette agitation among these early res- 
idents of Manhattan, it had won its fight before the coming of the white men, 
lor women had a full sliare in tribal g'overnment. 

These Indians of the coast held an inijiortant economic and fiscal posi- 
tion, for theirs were the mint and treasurv of the Indian world. In other 
words, they made the circulating medium, made of two kinds of shells; the 
white beads called "wamjnim" being made from the little pillars found inside 
the conch shells thrown U]) bv the waves semi-annualh', and the more precious 
black beads, called siicki. made from the pur|)le laver inside the shell of the 
(|uahoug". The ])arity of this double-standard currency was long maintained 
at a ratio of two to one, and the Dutch and English settlers of New Nether- 
lands and Xew England having only a very small supply of European cur- 
rencv. adopted this circulating medium, establishing an exchange value of 
three purjile or black beads or six white beads as the e(|uivalent of a Dutch 
stiver or an I'Jiglish pennv. 



THE FIJ-E .\.4TJ0NS .4XD THE HUROXS 33 

The natives lived in long narrow houses about twenty feet wide and often 
more than one hundred and fifty yards long, the walls formed of tall and 
supple hickory saplings driven into the ground at convenient intervals on both 
sides and arched together at the top and made fast. The sides and roof 
were covered with a kind of primitive lathing made fast to the poles and the 
whole was covered with bark. This long structure was made to accommodate 
many families, sometimes fourteen to eighteen. One fire in the centre served 
them all, a hole being left in the roof for the escape of the smoke. As to 
household furniture, there were no l)ureaus, tables, chairs, Ijufifets, wardrobes 
or bedsteads; but each family had its allotted section of the house and its own 
mats upon which to enjoy the comforts of home. Several of these houses 
would be erected in some convenient opening in the woods or the side of a 
hill, near a stream or spring, and the village would be surrounded by a stock- 
ade as a defense against attack from without. 

In war they used as weapons the bow and arrows, tipped with flint, or, 
occasionally, with copper; spears similarly tipped, stone hatchets, and war 
clubs; while a primitive shield of tough leather was tised for ]:)rotective 
purposes. The face was painted in many colors, and their warfare was con- 
ducted most vigorously. 

Their government was democratic. Every man and woman had a voice 
in it. Each subtribe had its chief, who had a council composed of experienced 
warriors and aged fathers of families. The larger organization of tribes was 
governed in a similar manner, with a tril)al cliief, and counselors chosen from 
the chiefs of the subtribes. Above this was an organization of the nation, 
headed by a king or sagamore, whose counselors were selected by the coun- 
selors and chiefs of tribes. In case of assault or murder, the injured family 
had the right to judge and to punish, or could accei)t anything that satisfied 
them in settlement of the offense or grant a pardon if they decided to do so. 

There was a religion which was in essence the same with all of these 
tribes. Thev belie^'ed in a God who lived beyond the stars, and a life l^eyond, 
where they would continue a life similar to that passed on this earth ; but 
their principal concern in a su])ernatural way was about the iM'il Si)irit, who 
had to be appeased before an)' success could be secured. They iiad a good 
deal of astronomy mixed up with their religion, the various constellations 
having much to do with their success in life, and the stars and the moon con- 
trolled their destiny and ruled over their fortune. 

In a general way these matters of description apply not only to the 
various tribes and chieftiancies whom the Dutch grou]ied together under the 
name of "the [Manhattans," but also to the more warlike and aggressive Iro- 
quois. The Five Nations had so overawed these tribes that they willingly 
l)aid tril)ute rather than further contend against the Iroquois. The northern 



*^ t 
O-i 



HISTORY OF XKir ]'ORK 



branch n\ iW Al^'onquin stock, the Ilurons of the Canadian country, had 
never reached the state of subjection to the Five Nations as had the Mohic- 
ans, the Lenni-I,ena])e and their congenor tribes, Init stiH had l)een worsted in 
many encounters; l)ut after the coming o\ the h^rench t(i Canada, the Hurons 
had made an alUance with the white men, and a few luiropeans wlio under 
Champlain liad marched with the Huron warriors against the Five Nations 
had si^read sudden death and destruction Ijy a wea]ion which the Iroquois had 
never seen, to the complete surprise and discomfiture of tlie hitherto victorious 
Five Nations. 



•^-* 




INDIANS BRINGING TRIBUTE 



r' 



C H A r T E R T II REE 

PIONEER WORK IN NEW NETHERLAND 
EARLY SETTLEMENT ON MANHATTAN ISLAND 

After the charter of the United New Netherland Company expired, sev- 
eral attempts were made to extend its monopoly of trade hy a renewal of the 
o-rant from the States-General. The individnal merchants who composed the 
com])anv continued to control most of the commerce to Manhattan, although 
no attemi^t was made to obstruct or interfere with the other merchants and 
associations eng-aged in the trade. Up the river. Fort Nassau continued to be 
the centre from which a dozen or more Dutch traders pushed their opportu- 
nities for securing furs, which, from time to time, they sent down the river 
to Manhattan to be shipped to Holland. 

The trade to New Netherland assumed such proportions as to become a 
much-coveted prize, for a uKMiopoly of which various parties were contending. 
The Dutch Fast India Com])any was the model upon which it w;is hoped to 
found a new West India Company with a similar valuable monopoly in 
\nierica, the agitation for which had begun in 1604. For such a monopoly 
there were several aspirants, among whom one of the most notable was a com- 
pan\- headed by Henry Eelkens, who was a relative of that Jacob Eelkens who 
had charge of the trading post at Fort Nassau, on North River, as the "Groot 
River" of Hudson had come to be called, the name "Mauritius"" lasting only 
a few vears. 

The United New Netherland Company's charter having lapsetl by limita- 
tion, each ship dispatched from Holland required the special permission of the 
authorities. Such ])ermission was obtained by Henry Eelkens and associates 
in October, 161 8, for a voyage of the ship Sell lit (Shield), from Amster- 
dam to the North River. Cornelis Jacobsen Mav, whose former ad\'enture in 
the ship Fortune, in 161 5, has already been noted, made another voyage in 
August, 1620, in the ship Glad Tidings to the James River in \'irginia. He 
seems to have mixed U]) this voyage with his former one to the Delaware Bay 
region in a report and claim which he made for a charter based on the dis- 
coverv of new countries, under the general charter of March, 1614. one of the 
provisions of which was that such a discovery should be reported within four- 
teen daws from the discoverer's return to Holland. Henry Eelkens made a 
vigorous opposition to the application of May's principals for a charter, and 
withstood the efforts of the States-General to reconcile the opposing factions, 
and the charter was refused. This contention had considerable effect in 
brino-ine to a head the movement for a charter for a national association, which 
was granted and executed June 3, 1621, to the "West India Company."" 



3C HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 

Meanwhile the directors of the United Xew Netherland Company, who 
continued in the trade with the North River, had become convinced that the 
future success of New Netherland must depend upon colonization. The Dutch 
did not readily respond to any project which involved permanent expatriation, 
and the desire of the directors for colonists seemed unlikely to be gratified so 
far as the Hollanders themselves were concerned. John Robinson and his 
flock of Eno-lish Nonconformists, because of their views on church govern- 
ment, had been compelled to leave England rather than submit themselves to 
the intolerant demands of conformity on the part of the State Church, enforced 
bv the crown. Thev had settled in Leyden, four hundred families strong, 
and under the liberal policy of the Dutch government they had perfect liberty 
of conscience. They were, however, English in their habits and ideas, and 
though enjoying religious liberty, still found their surroundings in many 
respects vmcongenial. Believing in congregational independency, they were 
not much more sympathetic with the Presbvterianism of the Dutch Reformed 
Church than the Episcopalianism of the Church of England. They desired 
some place of settlement where they had not only liberty, but power; and 
where they might remove their children from contact or possible sympathy 
with any antagonistic ecclesiastical ideas. 

During their twelve years in Holland John Robinson and his people had 
fref|uently turned their attention to the possibilities of America as a final 
ha\en and home. They had several times attempted to arrange with the 
London Company and the Plymouth Company, but found no inducement in 
that direction. Then they came in touch with the United New Netherland 
Company, which promised them, if the consent of the States-General could be 
secured, to give them free transportation to New Netherland, and to furnish 
every familv with a sufficient number of cattle for its needs. The company 
wanted the api)ro\-al of the States-General because of the hostility of King 
James and his government to these religious refugees. The States-General 
had been made aware of this hostility several times through the British 
Embassy at The Hague, and the liberality of the Dutch government in har- 
boring the Pilgrims was verv distasteful to James. 

Another matter wliich entered into the deliberations of the States-General 
was a ])(ilitical one. The English claim which afterward appeared in several 
printed volumes, had already been advanced, in all ])robal)ilitv, in diplomacy, 
to the effect that because Henry Hudson was an Englishman, the country 
claimed bv the Dutch as New Netherland was, in fact, English soil. If the 
story of Argall's demand at Manhattan be true, it was doubtless known to the 
Dutch government. Therefore the States-General, to keep out of complica- 
tions, declined the request of the New Netherland directors, and refused to 
permit the Pilgrims to colonize Manhattan. Only a short time afterward 



U'ALLOOX EMIGRAXTS TO NEW NETHEREAXD 37 

about half of the Pilgrims at Leyden sailed on the Speedwell, from Delfshaven, 
and the same year began at Plymouth Rock the colonization of New England. 

Several voyages were licensed by the States-General in 1620 and 1621, 
not only to the Mauritius or North River, but also to the South River (now 
Delaware River ) which Cornells Hendricksen had visited several years before. 
This activity was accentuated by the chartering of the Dutch West India 
Company into a definite claim of sovereignty over a three-hundred mile strip 
between the northern and southern English settlements. Therefore Sir Dudley 
Carleton, ambassador of James I at The Hague, exchanged various communica- 
tions and finally, in February, 1622, addressed a formal communication, in 
French, protesting against the continuance of Dutch trade, or the planting of 
Dutch colonies in the region in which the title of King James I was, said the 
address, "notorious to every one." It concluded with the statement that the 
king had commanded him to apply to the States-General and to rec|uire of 
them in the king's name that the six or eight ships now ready to sail for the 
countrv in question should be detained and that further prosecution of the 
colonial enterprise should l)e forbidden. 

It was only a month or two after this protest that occurred the most 
important movement so far made toward peopling the new colony. There 
were located in Amsterdam a community of Protestant Walloons, or natives 
of the southern provinces of Belgium. In their native provinces they had 
been subjected to persecution for their Protestant principles, and for that 
reason they had settled in Holland; becoming identified with the Dutch church 
and in every way reputable citizens of Amsterdam. These Walloons, though 
having few of the reasons for desiring to emigrate which impelled the Pil- 
grims to leave the Netherlands for the rocky coast of Massachusetts, were 
not restrained by the ties of birth from leaving their adopted home in 
Amsterdam for another in New Netherland. Therefore they made applica- 
tion to the States of Holland for leave to go and settle in New Netherland. 
The application was referred to the Dutch West India Company, and the 
Amsterdam Chamber, which was probably the only one that then had its capi- 
tal fully subscribed, took up the matter. After about eleven months of nego- 
tiation and preparation, fifty or sixty families embarked on the ship New 
Netherland, of two hundred and sixty tons burden, in March, 1623, under 
command of Cornelison May, appointed b}- the Amsterdam Chamber to be 
captain of New Netherland. The vessel arrived ofif Manhattan Island in May 
following. The ship went up the river to the mouth of the Tawasentha River, 
where the small Fort Nassau was located; but as it was thought desirable to 
build a larger fort for the protection of the new colony, a site four miles up 
the ri\'er was chosen, where Fort Orange was built at what is now the prin- 
cipal business section of Alban}'. Adriaen Joris was left in charge of this set- 



38 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



tlenient with ci,L;"litcen W'allonn families, and as Joris was a sea captain likely 
to be awav at intervals on vovages to Holland, Daniel Kriekenbeeck was des- 
ii^'nated to command the fort and colony in his absence. 

Jacob Eelkens, who liad l)een in char.Q'e of Fort Nassau since it was 
established in 1014, had, on one of his numerous tradinj^ expeditions gone 
over to the Connecticut A'alley. He seized Seg'uin, an Indian chief, and took 
him to the fort, and he demanded more than a hundred fathoms of wampum 
for tlie sachem's ransom — a most exorl^itant demand. The Indians paid the 
])rice, Init for a long time were suspicious of all Dutch traders, with the result 
of a decided slump in the fur trade. One immediate consef|uence was the 
dismissal of Eelkens from the ser\'ice of the Dutch West India Company. 

Captain May in the same year went down the river in the X"ew Nether- 
land. A few families were left on Manhattan Island, and the ship was taken 

down the coast to the South (or Dela- 







ware) River, where on Timmer's Kill, 
near the site of the present town of 
Crloucester, New jersev, he built a fort, 
which he named Fort Nassau, about 
four miles south of Philadelphia. In 
June, 1623, tlie West India Companv 
having I)een fulh- organized, there 
sailed under its aus])ices an expedition 
of three ships, the (Jrange Tree, the 
Eagle, and the Love, which all bronght 
over more Walloon families, some for 
the settlements on the North Ri\er and 
the others for b'^ort Nassau on ."-iouth 
River. 

In this same year of 1623 the 
States-Ciener.al gave jjrovincial status to 
New Netherland ])v granting it a seal 
with the de\ice of a shield, bearing a beaver, proper, surmounted bv a count's 
coronet and ^urronnded li_\- the ^\•ords ".S'/t^/V///;/; Xo:'i Bcli:i;ii:" 

The term oi Cornelis May having e.x])ired in 1(124, W ilham X'erbulst was 
a])]iointe(l director ot New Netherland for the term of one \'e<ar. Fie had his 
head(;|uarters on the Delaware River, .and there is no record of his having" 
visited Manhattan. It was during liis administration that more than one 
hundred head ot cattle were sent over to the settlement at Manhattan. In 
1625. Willi.am \'erhulst's term expired, and in December, 1625, Peter ]\Iinuit 
was a])])ointed 1 )irector-Cieneral of the Proxince of New Netherland. 



COUNCIL OF TAWASENTHA, 1617 



CHAPTER FOUR 

THE WEST INDIA COMPANY AND PETER MINUIT 

THE FIRST DIRECTOR-GENERAL 

OF NEW NETHERLAND 

New Netherland was founded l)y merchants and traders, and throughout 
tlie history of that colony and the city of Xew York, which grew out of it, 
the commercial interest has been paramount. Although at the time oi the 
coming of Peter Minuit, in 1626, the permanent settlement of Manhattan by 
the Netherlanders had been decreed by the Dutch West India Coni])any, that 
organization had little care for political or civic theories. The com]Kmy was 
composed of merchants who were after trade, and it was in order to help that 
trade and give it stability that the colonial project had been formulated. 

The Dutch had less incentive to emigrate, at that time, than the ])eople of 
any other European nation. The religious intolerence which had driven the 
Puritans to New England and was later to drive the Quakers to Pennsylvania 
and the Catholics to Maryland, had been ])anished from the Netherlands, which 
had achieved such a high degree of civil and religious liberty that every man, 
whether Jew or Gentile, Protestant or Catholic, or of whatever denomination, 
was free to follow his conscience as to the mode of worship he desired. 

The peopling of Manhattan was, therefore, slow work. To travel four 
thousand miles by the slow and tedious methods of the ])eginning of the 
Seventeenth Century, with many discomforts and privations, and with poor and 
scantv fare, for a period of four or live months, was not the kind of thing to 
attract peoj^le from a free and prosperous land such as Holland was at that 
period. Even when the voyage was concluded there was not much in the 
pioneering life to allure people from such sober, comfortable and orderly homes 
as those of these Hollanders. 

Reports which came from New Netherland told of many privations and 
a scarcity of food, "beans and gray peas" being mentioned as the daily diet 
of the settlers. Cultivation of the soil was only possible uixm a very small 
scale, because the horses and cattle of the colony were very few in number, and 
for the same reason milk, ])utter and cheese were only obtainable by a few. 
Under all the circumstances it is not wonderful the emigrants were few while 
the country was so little developed, for the inducements were insufficient. 

Peter Minuit, the first director-general of New Netherland, embarked in 
the ship Sea ]\Iew. from Amsterdam, December 19, 1625. The endeavor to 
start the voyage was, however, blocked liy ice, and the Texel Channel was 
not cleared until Tanuarv 9, 1626, from which time the voyage was made slowly 
until the final arrival at ^Manhattan Island, May 4, 1626. With Minuit on 



40 HISTORY OF KFAV YORK 

the Sea Mew were the members of his comicil, Peter Bylvelt, Jacob 
Elbertsen Wissinck, John Jansen Brouwer, Simon Dircksen Pos, and 
Reymert Harmensen. 

The first act of Peter Minuit and his council was to Iniy Manhattan 
from the Indians. The usual method with Europeans in dealing- with the 
nations was to look for what was wanted, and take it. The Dutch method, 
as exemplified by Minuit and his associates, was the commercial one. The 
sale was officially reported to the Dutch West India Compan}- and by that 
company to the States-General as having- been made for the value of sixty 
guilders ( $24 ) and that the land conveyed covered eleven thousand morgens, 
or about 23,100 acres, the Dutch "morgen" being equal to two and one- 
tenth acres. 

The price was not paid in money, which would not have attracted the 
Indians at all, but in beads, baubles and ornaments of various kinds, and 
bright colored cloths, of which a vast quantity could be bought in Amsterdam 
for sixty guilders, and doubtless, both in quantity and quality the consider- 
ation seemed adequate to these "wild-men" as they were named in the report 
of the sale. There was no writing- connected with the sale, but the Indians 
received the g-oods, and the settlers entered into possession of the ceded lands. 

Besides the director-general and his council there arrived on the Sea Mew, 
Isaac de Rasieres, Secretary of New Netherland; and the other otificial, who 
arrived in July, 1626, was Jan Lampe (or Lampo), who was ScJwut-fiscal; 
whose duties comprised not only those now performed by a sheriff:', but also 
that of counsel, both for the prosecution and the defense, in criminal cases. 
Another important arrival on the Sea Mew was Kryn Fredericke, a military 
engineer, who set to work at once, with the aid of the inmates, to build Fort 
Amsterdam, the walls of which were at first built of earth and faced with sods, 
but in 1628, l)efore the fort was finished, the walls were strengthened by 
strong- masonry. 

Although twent3'-four large quarto volumes of documents relative to the 
history of New York have been collated by Messrs. Brodhead and 
O'Callaghan and published by the State, there is a singular paucity of archives 
relating to the administration of the first director-general of New Netherland. 
So few were these that for a long time some even ciuestioned the fact that 
such a dignitary ever held charge of the destinies of New Netherland. One 
reason for the scarcitv of documents, is the action of a thrifty official of The 
Hague, who about ninetv vears ago, finding the place encumbered with what 
he thought useless documents, sold mo-c than a Um of the West India Com- 
pany's oldest i)a]iers. in an auction sale of waste paper. Documents have been 
found, how^ex-er, in prix-ate hands, which sufficiently establish a place in Man- 
hattan's histor\- for Peter Minuit. One of these is a document signed by 



PETER MLXriT GREETS WILLIAM BRADPORD 



41 



IMinuit conveying- a part ui the patroonshi]) on the Delaware. Besides this 
document found l)y Mr. Brodhead. there are two others, discovered in 1889 
])y General James Grant Wilson in possession of Admiral \^an Rensselaer 
Bowier, in Amsterdam. These comprise a contract made with Indians in 
behalf of Kiliaen van Rensselaer of part of the patroonship of Rensselaers- 
wyck, near Albany, and a deed in pursuance of that contract made to Van 
Rensselaer, signed by "Peter Minuit, Director" and by the five councilmen 
before enumerated, attested bv Lenaert Cole, vice secretary ( in the absence of 
the secretary) and Jan Lampe, schout. 

In the year following his arrival, Director-General Alinuit sent 
greetings to Governor William Bradford of New Plymouth Colony. To 
his letters Governor Bradford replied, recalling the Pilgrims' gratitude to the 
people of the Netherlands for kindness to them when living with freedom and 
contentment in that country. He 
states, however, that the countr}- 
where they had settled was Eng- 
land's by first right, and while 
disclaiming any intention on his 
own part to interfere, he warned 
him of possible trouble with the 
A^irginians or with English fish- 
ing- vessels. In Minuit's rei)ly 
he declared to Go\-ernor Brad- 
ford, that there was no doubt as 
to the right of the Dutch to New 
Netherland, declaring that they 
had been there "twenty-six or twenty-seven years 
meant sixteen or seventeen. Further ])ersonal comnmnications were sent in 
August, by Director Minuit to Governor Bradford, l)v the hand of John Jacob- 
sen, Captain of the Drci Koiiliigcn or Three Kings, and afterward by De 
Rasieres, the provincial secretary, who was, next to the director-general, the 
|)rincipal officer of the province. De Rasieres was received at New Plymouth 
with distinction, was honorably attended with the noise of trumpets, and pleas- 
ant relations l)etween the two colonies continued for some time. 

The up-river settlement around Fort Orange (now Albany) had its 
troubles. The surrounding Indian tribes fought among themselves and some 
of the settlers, interfering in the quarrel, lost their lives ; so Director-General 
Minuit ordered all the families of that settlement to come to Manhattan, 
which they did, and, according to Brodhead, a similar order was, for some 
undisclosed reason, made to the colonists at Fort Nassau, and they also came 
to the island. A garrison of men was left at Fort Orange, but Fort Nassau 




THE OLD FORT 

Built by Peter Minuit. in 1626 



although he doubtless 



-1-,^ HISTORY OF XF.ir ]'OKK 

was al^andoned. As a consequence of these orders, l)y far the larger part 
of the population of X"e\v Xetherland was concentrated, in 1628, on Man- 
liattan Island, in the settlement around the still incomplete Fort Amsterdam, 
anfl this settlement numbered just two hundred and seventy souls. 

This is not much of a showing. The \'irginian settlement had four 
thousand, six years before, and New England's numbers were beings rapidlv 
augmented, but there seemed to be very few of the Dutch people who could 
l)e induced to leave home for the colonv. Farmers were anxious for an 
influx of farm labor, which would not come ; and industries were undeveloped 
because there were no mechanics or laborers. In order to get immigrants, 
the Dutch West India Com])anv devised a plan modified from the Portuguese 
system which had been successfully ap])lied to Madeira, the Azores and 
Brazil; which was to give hereditary grants or captaincies to courtiers who 
would settle them or improve them. This plan, more highly commercialized, 
was adopted in 1629 by the Dutch West India Company with the consent of 
the States-General. The l)eneficiaries were to be "members of the com|)anv" 
(directors or large shareholders), who w(iuld become acknowledged patroons 
of Xew Xetherland ui)on filling certain conditions, the first of which was that 
they should within the space of four years undertake to plant a colonv in X^ew 
Xetherland, of fiftv souls of adults over fifteen vears old; failing which the 
grant of patroonship should become inefi'ective. The grant should include 
sixteen miles frontage on one side or eight miles each on both sides of any 
river in Xew Xetherland. There was no mention, and therefore, practically 
no limitation of the distance backwartl from the stream which these grants 
should take. It was made a condition of the title, that it should be purchased 
trom the Indians, should be occu])ie(l bv settlers at the expense of the 
patroon. and when these conditions were fulfilled he was to be absolute 
owner of all ])rivileges of hunting and fishing on such lands, of the tim- 
ber and mineral resources, and could cultivate the soil to anv extent lie 
desired. All products, howxwer, must I)e sent to the l-'atherland, after ])eing 
first brought to Manhattan. The i)atroons might trade anvwhere from 
Xewfoundland to b'lorida. but all goods received in trade must be taken to 
[Manhattan to be disitosed of. The fur trade was prohiI)ited to the patroons 
or their colonists, all l)ea\'er, otter, mink, and other peltries Ijeing reser\-ed 
for the company. The patroons and their settlers were, for the space of ten 
years, to be fi'ee from customs dues, taxes, excise and imposts of all kinds 
whatsoever, and thev were to be protected bv the comjianv's troops and 
navies from inland or toreign wars, and aggression. Manhattan Island was 
exem])ted from the territorv which nu'ght be located I)\- a i)atroon. 

The lirst ])atroonships were located bv Sanmel lUoem.art and Sanuiel 
Godyn, merchants of Amsterdam and directors of the companv, who secured 



THIi FATROOXSHIPS IISTABLISIIRP 43 

lands extendino- tliirty-two miles aloni;- the Sdiitliwest bank of the Delaware 
River and sixteen miles on the northwest shore. These ])atroons i^a\e their 
patent the name of Szvancndacl or Swan's \'alley. Thev ]3lanted a colony 
there, but Fort Nassau liad been abandoned, and an Indian uprising- occurred, 
in which the settlers were exterminated. Kiliaen van Rensselaer secured 
lands at Fort Orano-e. He was a pearl merchant in Amsterdam and a 
director of the com])any, and his patroonship of Rensselaerswyck was the 
only one which proved to l)e a success. Michael Paauw, another director of 
the company, planted his colony at Hoboken-Hacking-, across the ri\-er from 
Manhattan Island, which he called after himself in the Latinized fnrm of 
Pavonia. He afterward added Staten Island and another colony on the 
Jersey side, on the site of the present jersey City, which he called Ahasimus. 
In all these colonies other Amsterdam merchants became interested as 
partners. 

The ])atroons soon found that their pri\ileo-es made them little return. 
They were not able to jirosecute agriculture to anv large extent, and thev 
were prohibited from the fur trade, which was almost the only really 
lucrative activity of the colony. They complained to the companv, which 
in turn rescinded some of the most important exemptions. An investigation 
which followed convinced the States-General that the grants were excessive, 
and in other features objectionalile: and llie ujjshot of the matter was that 
Peter Minuit, who had issued the charters, was recalled. So far as the facts 
are known this seems to have been an unjust decision, as on the face of it 
he was bound to carrv nut the ])rovisions of the com])anv's charter in 
relatiiin to these matters. With the director, went the sclKXit-fiscal, Lampe, 
early in the year 1632 on the ship Eciuli-aclit (Union), for Flolland. The 
Eendracht also carried several families of returning colonists, and had a 
cargo of five thousand beaver skins. Meeting with contrary winds in the 
British Channel, the ship was compelled t<i take refuge in Plvmouth Harlior, 
where she was detained by the Englisli authorities on the charge of illegal 
traffic in British monopolies. Minuit sent news of the actions of the English 
to the Dutch West India Company, and to the ambassador of the States- 
General in London. A correspondence ensued, in which the respective claims 
of the two countries were set forth. 

The English claimed the region under the prior discovery of Cabot, 
declaring it to be included in the grant made by James I to the Plymouth 
Company; that Henry Hudson was an iuiglishman, and that his further 
exploration of a countrv originally discovered by an English expedition 
vested no right bv discoverv in his alien employers. The Dutch contended 
that there was no previous discovery by Cabot of that section of America; that 
the English had failed to occupy it; that Hudson's was the first discovery 



44 HISTORY OF XFAV YORK 

and that not his nationality, but the flag under which he sailed, fixed the 
sovereignty of his discoveries. Furthermore they had followed the discovery 
by a return voyage in 1610; by the grant of a trading charter in 16 14; and 
by the organization of the Dutch West India Company in 1621; and not only 
so, but had bought the land from the natives who originally owned it. 

The English replied to the latter argument that the Indians were 
nomads who were not bo)ia fide owners of the land, and had no right to sell 
it. Each nation held to its ground, but internal troubles made the English 
hesitate to enforce their claims, and without admitting the Dutch contention 
they postponed further action and released the Eendracht: ]\Iinuit thus 
dropped out of the history of i\Ianhattan. He was again in America, 
however, in 1638. ])lanting a Swedish colony on the Delaware River on 
behalf of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. 

The administration of Minuit seems to have been characterized by zeal 
and efficienc}'. It was a time of beginnings, and the settlements in New 
Netherland were small, the total popuiation^of Bort Amsterdam two hundred 
and sevent}' in 1628. which included the Dutch settlers of Fort Orange who 
had been called from there to Fort Amsterdam because of the unsafe 
conditions up river where there had been trouble with the Indians. 

Several industries were begun upon a primitive scale. There was a 
gristmill, operated by horse power, to which a sawmill was added; brick- 
making was tried, but proved a failure; but the ])rincipal industry aside from 
farming was that of cutting timber, of which the supj^ly was greater than 
could be utilized in the colom- or shipped, with the facilities at hand. There 
were two Walloon shipbuilders who had looked with wonder at the tall and 
straight timber of the region, and they conceived the idea that it would be a 
most profitable thing in itself, besides being a valuable exhibit of the timber 
resources of the colony, if a vessel larger than anv that then sailed the seas 
should be built there and launched. Director Minuit encouraged the proiect 
and insured its success, by guaranteeing a financial backing- from the West 
India Company, with the result that there was built and launched in the har- 
bor of New York, in 1630, the ship New Netherland, said by some authori- 
ties to have been of twelve hundred tons burden, but at any rate sufficientlv 
large to merit the name of "The Great Ship." 

A familiar view of social conditions in Fort Amsterdam during the 
administration of Peter Minuit was discovered in 1858 among the archives 
of the Classis of Amsterdam, in a letter dated August 11, 1628, from Rev. 
Jonas Michaelius. the first regularly ordained clergyman in New Netherland, 
to a brother clergyman. Rev. Adrianus Smoutius, of Amsterdam. Another 
letter from Michaelius, to J(ihannes Foreest of Hoorn, was found in 1902. Fle 
went to New Netherland in 1628 with his wife, two little girls, and a bov. 



B.'ISTLIEX JAXSZnX CROLS ADMINISTRATIOX 45 

meeting such hardships and privations that his wife died seven weeks 
after his arrival at Fort Amsterdam. Another of the incidents told of 
Director Minuit's administration has been derived from this letter, and from 
one written by Isaac de Rasieres, secretary of the colony. 

Before the arrival of Domine Michaelius the religious interests of the 
small settlement had been looked after by two laymen, Bastiaen Janszen 
Crol and Jan Huygen, who were what was called Krankciibezocckcrs, or 
visitors of the sick; and in addition to the duties indicated by their name 
they read to the people on Sundays "from texts of Scripture with the creed." 
The meeting place in these earliest davs had been over the horse-mill, in "a 
spacious room sufficient to accommodate a large congregation," and alcove it 
a tower, surmounted bv church bells captured by the Dutch from the 
Spaniards in Porto Rico. Pastor Michaelius at his first service had fully fifty 
communicants, Walloons and Dutch, which was a goodly number for a settle- 
ment of less than three hundred persons. Because some of the Walloons 
understood but little Dutch, the pastor administered the Lord's Supper to 
them in French, and read his sermon in French, not feeling sure enough of 
his own French to attempt extempore preaching in that tongue. For elders 
of his church, in the organization formed by ]\Iichaelius, he had the two 
krankenbezoeckers above mentioned, of whom Crol was director of the post 
at Fort Orange, and Jan Huygen was the West India Company's storekeeper, 
and a brother-in-law of Governor Alinuit, who also served as elder, an office he 
had formerly filled in the French or Walloon Church at Wesel. The consistory 
formed by these elders with Pastor Michaelius is still alive under the name of 
the Consistory of the Collegiate Church of the City of New York, the oldest 
organization in America representing the Presbyterian system, and the first 
organization of the church now officially known as the Reformed Church in 
America, but still in popular speech the "Reformed Dutch Church." 

Director-General Minuit was succeeded as director-general of New 
Netherland by Bastiaen Janszen Crol (or Krol), mentioned above, who held 
the office until the arrival of Wouter (or Walter) van Twiller in 1633. It 
has generallv been accepted as history that \'an Twiller was the direct suc- 
cessor of Peter ?^linuit in the office, but Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer, in her 
recently published History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Cen- 
tury, shows conclusively from the Van Rensselaer papers that Crol had l)een 
appointed by the directors of the West India Company to the office, as he him- 
self describes it, of "Director-General of New Netherland at Fort Amsterdam 
on the island Manhates lying in the mouth of the aforesaid North River 
also named [Mauritius, and served in this office thirteen months." It is quite 
probable that his was only an ad interim appointment, but he filled the office 
for the period named and exercised the executive authority. 



46 



HISTOKV Of XEir YORK 




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CHAPTER FIVE 

NEW AMSTERDAM UNDER THE ADMINISTRATION 
OF DIRECTOR-GENERAL WOUTER VAN TWILLER 

\\'outer van Twiller. third of the (hrectors-general of New Xetherland, 
was a nephew of the patroon Kihaen van Rensselaer. He had l^een in New 
Netherland before, probably in connection with the selection of the lands about 
Fort Orange, for his relative, in 1629. \\'hen appointed director-general he 
sailed for Fort Amsterdam on the ship Soxiihcrg (Salt Mountain), which 
reached its destination in April, 1633. Jan van Remund, who had succeeded 
De Rasieres as secretary a year or two before the recall of Peter Alinuit, and 
had made the complaints which had led to Minuit's dismissal, was sent back 
as secretary, in the Soutberg, with Van Twiller ; but part of its former duties 
had been separateil from that office and were conferred upon Cornells van 
Tienhoven, who came on the same vessel, with the title of Bookkeeper of 
\\'ages. There also came Domine Everardus Bogardus, a clergyman sent by 
the company to take the place of Michaelius ; and Adam Roelantsen, who 
was the first schoolmaster officially sent to Fort Amsterdam, although the 
school itself had alreadv lieen established by Domine ]\Iichaelius. This school 
has continued to exist ever since, except for the interruption of the Revolu- 
tion, and is now known as the School of the Collegiate Reformed Church in 
the City of New York. Mrs. Van Rensselaer calls attention to the fact, that 
as it was "founded two vears before the Boston Latin School, it is the oldest 
school in the United States." The other jiassengers on the Soutberg included 
a coni])any of one hundred and four soldiers, and the four members of Van 
Twiller's council — Captain John Jansen Hesse. }ilartin Gerritsen. Andreas 
Hudde and Jacques Bentyn. Conrad Notelman. who had served as schout- 
fiscal, or sheriff, under Crol. was retained in that office. 

One of the incidents of the voyage of the Soutlierg had been the capture 
of a Spanish bark, or caravel, laden with sugar. 

One of the partners in the patroonship of Swanendael on the South 
(Delaware) River was David Pieterz de \'ries. of Hoorn, who was an explorer 
and mariner of distinction. After the massacre of the first colony on the 
South River he had tried to plant another at the same place, first going to the 
land and making satisfactory arrangements with the Indians. But he found 
settlers shv about going to a place where their predecessors in settlement 
had been butchered, and after a visit to Virginia, where he was pleasantly 
received by the governor. Sir John Harvey, he sailed north, and anchored off 
the island of Manhattan. April 16, 1633, and at once made the acquaintance 
of the director-general, \'an Twiller, who had arrived a few days before, and 



4,S 



HISTORY OF XEIJ- YORK 



to whom also lie had brought some goats and a ram as a present from the 
governor of Virginia. 

Two days later an English ship. The William, sailed through the Nar- 
rows and anchored in New York Bay, off Fort Amsterdam. The vessel, 
owned by a company of London merchants, was commanded by Jacob Eelkens, 
who had formerly been the agent of the Dutch West India Company at Fort 
Nassau. Eelkens, incensed at his dismissal, had entered the English service 
and had now arrived with the intention of sailing up the river to trade with 




WRATH OF VANTWILLER 



the natives. Dc \'ries tells us that Eelkens made \'an Twiller acquainted with 
his jiurpose to the effect that he had come to the possessions of the English 
king to trade on Hudson's River which had been discovered by Henry Hud- 
son, a subject of His Late Majesty, James L and set forth the other points 
of the argument for English sovereignty. \'an Twiller replied that the river 
was udt Hudson's, but the Mauritius River, and that all the surrounding 
regions were the possessions of their High Mightinesses the States-General 
and the Prince of Orange, their Stadtholder. He ordered the Orange colors 
to be displayed from the flagstaff at Fort Amsterdam, and three shots to be 
fired in honor of the jirince. Eelkens in defiance ran the English ensign to 
the fore, and fired three shots in honor of King Charles, then weighed anchor 
and sailed up the river. 



JACOB EELKIXS SHXT HOME WITHOUT .1 C.IRCO 49 

De \'ries stands high as a veracious chronicler, and he tells how Van 
Twiller broke out in a rage; but instead of using his forces to intercept the 
intruder, he called upon the people of Fort Amsterdam to assemble on the 
riverbank just outside the fort, then, ordering a cask of wine to be brought, 
he called upon them to drain a bumper to the confusion of The William and 
its commander and to the success of the Prince of Orange. However satis- 
factory this may have been to Van Twiller, it disgusted De Vries, who had 
made several voyages to the East Indies, where similar encroachments of the 
English had met a very dififerent reception. He berated Van Twiller for cow- 
ardice, and said that had he had the command he would have made Eelkens 
obey "by the persuasion of some iron beans sent him from our guns, and 
would not have allowed him to go up the river." He suggested that there 
was yet time to defeat the plans of Eelkens. The well-armed Soutberg, 
which had brought the director-general from Amsterdam, was still at anchor- 
age, and a force of over one hundred soldiers was under his command. 
Why not pursue The William and prevent the success of its errand? 

Van Twiller, after several days' deliberation, sent under command of Crol, 
the former director-general, a pursuing" force up the river, including a part of 
the soldiers, but not the man-of-war; the expedition including a pinnace, the 
caravel captured by the Soutberg and a hoy. Eelkens had established him- 
self on an island near Fort Orange and was carrying on a successful trade 
with the Indians. The Fort Orange settlers beat the Indians who came to 
trade with Eelkens, so far as they could catch them, but offered no personal 
resistance to Eelkens himself. When the soldiers from Fort Amsterdam 
arrived he had collected a large supply of furs, ready to load the vessel. The 
soldiers forced Eelkens to stop trading operations, made the English sailors 
put the furs on board The William, convoyed that vessel to Fort Amster- 
dam, and when thev arrived there Eelkens was made to give up the peltries 
and return to England without a cargo. 

The owners of The William complained to the English Government and 
a claim for damages was made through the Dutch ambassador to the States- 
General, by whom it was referred to the West India Company. The whole 
matter again came up for argument, the result being a request by the West 
India Company that the two governments should amicably settle the dispute 
by agreeing upon a boundarv line between New Netherland and New Eng- 
land. In anticipation of this being done, Van Twiller bought from the Indians 
large areas of land, including the tract which now includes the City of Hart- 
ford, and other lands within the region claimed by the Dutch by right of dis- 
covery. This action met with opposition from the Pl\'mouth and Massachu- 
setts colonists, who sent companies to settle on the Connecticut lands. The 
details of these disputes, or of those which arose in the South in regard to 



50 HISTORY OF XHW YORK 

Eno-lish claims to the land occupied by the Dutch on the Delaware have only 
an incidental connection with the history of the City of New York. Thev 
were ^'ery real and \-ery troulilesome to Van Twiller. 

The director-^-eneral had somewhat improved the settlement, and espe- 
cially the fort, which was nnlinished at the time of his arrival. This he 
repaired and rel)uilt, adding one or more stone bastions. Inside the fort, on 
what is now Pearl Street between Broad and Whitehall Streets, he built a 
wooden church, into which Domine Bogardus" congregation moved from the 
room (^ver the horse-mill; and a house and stable for the Domine; l)uilt a 
house for the coo]K-r, the smith, and the corporal; another house for the mid- 
wife — all of these being- servants of the companv, antl also built a bakery, a 
stal^le for the goats which the Governor of X'irginia had sent, and which 
increased cjuite rapidly ; and he threw a bridge across the creek which flowed 
through the centre of the town. Conrad Xotelman, the schout-fiscal, was 
su])erseded in i'>34 b\" JAilibertus van Dincklagen, who was a doctor of laws, 
and afterward proved a serious trouble to Director-General \'an Twiller. 

That official was not a person calculated to build up a new colony to 
greatness. He was much addicted to wine, and De X'ries, who while trading 
much all over New Netherland, made his head(|uarters at Fort Amsterdam, 
has told of many orgies in which \'an Twiller took part which ended in 
drunken quarrels. He and his companions took care of themselves in the way 
of grants, the director taking not onlv Nut Island, since called Governors 
Island, but also several islands in the East River, then called Hell Gate, and 
with .Vndreas Hudde, a councilor; W'olfert Gerritsen. a relalive of Councilor 
Gerritsen ; and the trumpeter at the fort, Jacol) van Corlaer, he obtained pos- 
session of fifteen thousand acres, now comprised in the town of Flatlands on 
Long Island, and later called New Amersfoot l)v another settler, after the 
town in the province of Utrecht, from which he came. The title to the fif- 
teen thousand acres was ])urchased from the Indians, but was not confirmed 
by the West India Company, which was not notified of the transaction. In 
Manhattan several farms or hou^ccrics were granted to families by \'an 
Twiller. One of these comprising thirt\--one morgens (about sixty acres) 
was granted to Roelof janssen, who with his wife and children, had been sent 
out to Rensselaerswyck in 1630. He removed to Manhattan rmcl secured the 
grant, which was located in the region north of the conii)anv's Bouwerie No. 
1, and south of the swampy ground on which Canal Street was afterward 
laid out. He died soon after the grant was made, and his wife, commonly 
known as Annetje or Anneke Jans, mherited the farm. She was a daughter 
of the official midwife, for whom a house was built at the fort. She did not 
remain a widow A-er\- long, for Domine Bogardus, who was a widower, mar- 
ried her, and the farm was popularly known as the Domine's Bouwerie. This 



CHAKACrER OF U'OVTER J'AX IIVILLIIR :A 

grant was afterward contirmed to Mrs. Anneke Bog-ardus In- Governor Stuy- 
vesant, in 1654, after the shipwreck and death of the Domine, to whom she 
had liorne four children to add to the family of four she had borne her first 
husband. After the English captured the province the grant was confirmed 
to her heirs, who sold it in 1671 to Colonel Lovelace, though one of the heirs 
failed to join in the conveyance. It was then joined to the King's Farm 
( formerly known as the Company's Bouwerie Xo. i ) , adjoining, and with it 
was presented in 1703 to Trinity Church. Under the name of "Anneke Jans" 
farm" it became the subject of numerous lawsuits in the Eighteenth and 
Nineteenth Centuries. 

Jacobus \-an Corlaer, who had obtained the first recorded patent on Long 
Island, also received one in the most eastern part of Manhattan, still to be 
identified by the name of "Corlaer's Hook," which survives, and another in 
the fertile flatlands then known as Muscoota, but later by the name of Har- 
lem Flats. It was the first plantation in Harlem and the site of the town of 
Harlem founded in later vears. 

Near that Corlaer grant was one settled by Henry and Isaac de F(irest, 
sons of Jesse de Forest. They came to Fort Amsterdam on the ship Rensse- 
laerswyck in 1637, Henry de Forest being mate and supercargo of that ship. 
Their lands included part of what is now Mount ^lorris Park. Henry de 
Forest died soon after receiving the land, but Isaac, who became a resident 
of New Amsterdam, was the father of fourteen children, and is the progen- 
itor of all the American De Forests, among whom many have attained dis- 
tinction in New York and elsewhere. In 1^)38 the De Forest brothers were 
joined by their sister and her husband, Jean la Montague, a French physi- 
cian, \\-ho was the founder of the well-known La ^Montague family of New 
^'ork, and who soon after his arrival took a prominent jilace in the govern- 
ment of New X'etherland. 

\^an Twiller a])pears in the light of history to have been a very incom- 
petent governor. He lacked, in the first place, the training for executive 
position. His uncle, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, wrote to him frequently, giving 
him good advice, but he was neglectful of many things. He seldom reported 
to the companv, he was too fond of wine, he neglected the buildings he had 
erected for the company, cultivated the company's Bouwerie No. i for his own 
benefit, used the company's negroes in the cultivation of his private tolxicco 
plantation, and used his office to enrich himself. 

De \'ries makes much of his cowardice with the English ship The William; 
but it may have been prudence rather tlian cowardice which inspired him then, 
'as he was under explicit instructions from the company to avoid armed con- 
flicts with those nations which were at peace with the Netherlands. Van 
Twiller on behalf of the company had bought l)ack all of the patroonships in 



HISTORY OF XEIF YORK 



New Xetherland exce])t that of Rensselaerswyck, which belonged to his uncle, 
in whose interests his enemies charged him with exhibiting too much zeal. 
Another source of weakness to Van Twiller was his quarrel with Domine 
Bogardus. The latter was a very different sort of pastor from Michaelius, 
who seemed to have the temperament, as he had the experience to fit him for 
the building up of a church in a new place. Bogardus had a violent temper, 
and Van Twiller had no special respect for the cloth. Among the complaints 
against \'an Twiller which reached the company some of the strongest came 
from the Domine. Still stronger was the report made by Lubbertus van 
Dincklagen, who had succeeded Conrad Notelman as schout-fiscal, to which 
ofiice he had brought excellent abilities and legal training. He protested 
against the conduct of \^an Twiller, who was so incensed that he refused to 
pay the salary of the schout-fiscal and finally dismissed him and sent him 
back to Holland. This proved to be the undoing of the director, for Van 
Dincklagen made complaint against Van Twiller before the States-General. 
He was referred l)ackward and forward, but his legal ability enabled him to 
compel a hearing and prove his charges, with the result that the directors sent 
a letter of recall to Van Twiller, and on September 2, 1637, Wilhelm Kieft was 
commissioned his successor. It was several years, however, before Van 
Dincklagen collected his salary from the company. 

Van Twiller was not without his good points; his dealings with the 
Indians were marked by firnmess and justice, and he showed in these transac- 
tions that he was capable of good administration; but his local official acts and 
his personal conduct justify historians in placing him among the most incom- 
petent and least honorable of men ever intrusted with important governmental 
powers. 



CHAPTER SIX 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF WILHELM KIEFT 

AS DIRECTOR-GENERAL 

TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS 

Wilhelni Kieft, the new governor, sailed for New Netherland in Septem- 
ber, 1637, but wintered in Bermuda and did not arrive in the colony until 
March, 1638. The settlement had come to be called "New Amsterdam" 
instead of "Fort Amsterdam," though the fort remained as the chief feature 
of the town. Kieft found the town to be in bad shape. The fort and build- 
ings erected by Van Twiller were badly in need of repairs; only one of the 
three windmills was in working- order ; the companv's employees were engaged 
in smuggling', and its cattle had been sold to up-river settlers and their lands 
had gone out of cultivation ; and most of the vessels were leaky or for other 
reasons out of commission. 

Cornelis van Tienhoven, who had been Bookkeeper of Wages under Van 
Twiller, was promoted Koopman or Secretary of the Province. Ulrich 
Lupoid, who had served as schout-fiscal since Van Dincklagen had been sent 
to Holland, continued in that office until the arrival, in 1839, of Cornelis van 
der Huyghens, sent out to be schout-fiscal by the company, at which time Kieft 
appointed Lupoid commissary of stores. Kieft arranged the government of 
the province on a more autocratic plan than that followed by his predecessors 
in the director-generalship. He was permitted to choose councilors for him- 
self, and chose only one, the newly arrived Huguenot physician. Dr. Jean la 
Montague, who had one vote in council, the director-general retaining two 
votes. 

Van Twiller, though summoned home by the company, did not return to 
Holland for more than a year. He leased the company's Bouwerie No. i 
from Governor Kieft, from whom he also secured a grant of a hundred mor- 
gens of land near the Bossen Bouwerie, and leased from Jacobus van Corlaer 
his Long Lsland "flat-lands." He returned to Holland in 1631), but long- 
retained his ]^roperty in New Netherland, where Governor Kieft acted as his 
agent. 

Domine Bogardus remained at his post in New Amsterdam. \'an Dinck- 
lagen, in Holland, had taken reports to Amsterdam about Bogardus, not much 
more complimentary than those he had carried about Van Twiller. The 
Domine wrote to the officials of the Classis of Amsterdam asking- leave to go 
to the Fatherland to defend himself against the charges of the deposed schout- 
fiscal, but the reply came for him to remain at his post, "so that the Church of 
God mav increase more and more everv day." 



HISTORY OF XEjr YORK 



Prior to the administration of Governor Kieft there are no official records 
now existino- except a few land patents. The records of the administrations 
of Alinuit, Crol and \'an Twiller were doubtless taken to Amsterdam by the 
latter when he sailed thither in 1631); as Kiliaen van Rensselaer in a letter 
of that date claimed that \'an Twiller had shown all his books and papers to 
the directors of the com])anv in disproof of \'an Dincklagen's charges against 
him ; and an affidavit of Cornelis Melyn tells about getting from \'an Twiller, 
in 1840, written information with a copy of the deed or bill of sale connected 
with the purchase of Staten Island by Governor Alinuit. These most ancient 
of official papers were possiblv included in the waste-paper sale in Amsterdam, 
in 1828, of which mention has formerlv been made. 

The earliest ordinances of Kieft's council of two, preserved in the State 
archives, relate to the traffic in furs, which was forbidden to all free persons 
except as the Charter of Freedoms prescribed, while employees of the com- 
]>anv, high and low. were absolutely prohibited from taking any part in the 
ftir trade, and the selling of guns or ammunition to Indians was declared to 
be a capital otfense. The ordinances were not only directed against these 
manifestly public ofifenses, but also included regttlations against the absence of 
sailors from their ships after nightfall; fixing hours for beginning and ceas- 
ing dailv work and prohibiting idleness and slackness during the working 
hours ; establishing a passport system, which ])rohibited all persons from leav- 
ing the island without written permission ; restricting the liquor traffic : and 
ordinances against rebellion, theft, perjury, slander, "carnal intercourse with 
heathens, blacks or other persons;" and establishing an excise and inspection 
system for tobacco. 

Kieft's first international complication came in the establishing of a 
Swedish settlement on South River by a colony led by Peter Alinuit, former 
Director-General of New Netherland, and Samuel Blommaert, who had for- 
merlv claimed a ])atroonshii) on Fresh ( Connecticut ) River, and had been 
interested in Swanendael. These Hollanders, in the service of Sweden, 
lirought a large ])arty of traders and colonists, and bitilt a trading post and 
a fort near the present site of Wilmington. Delaware, which he named Chris- 
tina, in honor of the Swedish queen. This Swedish colonv was successful, and 
established a large trade in furs, in spite of the i)rotest of Governor Kieft. As 
they did not heed that ])rotest, he appealed to the company, which in turn 
made the intrusion of the Swedes into the southern part of Xew Netherland 
known to the States-General ; but that bodv did not feel like offending Swe- 
den, and ])evond making a ])rotest did nothing. So the Swedish colonv of 
Xew Sweden continued and John Prinz ])ecame its governor in 1642. 

To the north the New Englanders had pushed down to the Connecticut 
River recfion and had established themselves at Hartford, New Haven, and 



DUTCH IMMIC.RATIOX AXD LAXD GRAM'S 



elsewhere, and were dis]mtin,<;- witli the Dutcli the possession of the eastern 
end of Lono- Island. Kieft disputed the Eno-Hsh advance, step by ste]), but 
was unable to dislod,8:e the intruders; and the En8;lish became so numerous in 
that region that the States-General did not deem it wise to put much energy 
into its diplomatic protests. 

The company had s])ent some time in the endeavor to create a ])laii for 
the further colonization of New Netherland. Several had l)een fornmlated 
and tinally one was promulg'ated by the company. It was a great impro\'e- 
ment as a colonizing programme over the jiatroon svstem, which had proved a 
failure, except that at Rensselaerswyck, and that had been of little benefit to 
any except the patroon. The new charter did awav with the company's 
monopoly in the fur trade, permitting" anv free person to engage in it on condi- 
tion of payment of a moderate duty, but retaining a monoi»l_\- of transporta- 
tion to and from New Netherland. Any inhabitant of the Republic or of a 
friendly country might take up lands, and could carrv to the colonv (though 
only in the company's ships ) cattle, merchandise and property ; but in addition 
to freight dues they were to pav in Holland ten ])er cent, of the value of all 
merchandise sent from there, and at New Amsterdam fifteen ])er cent, upon all 
colonial products exported. As a stimulus to agriculture the director-general 
was to bestow upon everv immigrant as much land as he could pro])erly culti- 
vate, with a provision for the giving of deeds, and for paying ground rent to 
the company after the land had been occupied for a specified period. 

The effect of this more liberal charter was to stimulate immigration; no 
longer entirely confined to Hollanders and Walloons, although these were still 
the chief additions to the population. Even before the new charter was pro- 
mulgated, Kieft issued patents to grants made by his predecessor, to which 
manv others were added as the colony grew. De Vries, the explorer and his- 
torian, again arrived in New Amsterdam in December, 1638, l)ringing a 
colonv which he settled on Staten Island, and afterward settled on Manhattan 
Island, two Dutch miles above the fort. Andreas Hudde received a grant of 
one hundred morgens on the northern end of the island, and was to pay a 
ground rent of a pair of capons annually, and one-tenth of the increase of the 
stock after ten years. Van Twiller, greediest of land grabbers, secured a 
grant at Sapohanican (later, and until recently, called Greenwich A'illage). 
on North River, besides leasing one of the company's bouweries. Abraham 
Isaacksen Planck (or ver Planck ) who was a son of the schout of Rensselaers- 
wyck, obtained a grant for Paulus Hoek, east of Ahasimas (Jersey City), 
which was a part of the lapsed patroonship of Pavonia. for 550 guilders ; and 
in the same neighborhood Kieft also leased a company farm to Jan Evertsen 
Bout for a rental of one-fourth of its produce and another to a man named 
Teunissen, who not only cleared and fenced the land and stocked it liberally 



,i(; HISTOK)' OF NEJV YORK 

with cattle, hogs, sheep and g'oats, but also ])lante(l orchards and built a brew- 
house. The secretary of the colony, Van Tienho\-en, leased a bouwerie oppo- 
site Dr. La Montagne's plantation of Vredendael ( between Eighth .\venue and 
the Harlem River). 

In 163S Jochem Pietersen Kuyter. who was a Dane, and who had seen 
much military service in the East Indies, came to New Amsterdam under a 
special permit, in an armed ship which he chartered for the occasion, bringing 
with him his family, manv herdsmen and a large number of cattle. He 
secured a ])lantation in the neighborhood of the De Forest and La ?\Iontagne 
grants in what was then called Aluscoota, but afterward Harlem Elats. He 
called his grant Zci^cndall. or "Valley of Blessing." Kuyter brought with 
him h'nas Bronck. a brother Dane, who was the first settler of the region 
across the Harlem. He secured a tract of land opposite Kuyter's and extend- 
ing back to a river which the Indians called Ali-qiia-hung. l)ut which soon 
became known, after its first settler, as the Bronx River. Bronck called his 
plantation Emmaus, but the settlers soon called it Bronck's Land. This 
name afterward disa])peared in the name Alorrisania, but the river is still 
Bronx, and the same name is attached to the ra|)idly growing borough of 
New York Citv north of the Harlem. He was a Lutheran in religion, and a 
man of education. He built a stone mansion, with a tile roof, a spacious barn. 
a tobacco house, and various outhouses, and put his farm in a fine state of cul- 
tivation. It was in his house where the peace treaty with the U'cckqiiacs- 
gccks was signed, in 1642. 

Cornelis ?vlel\'n, a wealthy man who had formerly I)een in the tanning 
business in Amsterdam, and who had yisited New Netherland as supercargo 
of a vessel, in order to make inspection of the country, secured, on his return 
to Holland, permission to settle as a patroon on Staten Island. He brought 
his family and dependents and a lot of cattle. De Vries, who thought he 
should have the whole island, objected, but afterward gave his consent that 
Melyn should have a grant bordering on the Narrows; and later, under orders 
from Amsterdam, he was given a patent for all of the island excejit a portion 
actually covered by De \'ries' bouwerie. A patent was also issued to Myndert 
van der Horst, in 1641, on Achtcr L'o! (Newark Bay) which included the 
Vallev of the Hackingsack River, extending north to a plantation which Cap- 
tain De \'ries had established and had named Vriesendall. De \'ries, in his 
narrative, describes this land which he had bought from the Indians as being 
"a beautiful region called Tappaen, on the west bank of the river, a few miles 
north of Fort Amsterdam." 

Governor Kieft, in 1640, caused an ordinance to be i:)assed reciuiring 
every man at and around Fort Amsterdam to supply himself with a gun or 
a cutlass and side arms and be ready at any moment to report at appointed 



KIEFT AROUSES RESEXTMENT OF RU'ER LXDIAXS 57 

places, with their corporals, for service: this beino- the first militia regailation 
for New Netherland. At this time there were only fifty regular soldiers 
(detached from the Dutch army) at the fort, under command of an ensign, 
Hendrick van Dyck. In the colony, until the accession of Kieft, a policy of 
conciliation had been pursued, almost uniformly, by the colonial authorities 
and people. Kieft's orders from the company were to maintain these good 
relations, but it was the governor's nature to be harsh and arbitrary, and at 
the very first opportunity he stirred uj) trouble with the savag-es. 

Claiming recompense from friendl\- River Indians on the ground that the 
Dutch had ])rotected them from the Mohawks, Kieft, falsely stating that he 
was instructed by the company so to do, tried to collect tribute in corn or 
service from them; a demand which the affected Indians vigorously contested. 
In 1840, Kieft. hearing of certain depredations, accused the Raritan Indians 
of Staten Island, and sent soldiers to demand satisfaction, although the fact 
was that the ravages were the work of white men. The soldiers killed 
several Indians and cruelly maltreated others. It was in retaliation for this 
outrage that the Raritans destroyed houses and crops on De Vries' plantation 
the following year, and killed four of his men. Kieft then declared that the 
entire tribe of the Raritans should be exterminated, trying to incite the 
River Indians to kill them by offering a bounty for each Raritan head. 

The next trouble with the Indians had its origin in a crime which had 
been committed fifteen years before. In 1626, soon after the arrival of Direc- 
tor-General Minuit, three of his negro servants robbed and killed an Indian 
in Manhattan, near the Kalck Hock ("Collect") Pond. The Indian's tribe, 
the Weckquaesgecks, demanded satisfaction, but Minuit did not pav bhiod- 
money for the Indian's death nor punish the murderers. An Indian boy, 
nephew of the man who was killed, was present at the murder, and g'rew up 
with the purpose of vengeance. From the home of the tribe in what is now 
\\'estchester County, he came to Manhattan and killed an old farmer and 
wheelwright known as Claes Cornelissen Swits ("the Swiss"), who had leased 
a small farm which was ])art of Jacob van Corlaer's bouwerie, south of the 
Harlem River, and then escaped across the river. Kieft sent a message to 
the sachem of the tribe demanding that the nuirderer should be surrendered 
to him for punishment ; but that chief replied endorsing the deed of the young- 
brave and expressing regret that he had not killed twenty white men instead 
of one. This defiant response alarmed Kieft. His attitude toward the Indians 
had Iteen exactly contrary to the policy of the company. He had run the col- 
ony and the city autocratically, and the responsibility was therefore his ; and 
now he was accused of attempting to create a condition of war to further his 
own ends, meanwhile he carefully guarding his own safety, being so cowardly 
that he had not slept outside the fort for a single night during his residence. 



HISTORY OP XEir YORK 



He therefore, as a plan by which he could in a measure relieve himself 
of responsibility, summoned all heads of families to a meeting at the fort. At 
this meeting, which was held August 29, 1641, there assembled men from 
Manhattan, Pavonia, Staten Island and Long Island, who elected twelve men 
to represent what they called the "Gcinccudc (or Commonaltv ) of New 
Amsterdam." This action is important because it begins the history of repre- 
sentative government in what is now Xew ^'ork Citv with the adjacent Jersey 
side as an integral part of it. The men chosen were: David Pietersen de 
Vries ; Jacques Bentyn ( who had served on \'an Twiller's cotmcil ) ; Jan Jan- 
sen Damen (or Dam), stepfather of Jan \"inje, the first white child born in 
Manhattan; Hendrick jansen, a tailor; !Maryn Adriaensen, who had previouslv 
been master tobacco inspector for several years at Rensselaerswyck; Abram 
Pietersen Molenaar; Frederik Lubbertsen, a seaman ; Jochem Pietersen Kuv- 
ter; Gerrit Dircksen; Joris Rapelje; Abram Planck; and Jacob Stofifelsen, who 
had served as overseer of negroes and commissary for the company. This 
bodv, thereafter known as the Twelve Men, organized bv choosing Captain 
De \'ries as president. 

As soon as they had organized Kieft laid before them the matter of the 
murder of Swits, and asking whether it should l^e avengetl by declaring war 
on the Indians. De \'ries argued the impolicv of war at that time. He called 
attention to the fact that the Dutch settlement was s])arse and widely scat- 
tered, that the settlers had cattle running at pasture in the woods, and farms 
which were unprotected ; that there was nothing to lie gained from a war with 
the Indians, and that Kieft's policies were the cause of his people being mur- 
dered at the colony which he ( De \'ries ) had started, in 1640, on Staten 
Island. Furthermore, he contended, the West India Company had enjoined 
its colonists to kee]) peace with the Indians. Kieft would not listen to coun- 
sels of peace, but the Twelve [Men ]X'rsisted that he should make two or three 
attempts to sectire the stuTcnder of the nuuxlerer peacefullv before they would 
consent to a declaration of war. Finalh', in January, \(\^2, they consented to 
an attack on the Weckcpaesgecks, if the governor would accompany the 
expedition to prevent disorder. Then the Twelve Men took up other dis- 
cussions, demanding as a safeguard against autocracy that the Governor's 
Council should be increased to at least five jjcrsons, of whom four should be 
members of the Twelve ]\Ien; and ])ointing out that even the smallest village 
had its elective board of not less than five schcpcns: and also advocated that 
as in Holland, two of the councilors should retire annually in accordance 
with the estal)lished custom of the Fatherland for securing rotation in office. 
They also demanded a proper organization of the militia, and named several 
commercial regulations which thev deemed requisite to the welfare of the 
Commonaltv of Xew Amsterdam. Then Kieft, while expressing mild approval 



.V£ff .\'ET}{RRL.-i.\LrS C0SM0F0LIT.4X POPVLATIOS 59 



of some of their proposals (none of which he carried out), showed that lie 
had org-anized the Twelve Men merely for his own convenience: for he told 
them that they had only been elected l)y the Commonalty to advise with him 
in re,s:ard to the murder of Swits. In Fel^-uary he notified the Twelve Men 
that tliey must not meet or call any kind of assemblage of the people except 
at his command. In the matter of the Swits murder he waited until March, 
when he sent Ensign Van Dyck with eighty men to attack the Weckquaes- 
gecks. Kieft did not go along as advised by the Twelve Men, and the expe- 
dition did not reach the Indian village, because the guide lost his way. The 
eighty men. however, made such a trail that the Indians, coming across it 
were dismayed and sued for peace, and in the house of Jonas Bronck they 
made a treaty of peace with the white men. They promised to deliver up 
the assassin of Swnts, and although they never fulfilled that part of the pact, 
there was peace until the next year. 

As the result of the liberalizing of the charter of New Netherland bv the 
West India Company not only many Hollanders, but also people of other 
nationalities were induced to become settlers in and around New Amsterdam. 
Father Jogues, the first Jesuit missionary sent from Canada to the Iroquois, 
who was in New Amsterdam during the administration of Governor Kieft, 
said that eighteen languages were spoken there, the inhabitants including 
Dutchmen, Flemings. Walloons, Frenchmen. Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, 
English, Scotch, Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians, Portuguese and Italians. 

The English who came to New Netherland largely came from New 
England, especially Massachusetts, where the Puritans had no tolerance for 
any religion except their own. Some of the so-called unorthodox had gone 
to Rhode Island, led by Roger Williams, in 1638. Thence also went Anne 
Hutchinson and her husband; and she. after her husband's death, became 
fearful that ^Massachusetts or Plymouth would absorb Rhode Island, and 
moved with her household into the tolerant territory of the Dutch. Several 
others, under l^an as Anabaptists or Antinomians in New England, also came. 
Mrs. Flutchinson settled a place north of Bronck's, at a point then known as 
Annie's Neck, now Pelham Neck in Pelham Bay Park; Rev. Mr. Throgmor- 
ton (or Throckmorton) with thirty-five families of Anabaptist refugees from 
Salem. Mass., received a plantation (part of the present town of Westchester ) 
just l)elow Mrs. Hutchinson and northeast from Bronck's land, from which 
the Throgmorton tract was separated l^y a plantation settled by Thomas Cor- 
nell, whose descendants have borne an important place in New York history, 
including Alonzo B. Cornell, governor from 1880 to 1882, and Ezra Cornell, 
founder of Cornell University. 

Even more of the English settlers made homes on Long Island. Rev. 
Francis Doughty, with associates, received a large grant at Mespat (now 



60 HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 

Newtown, L. I.). Lady Deborah Moody, who had fled from England to 
Massachusetts, and had lieen a prominent member of the Church at Salem, 
was admonished by the Cliurch for expressing doubts as to the validity of 
infant baptism ; and later, being excommunicated for these views, left Massa- 
chusetts, and with a party of friends came to X'ew X'etherland, settling on 
the site of the present town of Gravesend. John Underbill, who also came 
to Xew Amsterdam to escape from the rigorous church discipline, was a 
valuable acquisition, because he had done cfticient service as an officer iia the 
Pequot War and other expeditions against the Indians. 

Another English resident of New Amsterdam was Isaac Allerton, who 
had been one of the passengers on the [Mayflower, had served as assistant 
governor at Plymouth, and engaged as a merchant, owning a large fleet of 
fishing boats, and founding the town of Marblehead. Commercial losses 
caused him to remo\-e to Xew Amsterdam, where he was for ten years 
engaged as consignee of English vessels that traded in this port, and engaged 
in the tobacco trade. He had a warehouse near the present site of Fulton 
Market. 

Indian troubles broke out again in January, 1643, when a Hackingsack 
Indian, having primed himself with liquor, shot and killed a Dutch colonist 
who was thatching a barn at Van der Horst's ])lantation, near the Hacking- 
sack and North Rivers. The sachems of his tribe went to Fort Amsterdam 
and oft'ered to make a liberal payment of l)lood-money. but Kieft refused it, 
saying the matter could only be settled bv surrender of the murderer at the 
fort. The chiefs answered that he had absconded and gone to the Tankitekes, 
and it was beyond their power to deliver him ; and further, blamed the whole 
trouble on the selling of liquor to the Indians by the Hollanders. Kieft at 
once made a demand upon the chief of the Tankitekes to deliver up the mur- 
derer, but the answer was a jeering one. 

Not long after, the River Indian tribes were invaded by the Iroquois; 
about eighty or ninety of whom came down the river, each with a gun on 
his shoulder, to demand tribute from the W'eckquaesgecks of the Westches- 
ter region and of the other Indians who lived around Captain De Vries' 
bouwerie at Tappaen. These Indians, less warlike and not nearly so well 
armed as the invaders, were greatly alarmed, and four or five hundred of 
them, having great confidence in Captain De \'ries, who had been uniformly 
kind and upright in his dealings with them, fled to his bouwerie, where there 
were only five white men, while others took refuge in New Amsterdam and 
were kindly received by the people. De Vries asked Kieft for a guard of sol- 
diers, but was refused. After al)out two weeks some fresh alarm scattered 
the Indians, some of whom went to Pavonia across North River and others 
to Corlaer's Hook, in the northeast corner of Manhattan on the East River. 



MJSS.-ICRF. OF IXDIAXS AT PAJ'OXI.I 



61 



On February 24. 1643, Captain De X'ries was sitting at table with the 
governor, when Kieft told him that he had a mind to "wipe the mouths" of 
the Indian fugitives. It appeared that Secretary \'an Tienliovcn had drawn, 
and Damen, Andriaensen and Planck of the Twelve Men, had signed a docu- 
ment (ostensibly the work of the Twelve) asking Kieft to begin the work of 
retaliation against the Indians. De Vries protested that the three members 
of the board who had signed this document were not authorized to speak for 
the Twelve, which board Kieft 
himself had dissolved a full 
}'ear before. But although 
De \"ries pressed the matter 
strongly, and though Coun- 
cilor La Montague and Do- 
mine Bogardus were equallv 
urgent, Kieft was bent on war. 
He sent one of his sergeants 
with a troop of soldiers from 
the fort with orders to destrov 
the Indians at Pavonia, and 
ordered Maryn Adriaensen 
with a band of volunteers to 
go to Corlaer's Hook and at- 
tack the refugees assembled 
there. The soldiers, who went 
to Pavonia in the dead of 

night of February 25-26, massacred eightv Indians as thev roused them from 
sleep, took infants from their mothers, hacking them to pieces and throwing 
them into the river, and doing their work in the most brutal fashion; and the 
same scenes were enacted on Corlaer's j)lantation, where is now a ])ark, Adri- 
aensen's men killing forty Indians. When the soldiers returned from Pavonia 
Kieft greeted them cordially, thanking them for their work. Some of the 
settlers on Long Island asked leave to attack the Indians of that region, who 
had always been friendly, and though Kieft gave orders not to molest those 
Indians without provocation, parties of lawless Dutch and English took 
advantage of the conditions and went on a tour of pillage of the wigwams 
which the Indians had left at Pavonia, and also of the farms of the friendly 
Long Island Indians. 

All these acts coming together so infuriated the red men that eleven 
tribes, including River Indians and some of those on Long Island united in 
a retaliatory campaign of open war. Settlers through all the region from 
the Raritan River north to the Housatonic were killed, their houses burned, 




MASSACRE OF INDIANS AT PAVONIA 



6V HISTORY OF Xliir )'0/?A' 

their farms devastated, and their women and chikh^en earried off into the 
forest. Some, warned in time, deserted their farms and flocked int<i the fort 
at New Amsterdam, wliere Governor Kieft had remained all the time in 
safety. 

De \"ries was in his house at Tapi)aen when the Indians destroyed 
thino's about his plantation, hut his house was spared and the lives of himself 
and the farmers who had taken refu^'e with him, because of the pleas to 
"spare the good chief" from a Ijrave whose life De Vries had saved on a 
former occasion. Fortunate!)' the Mohegans and the Mohawk had not risen, 
and there was no trouble at Fort Orange and Rensselaerswyck. 

Kieft, who had raised all the trouble, became panic-stricken at the turn 
atTairs had taken, and proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer. He called the 
settlers together and hired them to serve as soldiers for two months. Feel- 
ing ran high against him and the citizens threatened to depose him and send 
him back to Holland. He, to shield himself, tried to charge the responsibility 
ujjon those who had advised him in the name of the Commonalty. When this 
came to the ears of Alaryn Adriaensen, whose plantation had been laid waste 
by the savages, his rage was intense. He rushed into the presence of the 
governor, pistol in hand, denouncing him for lying accusations, but was dis- 
armed bv the governor's guard and taken to the prison. Two of Andriaen- 
sen's men, hearing of his arrest, made their way to the fort, and one of them 
shot at Kieft, missing him, and was immediately shot bv a soldier. His head 
was set upon the gallows as a warning to the people. A delegation of about 
thirty men came to demand Adriaensen's release, but Kieft said he should be 
tried by a court of rejiutable citizens, lie, however, sent Adriaensen to Hol- 
land, to be tried by the authorities there. 1 )e X'ries semed to be about the only 
cool i)erson in New .\msterdam at this period. Through his efforts, scarcely 
aided from any quarter, official or unofficial, tirst the Long Island Indians, 
and then the Westchester tribes, the Hackingsacks and the Tappaen Indians 
were led to desist from further ravages, and to sign a treat}- of |:)eace in i'i4,v 

A month or so after this a friendly chief went to warn De X'ries of 
impending trouble, saving that the young men of his tribe wanted to make 
war against the Dutch, and that there were so nian\- of that mind that he, 
the chief, feared his ])ower would not prove sufficient to restrain them, though 
he i)romised his best efforts to do so. But in August, i')4,^, an attack was 
instigated by Pachani, chief of the Tankitekes, and jiarticipated in by that 
tribe and the Wa])pingers, ujjon some boats bringing beaver skins from Fort 
Orange: and in that attack twelve Dutchmen were killed. Kieft, not dar- 
ing to depend on his own initiati\'e, asked the Commonalty for advice, and 
they gathered in convention and elected a board of eight men. ( )f these only 
two. Tan lansen Damen and loachim Pietersen Kuvter, had lieen members of 



RIVER IXDIAXS RAID MANY SETTLEMENTS C:! 

the Twelve Men of 1041. The others were Gerrit Wolfertsen, CorneUs 
]\Ielyn, Barent Dircksen, Aljrahani Pietersen, and tlie two English tohacco- 
planters. Thomas Hall and Isaac Allerton. Because he had signed the 
fraudulent petition in the name of the Twelve Men, the other seven expelled 
Damen from the hoard and ])ut in his place [an Evertsen Bout of Pavonia. 
Having- completed their organization the Eight Men declared in favor of peace 
with the Long- Island trihes, but declared war again the River Indians. 
With Kieft's cooperation they organized a reg'ular militia establishment, arm- 
ing and drilling- the Dutch colonists, and employing" as soldiers more than 
fifty of the English settlers, who had become so dissatisfied with the way 
affairs had turned out that they threatened to leave the province. Joachim 
Pietersen Kuyter was put in command of the Dutch forces, and through Isaac 
Allerton, John Underbill, who had commanded in the Pequot \\'ar, was 
induced to come from Stamford to head the Eng-lish contingent. Before 
these arrangements had been com])lete.l, however, the W'eckquaesgecks had 
raided the settlement beyond the Harlem, murdered Anne Hutchinson and 
her household of sixteen persons, sparing only her little daughter, and also 
slaying some of the settlers on Throgmorton's and Cornell's plantations. 

The Navesinks, the Raritans and the Hackingsacks destroyed plantations 
west of Xorth River, and killed those in charge of Stoffelsen's plantation at 
Pavonia; and several of the Long Island tribes attacked the settlements at 
Gravesend and Mespat. The former was successfullv defended bv Lady 
Deborah Moody's party of colonists, but Francis Dought\- tied with his peo- 
ple to New Amsterdam, where he gathered a congregation of his compatriots, 
being the first English clergyman who officiated on Manhattan Island. 

Seven tribes combined for an attack on New Amsterdam, and straggling- 
parties of Indians attacked all but a few bouweries down to Kalck Hoek Pond, 
murdering manv of the settlers. Peo])le flocked into Fort Amsterdam and 
there was much pri\-ation and suft'ering. The Eight Men, to relieve the situ- 
ation, advised Kieft to take the cargoes and use the crews of two company 
ships about to sail for Curacoa loaded with wheat, but he declined to do so; 
but audlher recommendation of the Eight Alen, that he shoukl hire a hundred 
and fifty soldiers in New F2ngland and draw a bill on the company for their 
pay, met with more consideration, and L'nderhill and Allerton were sent to 
New Haven to arrange the matter. The offer, however, was declined. De 
Aries, who had been a greater power for good than anv other colonist, risked 
his life once more by going alone to the River Indians to redeem the child of 
a friend. He felt disheartened over the fact that the situation was such that 
he could not help the colony, while his own jjroperties had been ruined and 
wrecked l)v consecutive raids. He decided to leave the country, going first in 
September, 1643, to A'irginia and thence to Holland. But before he left he 



(U IIISTORV Of XEir YORK 

tiild W'ilhclni Kieft that veno-eance for the murders he had so wantonlv com- 
mitted would vet lie visited on his head. He never returned to America. 

Soon after the departure of De Vries the Eig'ht Men sent a memorial to 
the West India Companv and to the States-General, in which the destitute and 
defenseless condition of the colony is set forth in urgent appeal and stating 
that if assistance should not arrive they would be compelled to betake them- 
selves "to the English of the East." The town was under martial law, but 
the force available for the suppression of domestic disorder was not sufficient, 
and stealing of cattle and other projjcrtv went on constantly. A'igorous 
measures were taken against the Indians under the general direction of 
Ccmncilor La ]\Iontagne, who led an expedition to Staten Island and returned 
with a good supply of corn ; and in Xo\-ember he took a force against the Car- 
narsee Indians, consisting of regulars under Sergeant Cox (as Ensign A'an 
Dyck was nursing a wound in the garrison), of settlers imder Joachim Pie- 
tersen Kuyter, and English under Underwood. Two of the Carnarsee villages 
(one at ]\Ies])at) and one hundred and twentv savages were slain. 

Xo relief came from Holland for the colony, but a ship arrived which was 
bound for Rensselaerswyck, and a forced lew was made on its cargo, which 
proved to include shoes and clothing; and guns and ammunition which were 
not on the shii)'s manifest were also found and promptlv confiscated for the 
use of the troops. In January a party under Lieutenant Baxter and Sergeant 
Cox. destroyed two forts of the W'eckquaesgecks. and in February. 1644. Cap- 
tain L'nderhill and Ensign \'an Dyck went on an expedition against the Con- 
necticut Indians with a force of about one hundred and fiftv men. which 
turned out to l:)e the most important of the war. Thev landed at Greenwich 
from three yachts, and after a march through the deep snow over a rocky and 
difficult way. they came at night upon an Indian fort, which they attacked by 
moonlight, burning it and killing nearlv all its occupants — men, women and 
children, variously estimated at from five hundred to six hundred. Only eight 
of the Indians esca]ied, and not a white man was killed and only fifteen 
injured. ( )n their return to Fort Amsterdam the victors were received with 
rejoicing, and the director issued a proclamation of thanksgiving. 

The effect of this victorv was to cause several of the tribes to make 
overtures for peace, and with these a treatv was concluded in IMarch. 1^)44; 
but there were still parties of Indians who made occasional raids on the island, 
even in the vicinity of the fort, so a ])alisade fence was built across the island, 
nearly correspontling in line with the present Wall Street, in order to kee]i the 
remaining cattle from the hands of the savage marauders. Kieft laid an 
excise dutv on li(|uors and beaver skins to raise revenues; a measure which 
was very unpopular, as such imposts alwavs are in a biI)ulous community such 
as Xew Amsterdam certainlv was in those davs. 



THE EIGHT MEN TURN UPON KIEET 



In June, 1644, a substantial addition was made to the population of New 
Amsterdam. Kieft had previously sent a call for aid to General Pieter Stuy- 
vesant, governor of the island of Curagoa. Soon after, there had come to that 
island nearly two hundred Dutch settlers and soldiers from Brazil, whence 
they had been driven by the Portuguese. As Director Stuyvesant had at that 
time as much as he could do to care for his own people, he sent about one 
Inmdred and thirty of them on to New Amsterdam. Upon their arrival, on 
the ship Blue Cock, commanded by Captain Jan de Vries, Kieft decided to 
honorably discharge the English troops, and to put the Dtitch soldiers, about 
eighty in number, who had come from Curaqoa, into service, billetting them 
upon the inhabitants of New Amsterdam, and putting the expense of clothing 
them upon the revenue from the excise. 

Kieft and the Eight Men were now on decidedly hostile terms. The lat- 
ter had acceded, under protest, as a temporary expedient, to the excise, but 
in August, Kieft continued the excise by edict, without asking consent of the 
Eight Men; wdio, with the settlers in general, were loud against the tax, espe- 
cially those of two guilders per half barrel on beer, two stivers per quart on 
French wine and four stivers per quart on Spanish wine and brandy. The 
brewers refused to pay the tax, saying that if they did they would incur the 
displeasure of the Eight Men and the community. Whereupon Kieft stmi- 
moned them to his court, gave judgment against them, and gave their beer 
to the soldiers. The Eight ^len, because of the reinforcements from Curaqoa, 
were in favor of vigorous measures against the Indians who were still hostile, 
hut Kieft did nothing. In August, 1644, Cornelis Melyn addressed a petition 
to the States-General setting forth the deplorable state of affairs, and in Octo- 
l)er the entire Eight Men sent another memorial (written by Andries Hudde, 
the land surveyor) addressed to the Amsterdam Chamber, which at length 
discoursed upon all the grievances of the colony, which they laid to Kieft who 
had not only caused the war and was now permitting it to continue without a 
move against the savages ; they charged him with unlawful taxation, tyranny 
and autocracy, and declared that he had not called their board of Eight Men 
together for more than six months, notwithstanding the dangerous straits of 
the colony. They asked the company to depose Kieft and send a new gover- 
nor, and to establish a village government in New Amsterdam and other vil- 
lages that might Ije established upon the plan and pattern of those in the 
Fatherland. The Eight signed the memorial. 

Before this document was received the company, which had heard from 
Captain De Vries, from Father Jogues and others about the doings of Kieft, 
and was especially exercised because its revenues from New Netherland had 
practically ceased, sent some emphatic messages of reproof and warning, and 
he was sufficiently impressed to inaugurate measures for the settlement of the 



66 HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

trouble with the Indians. Seed-time was approaching-, and Indians as well as 
whites desired to have opportunity to make their cni|)s. In April, 1645. ^^^^ 
neighboring- tribes made a peace pact. 

Up to that time, on the authority of the memorial of the Eight ]\len, 
Kieft had never Init once or twice left the neig'hborhood of the fort, and had 
then only gone about half way up Manhattan Island. Following the agree- 
ment of local peace, however, he went up the river with La ^Nlontagne to Fort 
Orange, where he met representatives of the ]\Iohawks and the ^Nloheg-ans, who 
agreed to treaties of peace with the white men. and the ]\Iohawks promised 
to induce the River tribes, of whom they were overlords, to do the same. 
Kieft returned to [Manhattan and on August 25, 1645, seven sachems appeared 
at the fort to represent the hostile tribes, and Mohawk ambassadors came as 
witnesses of the assent of the Iroquois Confederacv. The seven sachems 
signed for the Indians, and for the white men, Director Kieft, Councilor La 
Montague, and \'an der Huyg-ens, the schout-fiscal, also the new board of 
Eight Men, now composed equallv of Netherlanders ( Stoffelsen, Bout, Gis- 
bert Op Dyck, and OlotT Stevensen), and of Eng-lishmen (Underbill, Baxter, 
Rev. Francis Doughty and Richard Smith). Under the treaty bygones were 
to be b}-gones, and all future aggressions, on either side, were not to be indi- 
vidually avenged, l)Ut should be referred to the respective rulers; and other 
stipulations calculated to preserve the peace. Among the stipulations was 
that the little daughter of ]\Irs. Anne Hutchinson, who had been among the 
Indians since the massacre, should be delivered at the fort, and a ransom 
should be paid for her. This stipulation was promi:)tly carried out and the 
child was sent to Boston. 

Following' the treaty the bouweries and plantations were again put in 
cultivation and in September the director bought from the Indians a large 
tract of land on Long- Island stretchin.;- from ■"Coneyn Island" to Gowanu-. 
A new En.glish colonv established itself at Missingen (Flushing), the patent 
running in the names of Thomas Farrington, John Townsend, John Law- 
rence and others. In Februar\-, 1646, Adriaen \-an der Donck, who had been 
schout-fiscal at Rennselaerswyck, came to Xew Amsterdam and secured a 
patroonship on the Hudson River from Spuyten 1 )u\vel Creek northward. 
This grant was confirmed I\v the States-General and the resulting colony was 
called Donck's Colonv. It became known in common speech as the "der JaiiL-- 
liccr's" land, lonkheer being an inferior title, a little higher than "Jiccr" or 
Mr., and about equivalent to the German Frciltcrr. This desig-nation has been 
transmuted by evolution into the present name of ^"onkers. 

The West India Company, loaded with com])laints from Xew Xether- 
land, could ignore them no longer; so they referred all the papers to a Board 
of Accounts, whose report condemned Director Kieft, recommended that Lub- 



KIEFT AT WAR WITH THE DOMIXE 




bertus van Dincklagen, former schout-tiscal of Xew Xetheiiand under Wouter 
\an Twiller, should be appointed g"o\-ernor : and reconimencHng- \arious 
reforms in the government, favoring the introduction of a large number 
of negro slaves, and other changes. 

The compan}- chose Pieter Stu\'\esant. who had been governor of Cura- 
coa, as successor to Governor Kieft, and consoled Lubbertus van Dincklagen, 
whom the Board of Accounts had recommended, ])v appointment as vice 
director, and appointed Henry van Dyck to be schout-tiscal in place of \'an 
I luyghens. Stuyvesant was commissioned in Mav, if)43, but the instructions 
given him then were revised in July, when, on Stuvxesant's recommendation, 
the Dutch ^\'est Indies were joined lo Xew 
Xetherland; and so man_\- (juestions came up 
that it was the spring of 1647 before Stuv\-e- 
sant reached his post. Kieft, notified of the 
changes, devoted himself first to realizing- as 
much as possible from his extensive proper- 
tics, and second to making things as uni)leasant 
as possible for his enemies; who for their 
l)art, knowing that his tenure was nearing its 
close, were more outspoken than ever regard- 
ing the governor. 

Domine Bogardus. who liad been the 
minister at Fort Amsterdam ever since his 
arrival with Governor \'an Twiller in A])rii. 
i()33, was one of the most vigorous of the 

opponents and accusers of Governor Kieft. After Kieft became governor, 
in 1637, Captain De X'ries had insisted that a cliurch should be built as 
a more appropriate place of worship than the loft over the horsemill, and 
the governor acceded to the idea. Domine Bogardus had a daughter 
married in 1642, and after the ceremony several rounds of drink were 
served, the guests, of whom there were many, ])ecoming (|uite hilarious. The 
subiect of the need of a church came uj) and Governor Kieft promised a 
thousand guilders for the company. Captain De A'ries sul)scri])ed a hundred 
guilders, and the governor, seeing that the time was pro]Mtious, took up 
subscriptions for the structure, which were very liberal. Many of the sub- 
scriliers wanted to dodge or decrease them afterward. ])ut Kieft made them 
pay, and the church was Ixiilt in the fort and occupied, although not finished. 
After the Pavonia massacre, in 1643, he had denounced the go\-ernor's con- 
duct as murderous, and there had been little intercourse between them. Kieft 
never attended church and La Montague, \'an Tienhoven. and Oloff Steven- 
sen, who had l)een the yo\'ernor"s friends and advisers, as well as \'an Huy- 



SEAL OF NEW NETHERLAND 
1623-1664 



Gs 



HISTOKV OF Mill- I'OAVv 



ghens, the schout-hscal, were as godless as Kieft. To spite the Doniine, Kieft 
incited soldiers to drum and shout otitside the church during service, and 
finally determined to ])rosecute him. He charged the Ddinine with having 
scattered luichristian ahtise and slander against A an Twiller. and since then 
against many others; that he was given to too much wine, that he had sti])- 
ported the would-l)e assassin, Maryn Andriaensen. and liad generally aided 
in stirring up mutiny and rebellion and showing contempt and derision of the 
governor. Kieft, however, was persuaded to drop the prosectition of Bogar- 
dtts ; and tiumed to the harrying of other enemies, among whom Cornelis 
Melyn and Jocheni Pietersen Kuvter, who had declared him responsible for 
the destruction of their farms, were s])ecial ol^jects of his ill will. 




CHAPTER S E r E N 

GENERAL PIETER STUYVESANT BECOMES 

GOVERNOR OF NEW NETHERLAND 

AND MAINTAINS AUTOCRATIC RULE 

Pieter Stuyvesant, or to use the Latinized form o-enerall\- signed to his 
official papers. Petrus Stuyvesant, was the son of Rev. Balthazar Stuyvesant, 
a clergyman in Friesland, where he was born in 1592. He received a college 
education, then entered the army, serving during the Thirty Years' War in 
Europe. He afterward fought for the Dutch West India Company in Brazil 
and was later appointed governor of Curacoa. While serving there he 
attacked, without success, the Portuguese fort on the Island of St. Martin, the 
first Portuguese cannon-shot from the fort taking off one of his legs, which 
one. historv does not record. When he came to New Amsterdam he had a 
silver-trimmed wooden liml) in place of that which he had lost. His wife was 
with him, for he had married, a short time ]:)efore, Judith Bayard, daughter 
(if a Protestant clergyman. His wife had a brother, Samuel Bayard, who had 
married Pieter Stuyvesant's sister Anna, and afterward died. The widow 
accompanied Pieter Stuyvesant to New Amsterdam with her children, Bal- 
thazar, Peter and Nicholas, who were the progenitors of all the American 
Bavards. 

Besides these member.-, of his family, there embarked on the Princess the 
new vice director. Dr. Lubliertus van Dincklagen, Hendrick van Dyck, the 
schout-fiscal, and others, one of w^hom was William Beekman, who was pro- 
genitor of the well-known New York familv of that name. Accompanying 
the Princess were the ships Great Gerrit, the Zwol and the Raet, and this 
little fleet of four vessels captured a Spanish prize on the way. The gov- 
ernor stopped at Curacoa on the way, and did not arrive at New Amsterdam 
until May 2/. 1647. 

The new governor was of a character very much different from his pre- 
decessor. His jjrivate life was reputable, his habits sober, and he wanted to 
be just, but he was a thorough autocrat: a martinet in discipline, stubborn, 
opinionated and irascible. He had an exalted opinion of the respect due to 
those in authnritv, especially himself, and on the voyage out he had already 
fallen out with Hendrick van Dyck. When he arrived, the last of the pow- 
der in the fort was used in firing oft' a salute in his honor, but when he landed 
he treated the inhabitants with nnich pomjwsity, and as a later complamt of 
him said he kept some of the ])rincipal 1)urghers "standing l)areheaded for 
hcwrs while he remained coxered as though he had l^een the Czar of 
Muscovv." 



70 



HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 



When Stuyvesant arrived the people assembled, and Wilhelni Kieft 
resigned the government into the hands of his successor, and made a speech 
in which he thanked the people for their loyalty; but in reply, instead of 
words of ^-ratitude or appreciation, some of his auditors, among- whom 
were focheni Pietersen Kuyter and Cornelis Melyn, told him they had no 
cause to thank him. Stuyvesant promised to be a father to New Nether- 
land, and to do equal justice to all. 

Stu\vesant"s hrst moves were very displeasing to the people. If it 
were possible, Cornelis van Tienhoven was more unpopular than Kieft, yet 
Stuyvesant reappointed \'an Tienhoven as secretarv, and George Baxter, who 
had been English secretary for Kieft, was chosen to serve Stuyvesant in the 
same capacity. He appointed to the council La ]\Iontagne, who had been 




OLD NEW YORK. 1559 

.\ — the fort. B — the church. C — the w iii(i-niill. 1) — tlie tiag. which is hoi^terl when vessels arrive in 
]turt. E — the ]»risoii. F — the house of the general. G — the place of execution. 
H — the I'lace of expose or pillory 



Kieft's unfaltering backer in all things; I'.rian Xewton, an English soldier, 
who had been connected with Stuyvesant in the West Indies and had come 
out with him on the Princess to be chief militar\- officer of New Netherland; 
and Paulus Leendertsen van der Grist, who had come out as officer of the 
])ort; and occasionally Adriaen Keyser, who had come out with Stuvvesant 
as chief commissary, was invited to the council board. None of these were 
acce])table to the populace, and ])articularl\' was this the case with those who 
had been the tools of W'ilhdm Kieft. .Another of that coterie was Jan Jan- 
sen Dam, who had signed the fraudulent ])etition which Kieft had used to 
iustifv the Indian mas.sacre. who wa'^ appointed one ot the new churchwardens. 
Domine I^)Og'ardus, who wanted to go to llolland to tell his side of the 
dis])Utes which ha<l arisen and l<) endeavor to satisf\- the Glassis. resigned 



sruvrESJXT .-ippoixts his couxcil :i 

from his pastorate and was succeeded by Domine Backerus, who had been 
at Ciiraqoa, but had been brought to New Netherland by Stuyvesant. Domine 
Backerus was very loath to accept the appointment, because he, too, wanted 
to o-o back to Holland. He was not much impressed with his congregation, 
which numbered one himdred and seventy members who, he said, in his 
report to the Classis of Amsterdam, were "nearly all very ignorant in religious 
matters, and much given to drink, to which they are led by the seventeen 
tap-houses here." This reverend critic is supported by much contemporary 
testimony as to the bibulous tendencies of Xew Amsterdam. 

Governor Stuvvesant made stringent laws against the sale of intoxicants 
after nine o'clock on week days, and before two o'clock on Sundays. If there 
was an afternoon sermon the tap-room might not open until four. He also 
made stronger the law against the selling of liquors to the Indians; issued an 
order for the fencing of all farms; made regulations for the fur trade and 
harbor regulations to prevent smuggling; and he placed an excise on wines 
and liquors in order to raise money to complete the church and for other 
])u])lic ])urposes. 

Wilhelm Kieft, from the moment of his successor's arrival, had busied 
himself in the endeavor to curry favor with Stuyvesant, and in this effort 
was supremely successful. ^lelyn and Kuyter, in order to secure evidence to 
back up a complaint which they were preparing for use in Holland, peti- 
tioned Stuyvesant that the chief officials of Kieft's government should be 
examined in regard to its conduct, and particularly in relation to the Indian 
war. Stuyvesant received the petition with disdain, declaring that he had 
received no instructions to inquire into his predecessor's acts and advising his 
council that it was treason to petition against magistrates, without regard to 
the truth of the charges brought. So Kieft made charges against Kuyter 
and Melyn, and although they put up a strong defense, they were convicted, 
fined and banished. Melyn for seven years and Kuyter for three years: the 
vote of the council thus modifying the wish of Stuyvesant to put Melyn to 
death and confiscate his estate. Melyn declared he would appeal to the States- 
(^ieneral; upon which Stuyvesant became much enraged. As they did not 
depart on the first vessel as ordered, they were sent as prisoners on the Prin- 
cess, which left for Holland in August, 1647. On the same ship, as chief 
passenger, was W'ilhelm Kieft, the retiring governor, who carried with him 
a large fortune acc|uired in various ways, but chiefly from the profits of his 
still on Staten Island: Domine Bogardus, \'an der Huyghens, the former 
schout-fiscal, and various others of the com])any's servants whose terms had 
expired; some returning settlers and the crew, making one hundred and 
twentv persons in all. There was also a rich cargo, estimated at four hun- 
dred thousand guilders. 



HISTORY OF XIUV YORK 



The ship was navig-ated with great carelessness, for instead of steer- 
ing south of Land's End a course was made up the Bristol C"hannel, in which 
the ship struck on a rock near Swansea, and eig"lity-one j^ersons perished, 
among whom were Kieft, Bogardus, \'an der Huygens, and others, inckid- 
ing a son of CorneHs Melyn. Melyn himself, Kuvter and others were saved 
after struggling in the sea, and after they landed, Melyn and Kuyter spent 
three davs searching and dragging near the heach ; they recovered a few of their 
papers from the sea. By their aid a susjiension of the unjust sentence 
against Melyn and Kuyter was secured, although the matter dragged along 
wearilv. The death of Kieft and Bogardus brought about a summary dis- 
poss.! of the charges and countercharges that had been filed with the company; 
which, however, in August, 1648, sent to Stuyvesant a comnuinication which 
ascribed to the people of New Amsterdam the stigma of being "very wild 
and loose in their morals," and charged the trouble of the colony to the weak- 
ness of Kieft and neglect of duty by Domine Bogardus. 

After Kieft's departure, Stuyvesant set to work in the endeavor to make 
financial and other arrangements. Mone\' was needed to repair the fort, to 
finish the church, build a schoolhouse, and for man\- other purposes. He sent 
two company vessels on a privateering cruise to the West Indies, l)ut realized 
that most of the income of the ])rovincc must come from its inhabitants. 
His councilors advised him that to secure monev from the people be nuist 
give them a share in the government. Stuvvesant therefore ordered an 
election, in which the people should choose a boai'd of eighteen representa- 
tives. They chose the required number, out of whom the go\-ernor selected 
nine: three to represent the merchants, three the farmers, and three burghers 
who were neither merchants nor farmers. The nine were all X^etherlanders 
but two, and the merchants were Govert Lockermans, Arnoldus van Har- 
denbergli, and Augustine Herrman (Bohemian); the farmers, Machiel Jan- 
sen, Ian Evertsen Bout, and Thomas llall (English); while the burghers 
were Jacobus Wolfertsen van Couwenhoven, Jansen Damen, and Hendrick 
Hendricksen Kip. 

Stuvvesant had no use for a curb on his authority; and in constituting 
it and defining its ])owers he placed all ])ossible limitations on the Board of 
Nine Men. The nine were subdivided into three groups, each consisting of 
one man from each of the three classes. These groups, in order, were 
a])pointed to attend, in rotation, the weeklv sessions of the court, and to act 
as arbitrators in such civil cases as might be referred to them. They were 
to meet as a body only when legallv convened, and then only to discuss and 
advise such matters as the governor might bring before them; and the gov- 
ernrir himself or some one deputed bv him was to preside o\er their meet- 
hiild office until the governor repealed their charter. 



THll XIXE MF.X MliliT IX THE SCHOOL ROOM 73 

In the room where David Provoost conckicted his school the Nine Men 
met in session. Director Stuyvesant was unable to be jiresent because there 
was at that time an e|)ideniic of influenza (probably of the species which we 
moderns have named lagrippe ) , which raie^'ed all over New Netherland and 
New England. The governor had laid certain subjects before the board for 
consideration, with recommendations. They declined the request for aid in 
repairing the fort, because, they said, the company had agreed to defend the 
colonists and the cost of such defence should come from the customs duties, 
the tolls of the companv's gristmill, and the excise duties which had been 
imposed by the governor. The completion of the church building and the 
needs of the public school, however, were dift'erent matters, for which they 
were willing to raise part of the cost. They appointed a vendue master to 
take charge of all public sales, and fire wardens, to whom was given the 
oversight of all the buildings between the fort and Kalck Hoek Pond ; and 
Adriaen Keyser, commissary for the company, Thomas Hall, Alartin Cregier 
and Joris Wolsey, were appointed as the tirst niemliers of the fire department 
of Manhattan, their terms beginning in January, 164.8. Ordinances were 
passed rer|uiring that there should be two church services every Sunday; that 
owners of town lots who would not improve them should be forced to sell them 
to those who w^ould; brewers should not retail beer, nor tapsters brew it, and 
a strict license system was established. 

Trouble was brewing with the English. The border was not defined and 
while there was plent}- of recognition of Stuyvesant as a dc facto gOA'ernor, 
there was a claim that would not down : that England had a right to a part 
or the whole of the territory of New Netherland. An English patent to 
Lord Stirling had for years been made the basis of a British claim to owner- 
ship of Long Lsland; and in 1648, a Scotchman named Forrester appeared 
with credentials from Lord Stirling's widow, claiming to be governor of Long 
Island and of all islands within five miles of it, and demanding that Stuyve- 
sant should show him his commission. The governor arrested him and sent 
him. on the first ship, to Holland. 

Correspondence was constantly going on between Stuvvesant and Gover- 
nor Eaton of New Haven. Three runawav servants of the West India Com- 
pany took refuge in New Haven, and the demand of Stuvvesant that they 
should be surrendered to him was denied. Stu\vesant retaliated liy a decree 
that all refugees from New England, '"bond or free," should be sheltered in 
Manhattan, an order which greatly displeased the burghers, who did not want 
Manhattan to become a refuge for runawavs and outlaws. ( )ther bones of 
contention were connected with the strict harbor regulations enforced at New- 
Amsterdam. These and other subjects were aired in sharj) letters between the 
heads of the two colonies. 



74 HISTORY OF Miir YORK 

At home coni])hiints were made that Stuvvesant failed to impartially 
enforce the laws against smug-gling, and against the heavy tariff exactions, 
amonnting to thirty per cent., atl valorem. His endeavor to collect tithes from 
farmers who had occn])ied their lands for ten years was another unpopular 
move. It is true that this was according to contract, but Kieft's wars had so 
desolated the i)ro\-ince that the people could ill afford to meet the impost. As 
to this particular debt, the governor agreed to a ])ost|)onement, but declared 
that he was l)ound to obey the companv's orders. Several things arose in 
which the desire of the company to exact profits from the province ran 
counter to the people's ideas of what was due them, and the Nine Men sug- 
gested a desire to appeal on these questions directly to the States-General 
without reference to the com])any. Stuyvesant intimated approval of the 
l)lan, but thought he should direct its execution. 

There were in i64t) three new members of the Board of Nine Men, 
Adriaen van der Donck. ( )lotT Stevensen and Elbert I^lbertsen having suc- 
ceeded Damen, Bout and Thomas Hall on the board. Thev asked permission 
of the governor to secure from the Commonalty an expression about sending 
a delegation to The Hague; but Stuyvesant contended that all communications 
to the government should be sent through him. The Nine ]\Ien, however, 
informed him that thev believed it would be ])re judicial to the interests of the 
l)rovince to appeal through him. but pr()mised him coi)ies of such documents 
as should l)e prejiared. Stuyvesant forbade them to call any public meeting; 
so the board instructed Van der Donck, who was president, to take the view^s 
of constituents, and keep a private record from which any statement could be 
prepared. Machiel Jansen, who was a member of the board, and at whose 
house \'an der Donck boarded, together with Thomas Hall, an English ex- 
member of the Nine Men. informed G )vernor Stuvvesant of what was being 
done. The go\-ernor was furious; went to jansen's house and made a search 
of Van der Donck's room, where he found and confiscated a rough draft of 
the information he had collected; had \'an der Donck arrested and jailed on 
a charge of Icsc iitajcsfc. arrestetl Augustine iierrman. another one of the 
Nine Men, issued, as his predecessor Kieft had done, an order that no docu- 
ments should be legal unless prepared by Secretarv \'an Tienhoven ; and at 
the same time notified Domine Backerus that nothing should be read or 
announced from the ])ul])it in regard to public attairs except by definite 
authority of the governor. He soon after called together the officers of 
the Burgher Guard, the organization of which was still intact, although Stuy- 
vesant had failetl to comply with the comi)any's orders to nur'^ter the guard 
at regular times. To them he declared his intention of calling two deputies 
Irom each of the settlements, including the iMiglish towns on Long Island, to 
consider the sending of a (le])Utation to 1 lolland in the interest of the ])rovince. 



MELYX AXD KUVrilK RF.TURX FROM HOLL.IXF :.-. 

Soon after the arrest of the president of the Xine Men. \'an Dincklagen, 
the vice director, made a protest against the action that liad lieen taken with- 
out his concurrence in the matter, and secured the release of \'an der Donck 
(in liail, though the governed- dc])osed him from office and declared he should 
not sit with the Nine Men until he had either recanted or proved certain 
statements contained in the ddcuments which had heen found in his room. 

Several occurrences ahout this time had a bad etl'ect on the popularity of 
the governor with the people of New Amsterdam. Not long before, he had 
con\'icted three men of trafficking in firearms, and had passed upon them a 
sentence of death ; which was only commuted after many of the chief citizens 
had made earnest protest. A little later it was found that Stuyvesant had 
himself imported a small consignment of guns for the up-river Indians, and 
his explanation that the company had ordered this disposal of the arms did 
little to soften public criticism. The company had also advised Stuyvesant to 
maintain friendly relations with the traders of neighboring English colonies ; 
lint this did not prevent the charge of favoritism toward those traders, which 
the merchants and burghers of New Amsterdam brought against him. They 
also accused him of trying to monopolize the trade of New Amsterdam ; as he 
owned stores and brewhouses, and was owner of interests in several ships. 
The feeling against him was intensified by the return from Holland of Cor- 
nells Melyn. 

Although the position which had been taken first by Kieft and afterward 
by Stuyvesant. that no appeals should lie from New Netherland to the States- 
General, had the backing of the West India Company, it failed in the case of 
Melyn and Kuvter. The States-General taking up this case after some delay, 
suspended the sentence of banishment which had been ])assed upon them by 
Stuyvesant, and issued a mandamus which, after stating the wrongs and losses 
which Kuyter and Melyn had suffered as the result of the war started by 
( iovernor Kieft, and various other matters, called upon Governor Stuyvesant 
and the menil)ers of his government to ap])ear in person or liy attorney to 
defend the sentence ])assed upon the appellants. At the same time the States- 
General gave Melyn and Kuyter a passport to return to New Netherland and 
there enjoy their liberty and property on the same footing as other citizens; 
and the Prince of Orange wrote a personal letter to Stuyvesant forbidding 
him to molest the two men, and gave the latter authoritv to serve the gover- 
nor with the mandamus by any hand thev might select. Melyn emliarked for 
New Amsterdam and arrived there January i, 1649. Kuyter remained in 
Holland. After Melyn's arrival Stuyvesant twice sent the secretary and 
schout-fiscal to demand all his pa])ers ; but Melyn gave them only his pass- 
port, saying that he would produce the others before the council in due course. 
Stuyvesant wanted to order Melvn to jail instanter, 1)Ut \'ice-l)irector \'an 



HISTORY OF XEII' YORK 



] tincklai^en, \\h(i \\as an excellent lawxer, ])rc>testecl ai^'ainst such sumniarv 
action. So Alelvn was sunini<ined to a])pear before the council the next morn- 
ing', and then delivered the orders and des])atches he had brought. Stuvve- 
sant stated that he would obey the orders of the States-General, but declined 
to make a public statement exonerating Alelyn; so the latter retained the man- 
damus for a time when it could be used more effectively. 

On March 8, 1640, the governor having issued a call to the Commonalty. 
al)out three hundred men assembled in the church, where Stuvvesant had 
intended to have read to them his commission, which be claimed gave 
hiiu sovereign power in New Netherland ; even to the annulling or at least 
suspending the orders of the States-General. There Melyn gave the manda- 
mus to Arnoldus van Hardenliurgh and invited him to read it to the governor 
in the presence of the Commonalty. Stuyvesant, much enraged, seized the 
document with such violence that two of the seals were torn loose from the 
vellum document (which is now in the possession of the New York Histor- 
ical Society). The governor afterward wrote to the States-General a letter 
of ])rotest ag'ainst this "mutinous and indecent" service. The meeting broke 
up in a row. In answer to the mandamus, Stuyvesant refused to go to Hol- 
land personally, but promised to send an attorney to appear in his behalf. 

The tide of his unpopularity had risen so high that he could no longer 
])revent complaints being made to the home government. The Nine ]Men (in- 
cluding \"an der Donck, the suspended president ), and Bout and Thomas Hall, 
two former members of the board, signed each of the three documents which 
were sent forward. One was designated a "Petition to the States-General," 
to which was attached the second, entitled "Additional Observations;" while 
the other was entitled the "Remonstrance of New Netherland to the States- 
General of the United Netherland." The "Petition" and the "Remonstrance" 
are the work of Adriaen van der Donck, Init the "Observations" is the work 
of a cruder and less able writer. 

The Petition was a brief but clear statement of the reasons for dissatis- 
faction and the remedies asked by the Commonalty. The complaint was 
chiefly that the government was inappropriate and inaderiuate: its methods 
were harsh, and while it inflicted heavy burdens in taxation and restrictions 
on trade, it gave few privileges or exemptions. Long-continued war, the loss 
of the Princess, the prevalence of traders and peddlers, the lack of farmers 
and farm servants, and the scarcity of many things, together with the arro- 
gance of the Indians since the strife with them began, had left the province 
in a verv poor and most low condition. It asked for exeniinion from tithes 
and taxes until the population and pros])erily of the country should be in- 
creased; for freedom of trade in the produce of the country; encouragement of 
the fisheries: free transportation of agricultural immigrants; and for a defi- 



THE -PETITIOX" AXD THE -REMONSTRAXCE" 



nite agreement with neighbor nations of the boundaries of the province ; and 
as the chief demand they wished the States-General to do away with the com- 
pany government, and the States-General to assume its ownership and control, 
giving New Netherland a suitable burgher government, approved by their 
High Mightinesses, Init resembling as nearly as practical the excellent gov- 
ernment of the Fatherland. The "Additional Observations" were an elabo- 
ration of the matters set forth in brief in the Petition. 

The ''Remonstrance" is a long document, and one of the most valuable 
ever written for the historical material as well as strength of its argument. 
From it come many of the details of the history of New Amsterdam 
previously given. It is caustic upon the despotic methods of the governor. 
Kieft had spent no money for public benefit except on the church and that had 
been willingly contributed by the people. Stuyvesant had finished the 
church and built a wooden wharf, both of which were good expenditures, but 
scarcely represented the 30,000 guilders annually taken from the people, the 
whole of which he had promised to expend for public works. Stuyvesant's 
claim to sovereignty, his arrogance, his tyranny, his activity in starting- 
prosecutions, his bullying methods, and abusive language, came in for a 
severe scoring". Vice-Director \'an Dincklagen had at times protested, but 
the director was so domineering and threatening that he let some things go 
without raising serious objection. Van Dyck, the schout-fiscal, had been 
excluded from the council, but there was little harm done, for hard drinking 
had made him irresponsible. Secretarv \"an Tienhoven is denounced nmch 
more stronglv than even the governor ; and while his great ability was 
admitted he is accused of lying, grossly dissolute living, and charged with 
having- been the originator of the war, and the one to whose evil counsels 
many of the mistaken actions both of Kieft and Stuyvesant were due. 

To carry these papers to Holland, A'an der Donck. A^an Couwenhoven 
and Bout were selected by the Nine AJen. who gave them credentials to 
present to the States-General. Van Dincklagen wrote a letter saying that he 
had tried to dissuade the Commonalty from sending these envoys, l)ut as they 
were going, he hoped they would secure an audience, that their intentions 
were good, and their knowledge of conditions in New Netherland was com- 
plete and accurate. Cornells Melyn. who had been subi'ected to many annoy- 
ances. \\-ent with the envoys. Secretary Van Tienho\en was sent by 
Governor Stuyvesant to represent his side of the case: for the governor had 
l)een greatly stirred by the turn affairs had taken, and it was not safe to 
hear too high a hand, after the action already taken in the Melyn and 
Kuyter case. Domine Backerus. tired of New Amsterdam, and of disputes 
with Director Stuyvesant, went to Holland, and added his voice to those of 
the envoys of the Nine. Domine Meg"apolensis, formerly pastor at Rens.se- 



78 HISrOK)' Of XILir ]-()RK 

laerswvck, succeeded to the charge of the church in Xew Anisterdani. 
WOuter wan Twiller, the former director, who was in Amsterdam as a 
trustee of the estate of Kihaen van Rensselaer, was attacking the West 
India Company fnr its neglect of the interests of Rensselaerswyck. 

Altogether the affairs of Xew Xetherland occuiiied the centre of the 
stage in Amsterdam, where various tracts and pamphlets dealing with the 
matters in dispute were puhlished. ( )ne of these, "Broad Advice to the United 
Xetherland Provinces," or as it is commonly cjuoted, the Breeden Raedt, is a 
satire, bitter and l)iting, in which the \\ est India Com])an\' and all its works 
are held u]) to scorn. The delegates from Xew Amsterdam prepared, in Jan- 
uary. 1650, an al)stract containing sixty-eight charges, briefed from the 
longer documents thev had l)rought with them; and Van Tienhoven wrote a 
re])ly to this digest, on behalf of the com|)anv; the delegates also had printed 
another "Remonstrance," containing the substance of their case against the 
C(jmpany, lint differing in form from the official paper of the same name. 

A committee of the States-General took u]) the matters ])rought to their 
attention bv the Xew Amsterdam delegates, and after many conferences with 
the directors of the West India Com])anv, submitted a scheme which thev 
named a Provisional < )rder for the (iovernment. Preservation and Pojiu- 
lation of Xew Xetherland. It was in the nature of a compromise l)etween the 
demands of the Xew Amsterdam delegates and the views of the company's 
directors, and so was not satisfactory, as a finaiitv. to either party, least of all 
to the com])an\-, whose attitude was that it was entitled to make its own laws 
for its own province. The Provisinnal ( )rder suggested a recall of 
Stuyvesant, ])ro\-ided for the introduclion into Xew Amsterdam of burgher 
or munici])al government bv a sellout, two burgomasters and five schepens; 
but continued the Xine Men in office for three years longer, and gave them 
jurisdiction o\-er sni.all ci\il cases and final juristliction of such as did not 
invoh'e more than fifty guilders, but with right of ajjpeal where the sum 
involved was larger. Bout and \'an Couwenhoven, two of the people's 
en\-ovs, returned with a c<ipv of the Provisional Order, which much rejoiced 
the people of Xew Amsterdam; but on tlic same ship came directions from 
the companx' not to obe\' it, and Stuyvesant therefore refused to ])ublisli the 
document. He was thoroughly incensed and resentful toward the people 
of Xew Amsterdam, jiarticularlv the X'ine Men. whom he slighted in the most 
hunnliating wavs, even taking their i)ew in the church for his own use. The 
Xine Men wrote to the committee of the States-General complaining of the 
disol)edience of Stuvvesant to the (Orders of tlie home government, and the 
accentuation of the bad conditions alxiut which the\- had complained, and 
expressing the h i]ie that their High Mightinesses would redress the people's 
grievances and gi\e them a good and wholesome gov'ernment. 



EXGLISH SETTLERS SUPPORT STUVJ'ES.-IXT 79 

Van der Donck had remained in Holland to plead the popular cause, but 
Cornells van Tienhoven. who had continued his licentious life in Holland 
and had trouble in the courts because of it, had returned to New Amsterdam, 
adding- his counsels of evil to intensify the spirit of tyranny which had been 
aroused in Stuvvesant. X'ice-Director \'an Dincklagen and \'an Dyck, the 
schout-fiscal, joined in a protest to Holland, hearing of which, Stuyvesant 
deposed Van Dincklagen from the cotmcil ; and when that ofticer refused to 
retire, he was, on Stuyvesant's order, seized bv the soldiers and dragged to 
the guardhouse. Van Dyck \\-as remo\-ed from the council on a charge of 
drunkenness, and \'aii Tienhoven was given his jilace, thereby securing a seat 
in the council. 

In fighting his battle in favor of autocracy and against the grant of any 
important governmental function t(i the people of New Amsterdam, Governor 
Stuvvesant had nearlv all the Dutch inhal)itants against him: but, on the other 
hand, the English settlers of Long Island, almost to a man, supported the 
governor. Coming from New England, the home of the town meeting, this 
attitude is scarcely explainable on the basis of principle ; but, on the other hand, 
thev had come from a foreign and alnnist hostile jurisdiction, and had on the 
basis of a mere oath of fealty to the Dutch and companv governments been 
]iermitted to settle in selected spots and to establish their own local govern- 
ments. Thev therefore had the rig-hts for themselves which the burghers of 
New Amsterdam were trying to secure ; and they curried favor with the 
director bv sui)porting his side of the contention. The English were largely 
incited to this course l)y George Baxter, who was English secretary to 
Governor Stuyvesant, as he had been to Kieft, and had l^een a strong partisan 
of both of these directors in carrying out their policies. He was also schotit 
(sheriff) in the local government of Gravesend, the town authorities of 
which had sent several letters to the company and to Stuy\'esant supporting 
the policies of the governor of New Netherland. 

The English in other towns of Long- Island followed the lead of those 
in Gravesend, and in fact in all of New Netherland, Thomas Hall was the 
onlv Englishman who took active part in the opposition to the governor. The 
Provisional Order, therefore, had put Stuyvesant in the position that the 
States-General, from which he had received his commission, had recalled him : 
the West India Company, which paid his salary, had ordered him to stay 
where he was; the Dutch colonists were against him, except a few of his 
immediate hangers-on, and the only supporters he had outside of those few 
were those of another nationality. 

As fortune would have it, matters so turned out that Just at this time the 
authorities of the L^nited Colonies sent him notice that they would agree to 
meet him in the conference he had so long desired, to settle the boundary lines 



so HISTORY OF XEIT YORK 

and other matters of dispute and friction l)et\veen New England and New 
Netherland. To this conference Stuyvesant appointed his English secretary, 
George Baxter, and Thomas W'illett. another Englishman who afterward 
became the first mayor of New York. They met the New England delegates, 
Simon Bradstreet of Massachusetts and Thomas Prince of Plymouth. 
Stuyvesant had always contended that all the land from Cape Cod to Cape 
Henlopen belonged to the Dutch, but Connecticut had many more residents 
than New Netherland. The arbitrators gave the English all of Long Island 
to a line running northward from the ocean to the westernmost part of 
( )yster Bay ; and on the mainland the dividing line was to begin west of 
Greenwich Bay and thence run northward for twenty miles beyond which 
point it was left for future determination. The boundaries were to be 
inviolate until a full and final determination should be agreed upon between 
England and Holland. The cjuestion of Dutch and English rights in the 
Delaware River region were left open. 

It is said that when the decision was reported to him, Stuyvesant 
exclaimed that he had been betrayed; but he accepted the treaty. When he 
returned he made no report to the people about the matter, though the story 
came later in a letter to an Englishman resident in New Amsterdam. The 
general feeling was that Stuyvesant had been out-generaled by the English, 
and he was much blamed for having entrusted the interests of New Nether- 
land into the hands of English arbitrators. It is probable that the blame was 
not deser\'ed. The English were in much stronger possession of Connecticut 
and r^astern Long Island than the Dutch were of New Netherland, and it is 
not at all likely that Stuyvesant could have bettered the treaty by sending 
Dutchmen instead of English, though it would have shown more tact for him 
to have done so. But tact was far from being Stuy\esant's strong point and 
lie did not even send a copy of the Hartford Treaty to Holland. 

Adriaen van der Donck, in Holland, hearing of the treaty, wrote a 
Memorial on the Boimdaries of New England \o show how Stuyvesant had 
been outwitted b\- the English. Cornells ]Mel\n, proctiring a conduct from 
the States-General, returned to New Netherland with seventy colonists who had 
been sent out bv jonkheer van der Capellen, to whom ]\Ielyn had sold a half 
interest in his Staten Island patroonship. Melyn stopped on the way for some 
needed repairs to the ship, in Rhode Island, which fact Stuyvesant made a 
pretext to arrest Mclvn on his arrival in New Amsterdam, notwithstanding 
his safe conckict, on a charge of illegal trading. Melyn resisted arrest and 
-Sinwesant confiscated and sold his property on [Manhattan, and seized and 
sold to Thomas Willett the ship and cargo belonging to \'an der Capellen. who 
afterward reco\-ered heavy damages from the West India Company. Melyn 
went to his house on Staten Island, where he was defended by a guard of 



TERRITORIAL DISPUTES BECOME ACUTE 81 

Raritan Indians, and was joined by Wan Dyck as soon as the latter was 
released from imprisonment. 

Orders came from Holland for the reinstatement of Van Dincklagen as 
vice director, but he declined to serve, and Stuvvesant and ^ an Tienhoven 
had no one in the council to interfere with anv plans they might formulate. 

The Hartford Treaty had left the matter of delimitation of the territory 
of New Netherland on the Delaware entirelv unsettled. The West India 
Company had been for some time engaged in the endeavor to secure from 
Sweden a settlement of boundary lines, and Stuyvesant had sent several 
overtin-es to the same end to Governor Prinz, of New Sweden. Meanwhile 
the luiglish of Connecticut also had their eyes on the same region. But when 
a ship with fift\- would-be colonists from New Haven, on their way to the 
South River cunntrv, touched at New Amsterdam, Governor Stuyvesant 
arrested them and would not let them go until they gave him a written pledge 
to give up the attempt. Following this, Stuyvesant determined to take a 
])ersonal hand in the settlement of the dispute, and with several vessels and a 
hundred and twenty men he went to the Delaware River, and pulling down the 
old Fort Nassau which the Dutch had built, erected another, called Fort 
Casimir, at a point much farther down the river, and lielow the Swedish Fort 
Christina. He settled several families from New Amsterdam around the 
new fort. Governor Prinz claimed that Stuvvesant's acts constituted a 
trespass upon Swedish territory, and there A\ere several inter\iews between 
the governors. They came to no settlement, but they parted on friendly 
terms. The company, however, which had not been consulted by Stuyvesant, 
expressed its disapjiroval of proceedings that might cause trouble between the 
Fatherland and Sweden. The cost of the expedition was heavy and this 
increased its unpopularity both with the people and the company. Part of 
this cost Stit'\\'esant levied tipon the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck, and in 
the violent disputes about this impost, which ensued, \'an Schlectenhorst, 
director of the patroonship, was twice arrested and long imprisoned by the 
governor. One outcome of the dispute was that Stuyvesant declared the 
village of Beverwyck to be outside of the jurisdiction of the patroon, and 
established there the Court of Fort Orange, from which is dated the begin- 
ning of city government at Albany. 

V"an der Donck, at The Hagtte, was working hard with the menil^ers of 
the States-General to keep them from forgetting the demands of the burghers 
of New Amsterdam, and as a result of this, the States-General referred 
the Provisional Order of 1650 to all the chambers of the Dutch West India 
Company. It was approved by all except the Amsterdam Chamber, whose 
appro\-al was by far the most importaitt : because it alone had, or at least, 
claimed sole control of New Netherland affairs. That chamber, however, 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



seeing" that something- must be done for New Amsterdam, directed Go\ernor 
StuvA'esant to organize for that town a suitable Ijurgher go\'ernnient, author- 
ized him to appropriate 250 guilders per annum to pay a schoolmaster, and 
remoA-ed the duty on tobacco in the hope of promoting trade with A^irginia. 
The chamber also sent Domine Samuel Drisius as assistant to Domine Mega- 
polensis. Al)Out the same time the States-General again summoned Governor 
Stuvvesant home to give an account of his administration of Xew Netherland 
and of his negotiations with the Xew Englanders. But as war between 
England and Holland broke out the States-General, on the earnest solicitation 
of the Amsterdam Chamber rescinded the order for Stu}\esant to report at 
The Hague, feeling that his military experience and knowledge of the condi- 
tions were much needed, now that invasion threatened Xew X'etherland. 




SEAL OF 
PETRUS STUYVESANT 



CHAPTER EIGHT 

NEW AMSTERDAM UNDER THE BURGHER 

GOVERNMENT-WAR WITH ENGLAND 

INVASION AND SURRENDER OF NEW AMSTERDAM 

Under the instructions of the Amsterdam chamber, the people were to be 
permitted to elect "as much as possible after the custom of Amsterdam," a 
burgher government composed of a schout (or sherifif and public prosecutor, 
who also had the duty of presiding over the meeting's of the magistrates), 
two burgomasters (or mayors), and five schepens (or aldermen). But this 
was too much like democrac\- for the autocratic Stuvvesant, whose constant 
aim was to keep in his hands ever}' possible ftmction of government; so 
instead of allowing the people to elect, he chose the ofiicers himself, naming 
Arendt van Hattem and Martin Cregier as burgomasters, and as schepens 
Allard Anthony, Maximilian \'an Gheel, \\'illem Beekman, Paulus Leendertsen 
van der Grist, and Peter van Couwenho\-en (brother of Jacob of the Nine 
Men, which organization was disbanded when the new citv government was 
organized). So jealous of power was Stuvvesant that he did not even 
permit to the new magistrates the right of appointment of their own secretary, 
but himself appointed Jacob Kip to that place. These appointments were all 
good ones, although the method of their selection was not in accord with the 
custom of Amsterdam; but with respect to the schout, the must important 
oftice of all, Stuyvesant decided not to give the burghers a schout of their 
own, but vested the duties of that ofiicer in the schout-fiscal of the province 
of New Netherland. As that happened to be the licentious and much hated 
Van Tienhoven it is needless to say that the people were much disjileased. 

In the custom of Amsterdam the magistrates had administrative and 
legislative, as well as judicial functions, but in Manhattan the\- were at first 
confined to the holding of court ever_\' two weeks; and afterward, every 
Monday ; Stuyvesant would sometimes consult them in an advisory wav, but 
he himself issued all orders and ordinances. The city government was ]m-o- 
claimed in force from the second day of February, 1653, and it was onlv a 
few months after that the first conflict between the magistrates and the 
governor came. They wanted the same powers that similar officers had in 
Holland: he desired to keep all authority in himself. 

The first important issue that arose was in connection with the puljlic 
defence; and the magistrates agreed to raise funds for that purpose, provided 
that Stuyvesant would turn over the receipts from the wine and beer excise 
to the city instead of to the company. Stuy\-esant refused, and the burghers 
in a public meeting, August 2, 1653, supported the magistrates. The matter 



8-1: 



mSTOR]- or Mill' YORK 



remained in sus])ense, both sides remainint^' tirm nntil lack of funds caused 
Stuyvesant to agree, in November, to turn the excise receipts into the city 
fund. The magistrates then began to raise a defence fund, luit finding soon 
after that (>nl\- a part of the excise monev was lieing turned to municipal use, 
the magistrates notified Stuvvesant that either he must turn over the entire 
excise to citv use or thev would resign in a body. But Stuyvesant would 
not vield : nor would he accept the resignation of the magistrates. 

These and other acts of the governor caused the magistrates to make 
an ap])ea] to the directors of the company, not only for the surrender of the 

excise, but also for the right to elect 
.r_ ^ -j= _ ., --. -. ^^...:-LM ^j:ML^ ... the city schout ; to Ivayc a citv seal; to 

' ^ " " impose taxes; to lease the ferry to 

Breuckelen ; for arms and amnumi- 
tion for cit}' defence, and for the 
]iower to administer the affairs of the 
citv on a basis similar to that of the 




government of Amsterdam. 

There was a considerable amount 
of i)iracy and ])rivateering g'oing on 
along the .\llantic Coast about that 
time, ;ind Xovember 26, 16; v a meet- 
ing gathered in the Stadf Huis, after 
a call b\- Governor Stuvvesant, at 
which were present two members of 
the go\-crnor"s council, two city mag- 
istrates of Xew Amsterdam, and 
delegates from the English towns of 
Gravesend, Mushing and Middle- 
bm"g. riie English delegates, on 
the initiatixe of George Baxter, of 
GraA'csend, made the point that the 
councilors had no right to be present, 
and as the citv luagistrates agreed 
w ith them, the coiincih^rs retired from 
the meeting. The English com- 
plained bitterlv of the raids of Thomas IVaxter, of Rhode Island, and others, 
who were coming constantlv bv sea and land to rob or le\v tribute on the set- 
tlers; ;ind thev declared thev would p;i\ no taxes if thev could get no ])rotec- 
tion; and tliex' also declared that the\' wdiild make a union of their own for 
])rotective i)urposes if the 1 )utch would not unite with tliem. The m.agis- 
trates declined to commit themselves to an\ course unless the other Dutch 






THE "STADT HUIS" 
Iluilf ill !b4J 
Kifft's time. Later imljlic school ; finally 
Citv Hall until 1700 



Til II MEETINGS LV THE. ST. IDT 1 1 VIS 85 

settlements would unite with them. Stuyvesant expressed displeasure at the 
exckision of the councilors, which he said "smelt of rebellion ;" but there was 
no member of the governor's council present at the adjourned meeting held 
December lo, 1653, at which the Dutch towns of New Amsterdam, Breucke- 
len, Amersfoort ( Flatlands ) and Alidwout (hdatl)ush), and the English towns 
of Flushing, Newtown (Middleburg), Gravesend and Hempstead were repre- 
sented, there being nineteen delegates, ten Dutch and nine English. As the 
output of this meeting, George Baxter drafted for the convention "The Re- 
monstrance and Petition of the Colonies and \'illages in this New Netherland 
Province,"" which was ])resented to the governor and cnuncil. 

This document set forth as specific grievances, that the Indians were 
restless and dangerous because they had received insufficient compensation for 
their lands; that as Stuyvesant had acted with a council from which he had 
excltuled lawful members, the land grants he had made were of citiestionable 
validity ; that .some of his grants to single individuals were grosslv excessive 
in area; that autocratic ordinances of which the people had little or no 
information were used as instruments of oppression ; that officials were 
appointed without the consent or nomination of the people; and that the 
government was an arbitrary one which was not founded u[)on the consent, 
knowledge or election of the Commonalty, and therefore "odious to every 
free-born man,"' and further declared that laws which might be good in com- 
numities in the Old World might fre(|uently be found inapplicable to a com- 
munity in America. The governor and council were stated to be represen- 
tatives of the company, which only held such powers as were given to it by 
the States-General, who were supreme in the United Netherlands and all its 
dependencies. An explicit answer to each grievance enumerated was demanded 
of the governor. 

The Amsterdam ChamlK-r of the West India Company had contended 
that it was supreme in the affairs oi New Netherland ; and Stuyvesant 
claimed that his commission made him supreme, often speaking of the people 
of the province as his "subjects."' The ideas and specific demands of this 
"Remonstrance and Petition" made him furious; and he denounced the 
meeting as illegal and unauthorized, and ordered the delegates to disperse 
and not to meet again under jjcnalty of arbitrary correction. Various docu- 
ments crowded on the authorities in HoHand, especiallv the Amsterdam 
Chamber, in regard to the disputes between the governor and the various 
numicipalities in the province. Meanwhile, Nicasius de Sille was sent by 
the company to be first councilor to the governor and Cornells van Ruyven 
to be secretary of New Netherland. 

Invasion of New Netherland was threatened from England, in 1654, and 
Oliver Cromwell sent four shijjs with two hundred sailors, which were to 



HISTORY OF XJiir YORK 



join ;i force from Xew England to take Xew Xetherland for the English; 
])Ut while the Xew England forces were being gathered news of peace l^etween 
the luiglish and Dntch stopped the further progress of the expedition. 

At the conclusion of peace the Amsterdam Chamber found the oppor- 
tunity to answer the petitions which had been sent in the previous year. It 
assumed its old attitude of displeasure that appeals should be made to Holland 
against the decision of the constittited authorities in X'ew X^etherland. But 
concessions were made. They were to have a schout of their own instead of 
that ofifice being given to the schout-tiscal of the pnwince. They were to have 
a citv seal, and could have the receipts of the excise if thev wottld pay the 
municipal salaries, and were given additional powers of taxation. The 
Amsterdam Chamber had selected Jochem T^ietersen Kuyter to be the city 
schout, but he had been killed by the Indians; so Sttiyvesant named Jacques 
Cortelvott for the position. He declined, and \ an Tienhoven continued to act. 

Stti\vesant and the magistrates soon had another dispute. The governor 
insisted that they had not paid for fortifying the city, and that they should 
pav for the support of the soldiers who had been sent from Holland as well 
as its own officials. The magistrates said thev would supi^ort a schotit (who 
must be their own), the burgomasters. schei)ens, a secretary, a court 
messenger and such other official servants as the city might need; one 
minister, one precentor, who shotild also serx'e as a schoolmaster, and 
one beadle. Thev would not support the soldiers, and thought the 
entire province should contribute to the defenses of the capital; btit, if the 
magistrates were empowered to levy a property tax, they wonld contribtUe 
3000 gaiilders, or a fifth, toward the cost of fortifying the city. Stuyvesant 
again took possession of the receipts from the tapsters' excise and made 
threats of an annual tax on cattle, land and other property; but did not put 
this threat into exectition. 

Trouble arose between Xew X'etherland and Xew Sweden. Governor 
Rising, who had succeeded Governor I'rinz in X'ew Sweden, turned the 
Dutch Garrison out of Eort Casimir and made a proclamation to the efifect 
that all Dutch in that territory nnist come under the Swedish jurisdiction. 
The news of this action created a sensation in Xew Amsterdam, and a 
Swedish ship which came mto the lower harbor without a pilot was seized and 
confiscated b\- Sttivvesant. The governor, who was tinder instructions to be 
careful in his relations with X'ew Sweden, wrote io the ^^'est India Company 
for instructions. Meanwhile, starting" on Christmas lA-e, \(>^4. he took a trip 
to H.irbadoes to tr\' and establish trade with that island. Cnfortunatelv, he 
arrived at a time when, under the new llritish navigation laws, an embargo 
was Laid on all ff)reign x-essels in the port; and it was four months before he 
was permitted to leave for Xew Amsterdam, where he arrived in Jvily, 1655. 



XEIJ- XETHERLAND VERSUS NEW SWEDEN 



87 



During his absence the council had appointed successors to the magistrates 
whose terms had expired; Olofif Stevensen being appointed l)urgomaster in 
place of ]\Iartin Cregier, and Johannes de Peyster and Jan \'inje being two of 
the four schepens appointed. 

Soon after Stuvvesant's return, he received orders from the company to 
proceed against the Swedes in the Delaware River, as a re]jrisal for the 
seizure of Fort Casimir bv Governor Rising, and sent him a ship for the 
expedition. The forces were in two companies, of which one was commanded 
bv Stuvvesant and the other by Nicasius de Sille, chief councilor. Monday, 
September 6, they reached Delaware Bay and within a day or two the\- had 
recaptured Fort Casimir. captured Fort Christina, made the people acknowl- 
edge allegiance to H()lland, and took many of them to Manhattan. With this 
expedition was ended the last vestige of Swedish dominion on the American 
Continent, 

While .Stuyvesant was away Avith every able-bodied soldier from the 
fort, "and a maiority of the burghers, the River Indians broke out. 
Nineteen hundred of them had 
gathered on the Xorth River and 
OA'er se\'en hundred had landed 011 
Manhattan. It was thought at 
first that they were on their way 
to Long Island, l)tit manv of them 
appeared in the city. The follow- 
ing morning an Indian wounded 
Hendrick xnn Dyck with an arrow, 
and after that the btirghers armed, 
under the advice of Cornells van 
Tienho\'en, and a few on iDoth 
sides were killed. The Indians left 
the city and crossed to Pavonia, 

where thev ])iumed everv house, killed almost everv man and took the women 
and children captive. Thence they went to Staten Island, destroyed the 
eleven bouweries of the island and killed twenty-three people out of the ninety 
liA'ing on these bouweries. Two boitweries near the Harlem, one being the 
Kuyter ])ouwerie, were raided and the inhabitants killed; and several others on 
Long Island. Within the three days a number of colonists, variously stated at 
from fifty to one hundred, were killed; one hundred and fifty were captured, 
among- whom was Cornells Melyn. Hundreds were rendered homeless and 
destitute bv the savages, their recently gathered crops having- been destroyed; 
the propertv loss altogether being valued at a hundred thousand guilders. The 
Indians did not attack the city, chiefly because they had so many prisoners. 




THE STUYVESANT MANSION 



SS . HISTORY OF XEll' VORK 

Wlien the governor returned he ordered that no vessel should leave the 
harbor, nor any able-bodied man go away from the city except on order. 
Guards were stationed in the outlying settlements and negotiations were 
opened with the Indians, who exchanged seventy prisoners for some powder 
and shot. Stuyvesant consulted with his council about Indian affairs. Van 
Tienhoven, as usual, was for war; but De Sillc and La Montague as well as 
the governor himself, thought that the I)est plan was increased vigilance. 
After that no Indian was permitted to remain overnight in New Amsterdam. 

The English, resident in New Netherland as well as those bevond, began 
to create another trottblesome problem. Thomas Pell, who had lieen a 
gentleman of the bedchamber to Charles I, had brought a party from Fair- 
field in the colony of New Haven in 1654; bought some land from the Indians, 
although they had already sold it to the Dutch, and declared his ])artv to be 
under the protection of the Conmion wealth of England. Several criminals 
who fled from Manhattan had been harbored by them, and in 1656, 
Stuyvesant arrested these colonists, forced them to acknowledge his juris- 
diction, and gave them authority to organize a burgher government on the 
Dutch plan. In 1657 they took an oath of allegiance to the government of 
New Netherland as long as thev should reside within its limits. The English 
called the town Westchester. 

During the absence of Governor Stuyvesant in Barljadoes, George 
Baxter, who had for many years been English secretary to Governors Kieft 
and Stuyvesant, with James Hubbard as associate, endeavored to inaugurate 
an insurrection in Gravesend, hoisting the English flag and claiming for them- 
selves and their associates the rights of English subjects. The council placed 
Baxter and Hubbard under arrest and for a year they were imprisoned. Sir 
Henry Moody, of Gravesend, asking their release, Hubbard was freed on an 
understanding of good behavior. Baxter, pledging his propertv that he would 
not try to escape, was transferred from the cell in the fort to the debtor's 
room in the Stadt Huis. Fle made his escape from there to Long Island and 
thence to New England. His property, which was sold i)v the council for his 
debts, included a farm which embraced the i>resent site of P)ellc\'ue Ilos])ital. 

Stuyvesant's destruction of Swedish sovereignty on the Delaware River 
had cost him a good deal of money; and soon there came a troublesome claim 
by Governor Fendall of Maryland, that the region recently occupied by the 
Swedes was included in Lord Baltimore's patent, and there was some show of 
forcible assertion of the claim ; which, however, never culminated in anything 
very serious, though it was a part of the general discussion of the rights of 
Dutch and English in the New World. There was a desire on the part of New 
England for an extension of its borders west and south ; and there was a party 
in England which desired es])ecially that there should be no foreign power 



f.OXG ISLAND SENDS DELEGATES TO HARTFORD 89 

wedged in between New England and Virginia. Tlie discussion killed for 
awhile after the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, and after Charles II came 
to the throne in 1660, the West India Company tried, through the States- 
General, to procure a settlement of the c[uestion of boundary between New 
England and New Netherland ; which, however, was not pushed by the ambas- 
sadors of the United Netherlands in London. 

In April, 1662, Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut secured the 
charter for that colony. It gave to that colony the territory of New Haven 
colony, nnich of the mainland of New Xetherland, Long Island, Manhattan 
and Staten Island. This charter, which was proclaimed at Hartford in 
October, 1662, created a great sensation. The New Haven colonists were 
incensed at the idea that the identity of their colony was merged in that 
of Connecticut. The English towns in Long Island both in the eastern 
and western jxirtions, sent delegates to the assembly at Hartford, upon the 
invitation of the authorities of Connecticut, James Hubbard being the 
delegate from Gravesend. A protest against these proceedings was sent by 
Stuyvesant to Hartford, who said that this nullification of the Hartford 
Treaty gave New Netherland the right to claim its original territories, which 
included everything as far as the Fresh River; but the only answer he got 
from the Connecticut authorities was a warning to him not to interfere with 
anyone in their colony, which, they claimed, included Westchester. 

A settlement had been made up the river in the Esopus district, and a 
town was established there which was called ^^'iltwyck and is now named 
Kingston. The settlers had been driven out by the Indian uprising in 1655, 
but returned in 165S. The Indians again made trouble, and in 1659 killed 
several settlers and besieged the others in a stockade they had made, until 
Stuyvesant arrived with reinforcements. The following vear, after surprising 
and capturing some Esopus Indians, treaties were made with them and also 
with the Indians near Manhattan, the Mohegans and Mohawks. The Esopus 
region built up with settlers, but in June, 1663, the Esopus Indians, partly 
liecause Stuyvesant had sent some oi his captives of 1660 to be sold in 
slavery in Curacoa, rose in another raid on the settlements and killed or 
captured about seventy of the Dutch. Stuyvesant collected a volunteer force 
which, led by Martin Cregier, almost wiped out the Esopus tribe. 

In the years which had passed there had been an accession of rights and 
privileges to the citizens. In April, 1657, burgher-right was granted to the 
people of the city entitled to it, this ordinance being the first city charter. In 
Amsterdam, Holland, a distinction was made between the Great and Small bur- 
gher-right. It was a class distinction, though one had equal commercial privi- 
leges with the other ; but the great burghers were exempt from arrest upon 
the order of an inferior court, and they only could hold important offices. 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



The holders of the Great Burgher-Rio-lit included all members of the pro- 
vincial government, all former and present magistrates of the city, all clergy- 
men and militia officers, all male descendants of such persons, and any other 
persons, approved by the magistrates, who would pay fiftv guilders for the 
privilege. The Small Burgher-Right included all persons born in the city, all 
who had lived there for a year and six weeks before the date of the ordinance, 
and all who had married the native-l)orn daughters of burghers; also any 
other person, acceptable to the magistrates, who would pay twenty guilders 
for the right. After 1658. as a consequence of frequently reiterated demands, 
the magistrates were permitted to nominate their own successors. In 1660 the 
demand for their own schout was acceded to, thotigh not by the election of 
the magistrates, but by appointment of the ^^'est India Company; the first city 
schout being Peter Tonneman, who was also a member of the governor's 
council. The office of city treasurer, established in 1657, was first held by 
Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt. 

Connectictit continued to l)oldy claim Long Island and much of the main- 
land. Stuyvesant, who had tried to get ^lassachusetts and New England 
generally to reaffirm the Hartford Treaty, but had been put oft' several times, 
and who found most of the Long Island P^nglish who had formerly been his 
chief supporters, now expousing, with more or less boldness, the English side 
of the controversy, began to be more and more insistent that the \\'est India 
Com])anv must secure from the States-General a settlement of the boundary 
question. 

George Baxter was taking an acti\e part in the endeavor to secure action 
from England detrimental to the Dutch sovereignty over New Netherland. 
\\'ith him was associated Captain John Scott. The latter was a son of an 
English officer who had been killed in the service of Charles I, and had been, 
so he said, sent out to Massachusetts and bound out as a servant because, 
when a young boy he had been caught cutting the bridles and girths of a 
Parliamentary troo}). After his term of service had expired he became an 
adventurer, claimed to have bought land nn Lung Island from the Indians 
■and .sold large tracts to various individuals, giving deeds wliich were after- 
ward declared vend b}- the courts. He was representative to England, in 
1 060, of the Atherton Company; composed of prominent men of Connecticut 
and Massachu.setts, who claimed title to lands on the western shore of Narra- 
gan.sett Bav, which they claimed under a dubious patent of 1643, ^^'^'^ 
which was really included in the Providence Plantations. He was constantly 
identified with crooked land transactions. He got the ear of the King's 
Council for Plantations, which advised with him, as well as with George Baxter 
and Samuel Maverick, author of the "Brief Description of New England," who 
had written letters to Clarendon suggesting the conquest of Xew Xetherland. 



cEORGE BAXTfJi .IX P JoUX SCoTT MAKE TROUBEE 01 

Stuyvesant only had a few soldiers at the fort in the autumn of 1663, 
as the Indian troubles at Esopus were not yet over, but hndina,- that some of 
Captain Scott's emissaries were trying to buy up land on the mainland back of 
Xavesink, he sent Captain Cregier with a small force to expel them. Captain 
Scott himself went to Long Island as the representative of Connecticut, having 
been sworn in as one of three agents to incorporate the Long Island towns 
with Connecticut; but when he found that the inhabitants of Hempstead, 
Jamaica, Newtown, Flushing and Gravesend were averse to Puritan rule and 
had come to an agreement to ask for se])arate government under the Crown 
of England, he fell in with their views, and then informed them of the plan 
to make the Duke of York the proprietor of all Xew Xetherland : this l)eing 
the plan under discussion bv the King's Council for Plantations. So when 
the English towns asked him to act as their "president" until the Duke of 
York should come into possession, he agreed as readilv as though he was not 
under oath to serve the interests of Connecticut. He had a troop of almost 
two htmdred men which New Haven had provided for him. and with them 
seized the blockhouse at New LTtrecht and made hostile demonstrations at 
Midwout and Amersfoort. Three envovs sent by Stuvvesant to meet him, 
as the agent of Connectictit, in order to come to an understanding of the 
matters in dispute, were met with threats and rudeness; but after some dis- 
cussion said he would return .in April with his commission, and that the Duke 
of York would soon be in possession of all New Netherland. 

Long Island continued to be in a turmoil. English adventurers, 
pretending to have new grants from the Indians, drove Dutch settlers in 
various parts of the island from their lands, and the Five Dutch Towns 
issued a Remonstrance to the go\'ernor and cotmcil, demanding prompt relief 
from the West India Company; failing which, thev said thev would be com- 
])elle(l "to their heart's grief" to submit to another government in order to 
seciu-e the protection which was so urgentlv needed. The governor sub- 
mitted this Remonstrance to the magistrates, who rej^lied that it was the 
burglicrs' duty to protect and defend New Amsterdam, and the duty of the 
ccinipany's soldiers to i)rotect the villages and the open countrv ; and they 
offered to tise all the revenues and raise a larg- loan to make New Amsterdam 
secure, if the governor would surrender to them the tapsters' excise, which 
he agreed to do. Thereupon the city borrowed 27,300 guilders. 

In February, 1664, Scott, acting as president of the English towns and in 
the name of King Charles and of the Duke of ^'ork "as far as His Highness 
is therein concerned" signed an agreement that those towns should remain 
under the king of England, without let or hindrance from the Dutch 
authorities, while the Dutch towns and bouweries should remain under the 
States-General for twelve months and longer until His ^Majesty and the 



HISTORV OP XFJr ]'ORK 



States-General should fully determine the whole difficulty about Long Island 
and places adjacent. In January the West India Company had warned the 
States-General of the fact that its province was likely to be lost to the English 
unless prompt action were taken; that the colonists were uneasy because 
their titles came from the company, which had only its general trading 
charter to go upon ; and that the boundaries had never been legally defined. 
The States-General thereupon confirmed the right of the West India Company 
to the province of New Netherland bv an act under its great seal, and at the 
same time ratified the Hartford Treaty of 1650, asking King Charles to do 
the same and thereby settle all pending disputes. 

When King Charles received the demand of the States-General con- 
cerning the ratification of the Hartford Treaty, he also had a report from a 
committee of three members of the Council for Plantations which had been 
appointed to receive complaints about Xew Netherland and report upon the 
best method for capturing it. They said that three ships with about three 
hundred soldiers woidd ije enough for the puri)ose, as plenty of Englishmen 
from the other colonies would help, and one-third of the people of Long Island 
were English. If necessary, Indians could ])robably be engaged as auxiliaries. 

The Duke of York was patroon of the Roval African Company, and 
therefore was in direct conflict, on the West Coast of Africa, with the Dutch 
West India Company. In Eebruarv, 1664, the duke borrowed from his 
brother, the king, two men-of-war, and sent out Robert Holmes with a small 
squadron to attack the ]iosts of the company on the \\'est African coast. 

( )n March 12. 1644, the king gave to the Duke of \'ork a charter 
covering part of Maine, Martha's X'incvard, Nantucket, Long Island and all 
the land from the Connecticut River to Delaware Bay. This infringed to 
some extent upon other royal charters, notaljlv that of Connecticut, but entirely 
ig^nored the existence of New Netherland. 

Preparati(_)ns for an expedition to the ilomain granted l)v this doctiment 
were put in motion, the king giving his brother £4000 toward the cost; and 
the duke ap])ointed to take charge of these possessions Colonel Richard 
Nicolls, to whom he gave a commission as deputv governor, and secured for 
liini authority from the king to raise forces for the adventure, of which he 
was given full command. To give the expedition an appearance compatible 
with ])eaceful intentions, the king ap])ointed Colonel Nicolls, Colonel Sir 
Robert Carr, Colonel .^ir Roliert Cartwright and Samuel Ma\erick as a 
commission to inquire into the state of New England, to receive the com- 
plaints of the people, and to settle the ])eace and seciu'ity of the country; and 
this was given out publicly as the sole purpose of the exjjedition, which 
sailed in May, 1664, including three men-of-war and a transport. The 
sc]uadron mounted ninety-two guns and carried four hundred and fifty men. 



77//: KIXG'S FLEET APPROACHES NEW AMSTERDAM 03 

While these preparations were soing- on in England, Stuyvesant had 
endeavored in every possible way to strengthen the defences of Xew 
Amsterdam and to persuade or conciliate the disat¥ected Long Islanders, who 
through Captain Scott's representations fully expected an English force. 
That individual had carried things with such a high and independent hand 
that he had come into conflict with the Connecticut authorities. Not only 
had he repudiated the authoritv of Connecticut bv deserting its cause while 
he was supposed to be acting as its sworn agent, but he had taken upon him- 
self the authoritv of an independent ruler, without having any commission to 
show. So he was arrested on the authoritv of Governor Winthroi^, taken to 
Hartford, and there tried and convicted on ten counts for the crimes of 
forgery, perjury, calumny, sedition, treachery, usurpation and defamation of 
the king, and was fined and imprisoned for these offences. Governor 
Winthroj) with two hundred men went to Long Lsland in June, deposing 
Scott's magistrates and appointing his own. Stuvvesant, who with \'an 
Ruyven, A'an Cortlandt and others from New Amsterdam, went out to meet 
Governor AA'inthrop, found him entirely unwilling to make anv terms, claiming 
that the Indians who sold Long- Island to the Dutch had no title to it, and that 
the title of Connecticut to that island was clear. Earlv in ]n\y, Thomas 
W'illett received news from Boston that an English fleet was on its way to 
capture N'ew Netherland, and so informed Governor Stuyvesant; but later 
advices received bv the governor from the companv, said that the English 
fleet was to sail but that its mission was to establish bishops in New England. 
This letter so pacified the governor that when he heard at the end of July, 
that there was danger to Fort Orange, because of a war which had broken out 
between the Mohawks and the Alohegans, he went up the river to try to secure 
the white settlement from suflfering bv the conflict. 

In early August the English fleet reached Boston Harbor and the work 
of recruiting began. X'olunteers were enlisted from Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut, and Governor W'inthrop went to the western end of Long- Island, 
with other representatives of Connecticut to await the arrival of the fleet, and 
found there Thomas W'illett, not as the all\- of the Dutch as heretofore, but as 
the agent of Plvmouth Colonv. 

News of the approach of the invaders having reached Manhattan, mes- 
sengers were hurried to Fort Orang-e who brought the governor back on 
August 2^. where he set all the people to work on the defences of the city. 
The following day. The (niinea, Nicoll's flag"ship, anchored in Gravesend Bay 
(then called Nayack), where it waited for its companions and the transports 
l)ringing the New England troops. On August 29 he captiu'ed a blockhouse 
which had been established on Slaten Island to defend the Narrows; blockatled 
that inlet and issued a proclamation offering- safety and good treatment to all 



HISTORY OF Xliir VURK 



whii wduld (juictl\- suliniit. The luig'lish Liin,y,' Islanders gathered, readv to 
offer anv re(iuired assistance, or to share in the plunder if there should be 
resistance and ca])ture. There were less than one hundred and fifty soldiers 
at the fort and about two hundred and fifty civilians capable of bearing arms 
in the cit\". The Dutch on the bouweries outside of the city could not desert 
their own homes and families to help in the defence of the city, and the 
English of New Amsterdam were all hostile to the continuance of the Dutch 
government, except John Lawrence, who asked permission to remain neutral, 
and Thomas Hall, who was in entire accord with the Dutch cause. 

Domine ■\Iegap(_>lensis, his son, and two of the city magistrates went as a 
delegation from Stuvvesant to Colonel NicoUs, and to ask him why he had 
l^rought a hostile fleet in front of the citv. The English commander received 
them civilly, and sent a letter explaining his commission antl pledging pro- 
tection to all who would vield obedience to him as governor. This and several 
other messages of similar import, one coming with a delegation under a white 
flag, among whom was Governor W'inthrop of Connecticut, Thomas W'illett 
of Plymouth, and others, came to Stuyvesant, who tried to keep their import 
from the people, but was compelled by clamorous demands of the burghers 
to disclose. There was a general feeling that resistance to the invaders would 
l)e futile, l;)ut Stuvvesant gave no sign of surrender ; sending, however, a 
letter which set forth, in a clear manner, the right of the Dutch to this 
region, proposing that anv hostilities should be ])ostponed until the 
Iwundaries of their respective realms, which were now in\-olved in diplomatic 
correspondence and he doubted not had bv this time been settled by the king 
and the States-General, should be communicated from Europe. Xicolls 
refused to argue, but gave the g-overnor forty-eight hours to accept his terms. 

At Gravesend on September 4, i()04, the Long Lsland Englishmen 
assembled to meet the English commissioners, and Nicolls made public the 
Duke of \'(irk's i)atent and his own commission as deputy governor, and 
Governor W'inthrop publicly proclaimed that Connecticut resigned all claim to 
Long- Island and recognized that of the Duke of A'ork. The English regulars 
landed at Gravesend and thence marched to the Ferrv, where the New 
Englanders had encamped with a large number of English from the eastern 
end of Long Island, under command of Ca])tain John Young". Two of the 
frigates came up the ba\- under full sail, and passing close to the walls of Fort 
Amsterdam came to an anchor l)etween ALuihattan and Nutten (Governor's) 
Island, with their guns all on one side readv to jxiur a broadside into the city 
if anv resistance should be oft'ered. 

Stuyvesant, in the city, was for resistance. He wrote again to Nicolls 
saving that he was readv to stand the storm or arrange an accommodation. 
Nicolls rei)lied that if he would raise the white flag on the fort he might 



STUVJ'ESAXT SURRBXDERS NEIV AMSTERDAM 95 

del)ate the "terms. The burghers hearing of this reply, thronged alxait the 
g()\ernor, urging him to \ield, but he declared he would rather die. 

.\ formal written remonstrance and petition was prepared, setting forth 
the horrors wliich would coiue if the cil\- sliould I)e invested and sacked by the 
enemy; meaning the destruction of fifteen hundred people of whom only two 
hundred and fifty were ca])able of bearing arms. It was signed by all the 
most prominent officials and burghers, who urged him not to reject the offers 
of a foe who was generous in his j^ledges, but to arrange for an honorable 
and reasonable capitulation. 

Stuyvesant yielded at last, and Nicolls consented to treat with him, and 
pledged himself to redeliver the city and fort if the Powers should agree upon 
that procedure; and on Saturday, Se])tember 6, six Dutch and six English 
delegates met outside the city, at Stuyvesant's own bouwerie house and drew 
up in English the "Articles of Capitulation of the Surrender of New Nether- 
land." The next day the articles were read to the burghers in the church 
after the second service, the otiicial copy, signed by Colonel Nicolls was 
delivered to Governor Stuyvesant and ratified by him; bv De Sille, the schout- 
fiscal of New Netherland; Martin Cregier, the chief militia officer of the 
province; Peter Tonneman, the city schout; Burgomaster \'an der Grist; 
Jacobus P>acker, president of the Board of Schepens, and by the schepens 
Timotheus Gabry, Isaac Greveraet and Nicholas de Meyer. 

On September 8 (new style) or .\ugust 2i) (old stvle) the town and 
fort were delivered, Colonel Xicolls was installed l)v the burgomasters and 
proclaimed as deputy governor for the Duke of York. New Amsterdam 
became New York and Fort Amsterdam w as changed to Fort James. 

Petrus Stuyvesant was, in 1665, called by the States-General to Holland 
to report upon his administration. Fie arrived there in October and was 
detained until 166S, when, after due consideration of the papers submitted 
by him and the directors of the West India Company, he was permitted to 
return to America. He retired to his farm or bouwerie, which occupied the 
area now bounded by the East River, Sixth Street, Third Avenue and 
Sixteenth Street, and there he died in tlie earlv part of 1672. Flis body lies in 
the vaults of St. Mark's Church. 

He was a strong, self-willed character ; jiersonally, honorable and honest, 
a ripe scholar and able soldier; but officially, autocratic and often austere. 
FIc served his company with zeal and faithfulness, which was ill requited, 
for the company was grasping and niggardly, and ill sustained his efforts to 
give good government to New Netherland. Partly because of the limitation 
of his resources by the company, and partly from his inherent antipathy to 
anything savoring of democracy, he was very unpopular in the early part of 
his administration, but after the estal>lishment of burgher-right, and ])ar- 



;h; 



HISTORY Of XHir VORK 



ticularlv after tlie removal from office of the malevolent Tienhoven, he g'ained 
the respect of the people; and in his retirement he was an atTable, influential 
gentleman, a good citizen and churchman, and looked up to with honor and 
alTection. He has l^een idealized into a character far different from that he 
reallv bore. He was often wrong and many times unjust, letting his temper 
distort his iudgment. Some of his errors were those of his time and others 
were temjjeramental : l)Ut he was a man of good intentions as well as 
undoubted ])ower. 




w 
o 



H £ 



C H .4 P T E R NINE 

NEW NETHERLAND BECOMES NEW YORK 

GOVERNOR RICHARD NICOLLS AND 

THE DUKE'S LAWS 

Richard Nicolls, the first English guvernor, was a man of his word, and 
gave good treatment and protection to the colony which had surrendered to 
him. He was born at Ampthill in Bedfordshire, in 1624. His father, who 
was a lawyer, married a daughter of Sir George Bruce; and their son, after 
attending Oxford University, became a soldier, and commanded a troop of 
horse in the Royalist Army during the Civil War. \Mien the Stuarts fled to 
the Continent he went with them, and was thereafter of the personal entour- 
age of James, Duke of York, with whom he fought in French armies. If a 
man is known by the company he keeps, the association of Governor Nicolls, 
through life, with James Stuart, forms a strong presumption against his 
personal character ; and the pretext and methods of organization of the expe- 
dition against New Netherland w'ould in our day, be deemed absolutely 
piratical. But the standards of ethics in the Seventeenth Century were greatly 
difTerent from those which prevail in the Twentieth. Of the morale of his 
personal life nothing is recorded, but Nicolls was true to his promises to the 
people of New Amsterdam, and at once found his way to their good will. 

Prior to the surrender of the city many of the worst element of the 
English of Long Island had gathered as volunteers at the Ferry, on the 
Breuckelen side, making threats and prophecies of plunder when New 
Amsterdam should be captured. But there was no looting or distvu^bance ; and 
the Long Island and New England troops were dismissed by Governor Nicolls 
with promises of rewards for all who had taken up arms for their king and 
country. 

The Dutch officials wrote to the West India Comi)any, giving an 
account of the surrender and placing the blame on the company for its failure 
to furnish the colonv with protection. Governor Stuyvesant also w-rote a 
separate account, showing how impossible it would have been for him to olTer 
anything like an adequate resistance to the English forces. These reports 
went with the directors on the ship Gideon, which, with a pass from Governor 
Nicolls, also carried back the Dutch soldiers who had formed the garrison at 
Fort Amsterdam. 

Governor Nicolls appointed English officials, and gave the office of secre- 
tary of the province to Captain Matthias Nicolls, of Islip, Northamptonshire: 
\\-ho, though of identical familv name, was not a relative of the g^overnor. 
He was a lawyer by profession, and came from England with Governor 



08 HISTORY OF XEJf YORK 

Nicolls. Delavall, another Englishman, became collector of the port, and 
Englishmen were also appointed as provincial councilors. In the local 
government, however, the Dutch city officials were left to continue their 
functions and administer justice as before the surrender, until the governor 
should make other and permanent arrangements. 

An expedition under Colonel Cartwright was sent up the river, now 
called the Hudson, and received the submission of Esopus, Fort Orange (the 
name of which he changed to Albany ) , and Rensselaerswyck, which was 
accomplished without friction; while another expedition, under Sir Robert 
Carr, went to the Delaware River, and, after a stubborn resistance, captured 
Amstel, the name of which was changed to Newcastle. 

Nicolls had a commission which covered all the teritorv given to James, 
Duke of ^'ork, and included everything to the Connecticut River. This con- 
flicted with the grant to Connecticut so as to cover half the territory of that 
province. The conflict of title was brought to the attention of Nicolls, and 
he represented to the duke the injustice which would be done by insisting on 
the strict letter of the grant. He received permission to adjust the boundaries 
and fixed the present line of boundary between New York and the provinces 
of Connecticut and ^lassachusetts. 

In renaming places in the province, Governor Nicolls constantly had in 
mind the purpose of honoring his royal master, the Duke of York and Albany. 
The province and the city were both named "New ^ork," Long Island was 
called "Yorkshire,"' and divided, like the English countv so named, into East 
and West Ridings. Fort Orange became "Albany," and the region west of 
the Hudson River he called "Albania." 

Diplomatic correspondence between England and the United Netherlands 
carried the relations of the two countries to the straining point ; and in Feb- 
ruary, 1665, the Parliament granted King Charles, for war purposes, the sum 
of £2,500,000, which was the largest grant that had ever been bestowed upon 
an English so\ereign; and the Citv of London lent him large sums in 
addition to the national grant. The whole countrv seemed to be anxious 
for war. 

Meanwhile Nicolls had been carrying on the work of reconstruction in 
New Netherland. His position was that of a governor of a royal, proprietary 
province. LI is letter of instructions from the Duke of York, by which his 
course was necessarily limited, has never been published and, so far as known, 
is not now in existence; but its general character is known bv the references 
made to it during Governor Nicolls' work of reconstruction. It was thor- 
oughly autocratic, in harmony with the spirit of the Stuarts, and under it the 
governor, representing the royal proprietor of the ])rovince, was vested with 
all legislative and executive functions and was to appoint all judges. The 



THOMAS WlLLIirr. FIRST ATIVOR Of XEir YORK 99 

governor required all the Dutch inhabitants to renew the titles to their lands 
in the name of the Duke of ^'ork. He i)repared a code of laws, which he 
endeavored to make conform to the instructions of the duke, and at the same 
time tried to make it as little as possible displeasing to the ])eople. In jjre- 
])aring this code, which became popularh- known as "the Duke's Laws," he 
consulted the various New England codes, incorporating such good features 
as could be retained without establishing a democratic system. Perfect liberty 
of conscience was to be maintained in religious matters; there was to be a 
Court of Assize in New ^'ork City, and trials were to be by jury of the 
vicinage ; each person nuist pay taxes according to his property ; to make titles 
secure they must be recorded in New York. 

Aliens were required to take the oath of allegiance before they could hold 
])roperty, and all the Dutch inhabitants did so after stipulating for and 
securing a statement that nothing in the Oath of Obedience should be held 
to invalidate any of the provisions of the Articles of Surrender, Peter Stuy- 
vesant being the first, followed by all the leading citizens, and then by prac- 
tically all the able-bodied men of Manhattan. 

On June 12. 1665, Governor Nicolls issued a proclamation which changed, 
all at once, the form of the local government. It began: "I, Richard Nicolls, 
do ordain that all the inhabitants of New York, New Harlem and all other 
parts of the Manhattans Island are one bodv politic and corporate under the 
government of a mayor, alderman and sheritif, and I do appoint for one whole 
year commencing from the date hereof and ending the 12th dav of June, 1666, 
Mr. Thomas W'illett to be mayor." This document was the end of Dutch 
government on the Island of Manhattan, and burgomaster, schout and 
schepen gave way to the English plan of mayor, alderman and sheriff; and the 
Dutch idea of trial bv arbitratiim was succeeded l)v the English institution 
of trial by jury. The change was further emphasized by the requirement that 
the English language must henceforth be used in civic affairs. 

Thomas Willett, appointed to be the first mayor of New \'ork, had been 
an influential business man in New Amsterdam, but had retired to his farm 
at Rehoboth, in Plvmouth Colony. Tlie reason for recalling liim to New 
^'ork was that Nicolls, making in(|uiry with the view of pleasing the Dutch 
citizens of New York, had decided that he was the Itest man for the office, 
not onlv because of his popularity, but also for the reason that he had a more 
intimate ac([uaintance with tlie character and customs of the Netherlanders 
than anv other Englishman available for the place. Allard Anthony, who had 
been schout under the Dutch regime, was appointed sheriff; and of the five 
aldermen appointed by the governor two were English, John Lawrence and 
Captain Thomas Delavall, and three were Dutch. Oloff Stevensen van 
Cortlandt, Johannes van Brugh and Cornelis van Ruyven. 



100 HISTORY OF NFAV YORK 

Although New Harlem was thus made a part of the "body corporate" of 
the Citv of New York, its people, a year later, asked and received, in 1666, ' 
amended in 1667, a charter, confirming the titles of the inhabitants to their 
particular lots and estates, and as a body their common lands and riparian 
rights. This document while giving them the privileges of a town, declared 
it to be, at the same time, a part of the city. It thus had a Town Court, 
subject to appeal to the Mayor's Court, which at stated times sat in New 
Harlem to take cognizance of appealed cases. 

Very much to the chagrin of Governor Nicolls, he found that his 
province had been cut in two even before he entered upon his duties as 
governor. The Duke of York, in June, 1664, had given the part of his 
province, which he had named Albania, to the two court favorites. Sir George 
Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. Philip Carteret, a kinsman of Sir 
George was sent out as deputy governor of the province, which the duke had 
named Nova Caesarea, or New Jersey; in memory of the service which Sir 
George Carteret had performed when, as governor of the island of Jersey, he 
had held that island against the enemies of King Charles until he had received 
the king's command to surrender it. Both of the grantees had been ardent 
royalists and were nmch favored by Charles 11 and his brother James, Duke 
of York. 

It was from Philip Carteret that the news of this grant came to Governor 
Nicolls. Carteret, on landing near Chesapeake Bay, sent messengers to 
Nicolls. telling him of the fact, and at the same time informing him of the 
beginning of the war between England and the Netherlands. Nicolls wrote 
to the Duke of York and later to the Secretary of State, Lord Arlington, 
protesting against the dismemberment of the province. He pointed out to 
them the importance of keeping both sides of the river and harbor under one 
local government, and suggested that the Carteret and Berkeley grant be 
either revoked or so modified that it should include both banks of the Dela- 
ware instead of the country near Manhattan. This last suggestion had some 
effect; for in 1668 the Duke of York made an efifort to accomplish the pro- 
posed change, l)Ut nothing ever came of it. In July, i')ri5, Philip Carteret 
established Elizabethtown, so named in honor ni Lad\- Carteret, wife of Sir 
George Carteret the proprietor, and granted a new charter to the Dutch town 
of Bergen. 

The war declared in March, 1665, ])v Charles II against Holland began 
actively in June of that year: when the English gained a naval victorv over 
the Dutch in the battle of Lowestoft. Louis XI\' of France had endeavored 
to bring about peace, but had failed ; and after the death of the King of Spain, 
in September, 1665, Louis, anxious to acquire the Spanish Netherlands, in 
order to secure acquiescence in his ambition by the Republic, made a 



JJ'JR SCJRE ENDED BY TREATY OF BREDA 101 



declaration of war against England. Even before the declaration of war, the 
jNIarquis de Tracy, viceroy over New France, had furnished a cause of 
irritation to the province of Xew York by pursuing the Mohawks into its 
territory, in which an expedition led by the Sieur de Courcelles, governor of 
Canada, made several incursions, destroying the towns of the Mohawks. 

The Netherlands navy, after the defeat at Lowestoft, was refitted and 
sent once more against the English coast, and several engagements followed, 
in some of which the Dutch, and in others the English, were victorious. The 
visitation of the Great Plague, in 1665, and the Great Fire of London, in 
1666, depleted the resources and exhausted the treasury of the English. In 
the spring of 1666 a secret treaty between Louis XIV of France and 
Charles II of England, in which the latter agreed not to oppose the designs 
of Louis on the Spanish Netherlands, if the French king would withdraw his 
assistance from the Dutch navy, narrowed the contest to the Dutch and 
English. Negotiations for peace were begun at Breda in the spring of 1667; 
and while they were pending De Ruyter took a fleet into the Medway, where 
he destroved the king's shipyards and many of the best vessels, and also 
blockaded the mouth of the Thames, destroying many vessels. For some 
reason the victory was not followed up as it might have easily been, by 
pushing the fleet up the river and taking London. But even as it was, the 
disgrace of the English was complete. Pepy's Diary shows how it was 
regarded by the people; though if Charles had any feeling on the subject it 
did not at least diminish the wildness of his orgies, which even the Plague 
and the Fire had not been sufiicient to disturb. The treaty of Breda was 
finally signed July 21, 1667. Under it each country was to keep all 
territories of which it stood possessed on the loth of May of that year. This 
gave the English New York, while the Dutch secured the spice island of 
Pularoon in East Indies, and in the west the island of Tobago; as well as 
Surinam, in Guiana. According to values as they were then computed, the 
Dutch had secured the best end of the bargain. 

^^"hile the war scare was on. Governor Nicolls was in momentary expecta- 
tion of an attack by the Dutch which should wrest New York from the English. 
He made all efforts he could to get the city in order to repel a possible 
invasion. But, until late in 1666, he had received no support from the home 
government, either in supplies or soldiers ; the only English ships that had 
entered the harbor had come from Virginia or New England. In the fall 
season of 1666 Nicolls recei\-ed some supplies, which had been sent b}- way of 
Boston, for his soldiers, and also received from the king a gift of £200. 

Even before the war began, Nicolls had expressed a desire to be 
relieved of his province, the cares and conflicts of which he found to be a heavy 
burden. In many ways he had succeeded admirably. He had gained the 



lo-.' IlISTORV OF XlUr ]'Uh'K 

personal respect of tlie Dutch residents, and wliere his acts did n^t ])lease 
them thev were the outcome of the hmitations placed uj)on his ]X)\ver hy the 
policies of the duke, his master. Representative government he could not 
give them, because, like the other Stuarts, James, Duke of York, was 
opposed to everv semblance of democracv. But his selections of officers were 
carefully made, and gave satisfaction in spite of the autocratic method of their 
appointment. lie had done evervthing', consistent with his instructions, 
which an ILnglish governor could do, for these Xetherlanders ; and those in 
Manhattan had become extremely well affected toward him. At Esopus and 
Albany he had not gained ,so strong a hold u])on the ])eo])le ; although even 
there, after a personal visit, he made friends. But when England and 
Holland were on a war footing Xicolls felt that the Xetherlanders would not 
let their ]^ersonal feeling for him outweigh their patriotic regard for the 
h'atherland, and that, in case of a Dutch invasion, they would probabl}' be 
with the enemy. 

They had no reason to feel otherwise; for no benefits had come to them 
from English rule. Stuyvesant had originally been a martinet and was 
always somewhat autocratic in his bearing, but through numerous petitions 
anil remonstrances the people of X^ew X'etherland had ol)tained a fair 
measure of self-government, which had been wi])ed out bv the English 
concpiest. Xeither had there l)een anv im])rovement in trade. Fhe luiglish 
navigation laws were very strict in their protective policy to kee]) trade 
l)etween the colonies and I'Au^opean countries confined to English liottoms; 
but while the war weiU on, onlv one or two English shi])s found their way to 
Manhattan. Even the coastwise trade with \"irginia and X'ew England had 
])ractically ceased l)ecau-e of the depredations of jirivateers, and tlie fear of 
an expected Dutch fleet. In lune, ]()6y. the Dutch fieet found its wav to \"ir- 
ginia and, sailing into the James Kiwr, captured a large numlier of tobacco- 
laden merchant ships. So large was the bootv that it re(|uired all the effort 
of the fleet to take the vessels to Holland; and this fact, doubtless, saved 
Xew N'ork from its greatlv dreaded visitation. 

For want of aid during this period of great need, X'^icolls sj)ent all oi his 
own money, used his credit to its limit in Xew \'ork and Boston, and drew 
liills of exchange amounting to £2000 against his English estate. He often 
asked to be recalled, doubting his own abilit\- as an executive, and the suffi- 
ciency of his resources, for he was not a rich man. The official announce- 
ment of the peace treaty of Breda reached Colonel Xicolls at the same time 
with a royal order releasing him from his office when his successor 
should arrive. 

With the news of the peace, Peter Stuvvesant returned to Xew ^'ork. 
He went to .\msterdam before the war Iiec'an, and had meanwhile been 



STUVJ'ESANT BEFORE THE STATES-GENERAL 103 



engaged in a controversy with the Dutch West India Conii)any before the 
States-General, in regard to his action in permitting the surrender of the city 
and fort of New Amsterdam. The Breda treaty ended the controversy, in 
whicli, now that New ^'ork had been definitely ceded to England, the Dutch 
West India Company displayed no further interest. Stuyvesant, who had felt 
the proprieties would not permit him to live in New York under the English 
while his own action in the surrender of New Amsterdam was under fire, 
was relieved of all scruples now that the English possession of the province 
was confirmed by the new treaty ; and he determined to return to New York 
and make his home there. He went to England and in behalf of himself and the 
Dutch residents of New York asked that the Articles of Surrender be confirmed 
bv the Duke of York and the king in council, and especially Article VI of 
that document, which guaranteed free trade between Manhattan and Holland; 
and in reply received permission from the king and dtike that three Dutch 
ships might freely trade with the province of New York for a period of seven 
years. He carried this welcome news to New \'ork, where his wife and 
family had remained during all the troublous times, and where he remained 
a distinguished citizen until his death. 

The ofiicial proclamation of the jieace was made on New Year's day, 
1668, in front of the Stadt Huis. About the same time. Governor Nicolls 
allowed it to be known that his term as governor would soon end. The news 
was heard with deep regret by Dutch as well as English. He had ably dis- 
charged his duties which were difficult, because he had to conform to 
instructions which ran counter to the desires of lioth the Dutch and English 
residents; but with all his limitations he won the confidence and affections 
of the people. 

In the early summer, the new go\'ernor. Colonel Francis Lovelace, came 
to New York. Nicolls remained for a few months to help his successor learn 
the situation, and August 26, 166S, Colonel Nicolls sailed for England. 



CHAPTER TEN 

NEW YORK UNDER GOVERNOR LOVELACE 

RECAPTURE BY THE DUTCH 

FORT ORANGE 

Colonel Francis Lovelace, the second governor of New York, was of a 
good English family, although his parentage is a matter about which the 
statements of tlie historians vary. Most of the earlier accounts speak of him 
as a son of that Sir Richard Lovelace who was elevated to the peerage by 
Charles Baron Lovelace, of Hurley, in Berkshire; but later and probablv 
more accurate accounts point to him as a son of Sir William Lovelace, of 
Woolwich, Kent, who was killed in the war with the Netherlands, and of 
Anne, daughter of Sir William Barnes, also of Woolwich. Sir William had 
six children, five sons and one daughter, of whom Colonel Lovelace was the 
second son, his elder brother being Richard Lovelace, the poet. 

Samuel Maverick, who was the chief adviser to Clarendon in colonial 
matters, had recommended Lovelace to head the expedition undertaken by 
Nicolls in 1664. When Nicolls" wish to be relieved of his duties was received. 
King Charles advised his brother James to appoint Lovelace to the place. 

Lovelace, as a strong royalist, had left England during the protectorate 
of Oliver Cromwell, and had lived for a time on Long Island. After Oliver's 
death he returned to England, and his activitv as a partisan of the Stuarts 
led to his incarceration in the Tower, bv order of Richard Cromwell. On 
the Restoration he became a participant in royal favor, and was appointed by 
Charles II to be a groom of the bedchamber. He had few resources, and 
one of the principal reasons for his recommendation to appointment was the 
hope of Charles that he might retrieve his fortune in New York; for the 
colonies were looked upon as a legitimate field of ex])loitation by the favorites 
of the court. 

Lovelace was by no means so strong a character as Governor Nicolls; 
but his disposition was kindly, and he patterned his administration as nearly 
as possible after that of his predecessor. \\'hen he took office he retained 
Matthias Nicolls as secretary of the province and \'an Ruyven as collector of 
the port. His council was com])osed of Secretarv Nicolls, Cornelis 
Steenwyck, mayor of the city, and Thomas \\'illett. former mayor for two 
terms. Between Willett's two terms Thomas Delavall had served a term 
as mayor. 

Trade improved in New York after the close of the war by the treaty 
of Breda. Samuel Maverick, who had lieen a member of the Royal Com- 
mission of 1664, settled in New York City in 1666. The property of the 



LOJ-ELACE ESTABLISHES THE MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE 105 

West India Company, whicli lay along the Heere Weg, the name of which 
Governor Nicolls had changed to Broadway, had been confiscated, and 
Nicolls had secured from the duke, in behalf of Maverick, a deed to a house 
and grounds on that thoroughfare. Some of Maverick's correspondence with 
Nicolls after the latter had returned to England, is published in the Colonial 
Documents, and gives a valuable insight into the doings in New York under 
the Lovelace administrations. Among other things he records the building 
of two ships, one of 120 tons, on Manhattan Island named the Good Fame of 
New York, for Governor Lovelace, and another of 70 tons at Gravesend; and 
also tells of the discovery of cod-banks about two or three leagues frcnn 
Sandy Hook "on which in a few hours, four men took eleven or twelve hun- 
dred excellent good cod the last time they were out," which early fish story still 
holds good, for the fishing banks mentioned continue to be a valuable source 
of supply. 

In 1 67 1 Governor Lovelace issued an order that each Friday, between 
eleven and twelve o'clock, all merchants and artificers of the city should 
meet near the bridge across the canal (Heere Gracht), assembling there as 
in an exchange, to confer about their several afifairs; and ordering that they 
should gather and disperse at the sound of a bell, and without disturbance. 
It is an interesting fact, that this first Inisiness exchange in New York used 
for its place of assembly the identical spot where the "curb market" now 
creates excitement day by day. 

Governor Lovelace ordered that a "sworn postman" should start once 
each month for Boston, going by way of Hartford and returning within the 
thirty days, carrying letters and other small portable packs. The first trip 
was to ha^'e begun January i, 1673, but there was a long wait for letters from 
Albany and it was January 22 before he finally started from the secretary's 
office at the fort, and mounted his horse for the first official postal trip out of 
New York. The route began up Broadwav and from thence over what is 
now known as Park Row, the Bowerv, Fourth Avenue to L^nion Square, 
Broadway to Madison Square, thence by an irregular road to the Harlem 
River at Third Avenue and 130th Street, and along a route which was 
approximately identical with the present Third Avenue to 163d Street and 
continuing along the thoroughfare still called Boston Road. The whole of 
this route was for many years known as the Boston Post Road. At the fort 
letters were received, postage being prepaid, and were kept in a locked box 
until the postman started on his next trip. 

Domine 2\Iegapolensis died in 1670, after twenty-seven years of faithful 
service as minister of the Dutch Church, and his son went to Holland; so 
the care of the Dutch Church was in the hands of Domine Drisius, who was 
in failing health, and all the help he had was that given liy .Egidius Lu}ck, 



106 HISTORY OF XI- IT YORK 

a young man wlio was teacher of the Latin school which liad been established 
during the governorship of Governor Stuvvesant. So urgent were the 
pastoral needs, that the city magistrates offered a salary of one thousand 
guilders and a convenient house to a competent preacher, and this offer went 
to the Classis of Amsterdam with the iruarantee of Governor Lovelace; and 
in response. Rev. Wilhelmus van Nieuwenhuvsen was sent out. The "Duke's 
Laws," promulgated by Governor Nicolls, provided that the majority vote of 
a town should select the church which should be supported by general 
taxation; and this, in New York, was the Dutch Church. There was, 
however, toleration for all denominations; all of the Protestant sects freely 
practised their religious rites, and even George Fox, the Quaker, preached 
without hindrance at Flushing, in 1672. 

Commerce fell off in New York during the administration of Governor 
Lovelace, not through any fault of his, but because of the restrictions 
imposed by the English navigation laws. There was also much dissatisfaction 
in the towns of Long Lsland, where the English towns were composed of 
people who had come from New England, where the democratic "town 
meeting" system gave everv man a voice in local affairs; and these people 
complained of the lack of freed()ni im])ose(l bv the o]ieration of the "Duke's 
Laws." The eastern towns of Long Island were so dissatisfied that they 
petitioned the king to let them become a part of Connecticut. 

Lovelace had much of his attention focused on the aft'airs of the province 
outside of Manhattan. In i()/2. when war began lietween England and 
Ibilland, he received a warning from the home go\-ernment to ])Ut the province 
in a state effective for defense. The declarali<in of war was read on [ulv 6, 
1672, at the gate of b^ort J^iuies and the City Hall and a considerable amount 
of work was done upon the fortification of the cit\'. ( )n ]anuar\' 22, 1^)73. 
when the first trip of the otficial postman was started from New York for 
Uoston, he carried a letter from Governor Lovelace to Governor W'inthrop, 
at New Haven, in which was mentioned a re])ort th.al the Dutch, with forty 
sail and well armed, had started for the West Indies ; and suggesting that if 
it was true it would be 'iiigh time for us to buckle on our armor." In March, 
when the governor was away on l)usiness in Westchester, leaving Captain 
folm Manning, as usual, in charge of l'^)rt James during his absence, he was 
called back to the fort on the rumor that the Dutch were coming. He found 
the English residents in a stale of semi-panic; and therefore, although the 
alarm proved to be ])reniature, he sent orders to the garrisons up the Hudson 
and on the Delaware Ri\'er to send their troops to Fort James. They did so, 
augmenting the forces in the fort to three hundred and fifty, but the scare 
soon subsided, and Lovelace dispersed the troojjs ag.ain, retaining onlv about 
seventv men at the fort. 



DUTCH DEMAND NEW YORK'S SURRENDER 107 

In July, 1673, little suspecting that an invading fleet had already reached 
the Chesapeake, Governor Lovelace again left Captain Manning in charge of 
the fort and went to New Haven, for a conference with W'inthrop, taking 
with him Secretary Nicolls and three servants. 

The fleet, which approached New \'ork, was under the command of 
Cornelis Evertsen the younger, son of the great Admiral Cornells Evertsen, 
who had lost his life in hattle in 1666. The fleet consisted of twenty-one sail, 
including nine men-of-war; and twelve prize ships which had heen captured 
in West Indian and \'irginian waters. The fleet carried sixteen hundred 
soldiers and seamen, and hesides the admiral there was in joint command. 
Captain Jacob Benckes, who hat! started out with four of the ships and had 
joined Evertsen in the West Indies. He was a veteran of the previous war 
with England and of the raid into the Thames. In the force were a hun- 
dred and fiftv iiiariiiicrs (marines) unik-r ciminiand of Captain Anthony Colve. 

There are varving reports in regard to the manner of the attack on New 
^'ork. hut the accounts agree in stating that the Dutch fleet sailed into the 
hay July 29, 1673. T^l^^' morning after the Dutch ships had anchored, 
Captain ?\lanning sent Thomas Lovelace, Carr and Shari)e as messengers to 
the ships, to in(|uire wli\' tlie\' came in such a hostile manner to disturb His 
Majesty's stibjects in this place. These messengers, without communication, 
passed another boat, carrying a trumpeter, sent by the Dutch commanders 
to the English ofticer in command, with a message reading as follows: 

"Sir: The force of war now Iving in vour sight is sent b\' the High and 
Mighty States and His Serene Highness the Prince of Orange for the purpose 
of destroving their enemies. We have sent vou therefore this letter, together 
with our trnm])eter, to the end that u[)on sight hereof you surrender unto 
us the fort called James, ]M-omising good (juarter; or, l)y your refusal, we shall 
be obliged to ])roceed, both b\- land and water, in such manner as we shall 
find to be most advantageous for the High and Mighty States. 

Dated in the ship Swanenbergh, anchored betwixt Staten and Long 
Island the (jtb of August (July 30, Old Style), 1673. 

Cornelis Evertsen 
Jacob Benckes" 

Captain Manning answered this document bv stating that he had already 
sent messengers to communicate with the fleet, and upon their return he would 
give a definite answer to the summons. Thereupon the shi])s weighed 
anchor, stood up the bav and anchored opposite the fort, and word was sent 
to Manning giving- him half an hour to answer the Dutch summons to sur- 
render. Manning asked time until the following morning at 10 o'clock; but 
word was sent back that only half an hour would be given before opening fire 
upon the fort, and that the hourglass would be immediately turned up. 



108 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

The specified time expiring without word from the fort, a heavy 
cannonading- against the fort was begun, and se^'eral men were killed and 
wounded. Soon after, the Dutch landed six hundred men, under command of 
Captain Anthony Colve, and he marched toward the fort, sending a trumpeter 
ahead to ask whether it would surrender. [Manning sent Captain Carr, of 
Delaware, and two other messengers under indefinite instructions, to make 
the best terms they could, and Colve, holding two of the messengers as 
prisoners, sent Carr to inform Manning that he could have fifteen minutes to 
make definite proposals. Captain Carr, instead of carrying the message, rode 
out of the city and made his escape. Much incensed at apparent indifference. 
Captain Colve resumed the march, but was met bv an officer who oft'ered to 
surrender the fort, with all military arms and ammunition, on condition that 
officers and men should march out with their arms, drums beating, colors 
flying, bag and baggage, without hindrance or molestation. 

Captain Manning had to bear the lirunt of the general displeasure of the 
English inhabitants of New York and of all the New England colonies; but 
the force against him was so overwhelming that he could have done no better, 
and might have caused great destruction In' holding out. 

The Dutch commanders, in order to reorganize the government, commis- 
sioned Captain Anthom^ Colve as governor, and changed the name of the 
fort to Fort William Henry, and of the citv to New Orange; issited a proc- 
lamation restoring the form of government as it was when it was New 
Amsterdam ; and getting nominations from the members of the existing 
council, chose the following, all Netherlanders, for officers of the city: 
Anthony de Milt, schout ; Johannes van Brugh, Johannes de Peyster and 
.•Egidius Luvck, burgomasters; and Willem Beeckman, Jeronimus Ebbingh, 
Jacob Kip, Laurens Wanderspeigle and Geleyn A'erplanck, schepens. 

Governor Colve became active in eft'orts to place the city on a defensive 
footing, and after the fleet had left, he organized the liurgher guard; 
repaired the city palisades and the works of the fort ; razed several buildings, 
paving the owners and giving them lots further remo\-ed from the fort, and 
he made various ordinances relative to local government. The Treaty of 
Westminster, of peace between England and Holland, made Fe1)ruary 9, 
1674, restored the country to the English. The Dutch remained, however, 
until November 10, following. Meanwhile the Duke of York secured from 
his brother. Charles H, a confirmation of his former title to the country, and 
appointed Major Sir Edmund Andros as governor of the Province of 
New York. 

Andros arrived on November i, 1674, on the frigate Diamond in com- 
pany with the frigate Castle. Previous to that, on October 16, a frigate from 
Holland had arrived, bringing instructions to Colve to surrender and vacate 



NEW ORAXGE BECOMES NEW YORK 109 

his province. Andros also brought credentials from the States-General, 
recognizing his appointment as the British governor of New York, which, 
the day after his arrival, he sent to Governor Colve. The latter asked for eight 
days in which to prepare for orderly evacuation, and this was granted; 
Major Edmund Andros, in the meanwhile, receiving delegations from the city 
magistrates and other local bodies, asking certain securities in regard to future 
government of the province ; and receiving the assurances of the governor that 
Dutchmen and Englishmen should be alike in liberties and privileges, and 
that he had been instructed to act with justness and kindness. Governor Colve 
called the civil and military officials to a meetings, at which he formally bade 
them farewell, and absolved them from their oaths; and the magistrates pre- 
sented him with two hundred and fifty guilders for his services as governor. 

In the court records of New Orange, the last entrv made under Dutch 
government in the city says: "On the loth November, Anno 1674, the 
Province of New Netherland is surrendered by Governor Colve to Governor 
Major Edmund Andros in behalf of His Majesty of Great Britain." The 
English called the day, which was Saturday, October 31 ; as the New Stvle 
calendar had not yet been adopted by Great Britain, and on that day Governor 
Colve and his troops retired to the Dutch frigate. Governor Andros wrote 
from the fort, renamed Fort James, wishing Captain Colve a good voyage, 
and thanking him for the gift of his coach and three horses. 

Governor Colve's administration had been short, but creditable. The 
record of Dutch government in New York was not blackened by anv of his 
acts. Governor Stuyvesant, the former Dutch governor, had died a year 
Itefore the Dutch recapture, and as a British subject. Lovelace, the English 
go\-ernor whose pro\-ince was taken from him in his absence, had come back 
t(j New York during the early part of Colve's year of administration, and 
before the Dutch fleet left. He was terribly in debt, and was arrested at the 
suit of several merchants. He was finally permitted to sail with Admiral 
Benckes to Holland. His property, which was considerable, for he had not 
neglected his personal interests, was confiscated l)y Colve. 

In securing his properties, he had borrowed from the duke's exchequer, 
and for this reason the duke, who claimed Lovelace owed him £7000, kept 
him from further public employment, and instructed Andros to hold his estate 
until that sum was satisfied. Lovelace died before his estate was fully inven- 
toried, January 29, 1679. 

The matter of his debts is the chief count in any indictment to be brought 
against Lovelace. His absence from the fort was ill-judged, but if he had 
been there he could have helped matters little. He was clothed with 
despotic power, but was in no degree offensive, and while lacking the 
diplomacy of Nicolls, was a friendly and a kindly man. 



11(1 



HISTORY OF NRIJ- YORK 




SEAL OF 
NEW ORANGE 



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"°5^^?4-5'''^* ► 



CHAPTER ELEVEN 

NEW YORK UNDER SIR EDMUND ANDROS 
AND "THE DUKE'S LAWS" 

Major Ednumd Andros, who became the first governor of New York 
after the final extinction of Dutch authority by the Treaty of Westminster, 
was born in London, December 6, 1637. His family, which had ])een very 
])rominent for years in the Island of Guernsey, was attached to the forttmes 
of the House of Stuart. His father was a minor officer in the royal household, 
under Charles I, and as a reward for his faithful service, the son was 
a])pointed a gentleman-in-ordinary to Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia ; and 
had been brought up at court, becoming a favorite of King Charles II, and 
his brother James, Duke of York. 

Adopting the military profession, he served in the regiment of foot, sent 
to America in 1666, and in 1672 was commander of the forces in Barbadoes. 
Later in the same year he was made a major in the dragoon regiment of 
Prince Rupert, notable as the first English regiment to be armed with the 
bayonet. Early in 1674 his father died, and he became scigncnv of the fiefs 
of Saumarez, and succeeded his father in the office of Bailifif of Guernsey. 
He had strengthened his relations with the court by marrying' Mary Craven, 
who was daughter of Sir Thomas Craven, a sister of Sir William Craven, 
and a cousin of Lord Craven — one of the most influential courtiers in the court 
of Charles II — through whose influence Major Edmund Andros had olitained 
a large grant of land in Carolina. 

Major Andros, who was much at court, was chosen for the post of 
governor of New York by the Duke of ^'ork, not only on the ground of 
friendship, but also because he possessed manv of the qualifications for the 
]jlace. His military experience was valuable, he had considerable knowledge 
of America, and of colonial administration, and he was familiar with the 
Dutch and French languages. Besides these qualifications, there was no 
([uestion about his devotion to the royal family; and the duke felt that his 
interests would be safe in his hand. 

The Council of the Province of New York included, besides the governor, 
the first councilor. Lieutenant Anthony Brockholls, who had come with him 
from England; Captain William Dyre, collector of customs; Matthias Nicolls, 
who had been restored to his old post as secretary of the colony; and under 
the ducal instruction to complete his Provincial Council "from among the 
most prudent inhabitants'" of the Province of New York, Governor Andros 
chose as members John Lawrence, William Dervall, Stephanus van Cortlandt 
and Frederick Philipse. 



113 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

Liculenanl Brockholls, the chief councilor, who had also been named bv 
the duke to succeed Sir Edmund Andros in case of his death, was the first 
Catholic to be appointed to important office in New York, or in New Nether- 
land. He was openly a Catholic, while James was one in secret. Captain 
Dyre was son of William Dyre, one of the founders and for many years 
secretary of the colony of Rhode Island, and son of Mary Dyre, the 
Quakeress, who was condemned to death in Boston, and after being reprieved 
for a time on her son's petition, was hanged in 1660. Having- been in 
London in 1673, Captain Dyre had sent an urgent petition setting forth a 
plan for the recovery of the duke's lost province and advocating the expul- 
sion from it of the Dutch inhabitants. Stephanus van Cortlandt was a 
native of Manhattan, born in 1643, son of Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt 
and Annetje, sister of Govert Lockermans ; and was a prosperous merchant. 
Frederick Philipse, who wrote his own name "Vlypse," was a native of Fries- 
land; was a carpenter when he first came to New Netherland, but in 1660 had 
started out as a trader, first acting as skipper of his own vessels. He was 
successful in trade, and added to his substance by marrying a rich widow, so 
that a tax-list of New Orange (New York) under the Dutch occupation, 
showed him as the richest man in the place ; with an estate valued at 
80,000 florins. 

On November 10, 1674, Governor Andros restored the city government 
to the English form, appointing Matthias Nicolls, provincial secretary, to be 
mavor of the city; and created the office of deputy mayor, which he gave to 
John Lawrence, who, though an luiglishman, had maintained friendly rela- 
tions with the Dutch invaders during the Colve regime. I^rom the 
organization of the Common Council under these officers, down to the present 
time, the minutes have l)een kept in English ; but the accounts of the city were 
kept in Dutch until eight years later. 

Captain John Manning, wIkt had surrendered the fort to Col\-e, had been 
taken away by the Dutch fleet, with his wife, and part of the English troops, 
and had been landed, without means, at Fayal. With much difficulty he made 
his way to England, his wife dying on the journey. When the case came 
before the king and the duke, the hopelessness of any resistance to the Dutch 
fleet was so apparent that the king declared the fort could not have been held 
by so small a force. He returned to Manhattan with Andros, who had 
selected him, (Governor Carteret of New Jersey, and Matthias Nicolls to con- 
duct the negotiations with Colve. After the Common Council had been 
reorganized, \\ illiam Dervall, who had been one of the chief suft'erers by the 
wholesale confiscations made by Colve, made a formal complaint against Man- 
ning, for treachery and negligence in the surrender of the fort. The formal 
complaint made it necessary for Andros to call a court-martial, which met in 



ANDROS DEMANDS OATHS OF THE DUTCH llo 

lanuary, 1675. The court acquitted him of the charg-e of treachery, but found 
liim guilty of neglect of duty; and he was ordered dismissed from the service 
of the crown. His sword was broken over his head, in front of the City 
Hall, and a book written by Charles Wolley, afterward chaplain to the 
governor, says that he was exiled to an island in the East River. It is 
doubtful if such exile was included in the formal sentence, but he lived there, 
as the island was owned by him, being- part of the estate of the West India 
Company, which was confiscated l^y Go^'ernor Nicolls. Manning had 
received a grant for the island from that governor, and after his death, his 
stepdaughter, a Mrs. Blackwell, inherited it. It remained in her family until 
1828, when it was bought by the city, which has built penal and charitable 
institutions upon it. It still retains the name of Blackwell's Island. 

Following the provisions of the Treaty of Westminster, which had i)ro- 
vided for a restoration, as to property rights, of the status quo ante. Andros 
had proclaimed the annulment of Colve's confiscations, and the recession of 
such property to its former owners. This order created much dissatisfaction 
among those Dutchmen who had benefited by the confiscations. Even those of 
the Dutch who had not profited in this way 1)>- the confiscatory policy of 
Colve were far less content with English rule than they had been when the 
English, under Nicolls, had first taken the island. One reason for this had 
been, that when Stuyvesant was director-general. New Netherland had been 
under the rule of the West India Company, which had denied to the burghers 
many of the liberties and rights which had been theirs in the Eatherland, 
while exacting constant tribute from their commerce and industry. When 
Colve recaptured the province, however, they had hoped, as direct subjects of 
the States-General, to receive the benefit of Dutch civil and religious liberty, 
and burgher government such as was enjoyed by the people of the Nether- 
lands ; and which they much preferred to the Dttke's Laws, even when admin- 
istered by such well-intentioned governors as Nicolls and Lovelace. 

In 1675 the governor and Council passed an ordinance which, after 
reciting the fact that there had been recent changes in the government, and 
that other oaths had been imposed upon the inhabitants of New York, stated 
that all persons intending to remain in New York must take oaths of 
allegiance and fidelity to the King of England and the Duke of York, at such 
times and places as might be appointed by the magistrates in the various 
places throughout the province. In response to this, eight of the foremost 
Dutch citizens, Cornells Steenwyck, Johannes de Peyster, Johannes van 
Brugh, William Beekman, Jacobus Kip, Anthony de Milt, .Egidius Luyck 
and Nicholas Bayard, expressed their willingness to take the oath on 
condition that Governor Andros should confirm the pledge of Governor 
Nicolls, to the effect that the capitulation of August, 1664, was not in the 



114 HISTORY OF XliJJ- YORK 

least Iji'iikeii li\' an\' wurds ur e-xpressinns in said oath; and when (juestioned 
l)\- the ^'dverndr, declared that they onh- wished to he assured of future 
freedmn of reliyidn, and of exemption front the dutv of fi^-hting" against their 
own nation in time of war. Andros declared that thev must take the oath 
without conditions; and upon their again declining to do so issued to the 
sherili a warrant for their arrest, on the chargx' nf heing factious and 
seditious persons who were endeavoring to foment disturhance and rehellion. 
The eight men ])etitioned the mavor and aldermen to intercede with the 
governor on their hehalf. that the\- Ije not com|)elled to take the oath or to 
bear arms against Dutchmen; hut the flavor's Cotirt recommended that they 
be held in hail of £200 each, for trial at the next session of the Court of 
Assize, and this was done. 

Pending the meeting of the Assize Court the eight men. through Steen- 
wyck. sent a petition to the States-(.ieneral of the United Xetherlands, asking 
that through their ambassador their case should l)e laid before Iving Charles, 
and to urge that the Dittch residents of New ^'ork shottld l)e allowed the 
privileges which were given them l)v the ca|)itulation of 1674, and wdiich they 
belie\'ed to have l)een conlirmed bv the Sixth Article of the Westminster 
Treaty of 1<>J4, restoring the status quo. The Dutch ambassador Ijrought the 
matter to the notice of the Duke of ^'ork, but lie said he had no knowledge 
of any previous concession to the Dutch residents on the basis of anv ca])itu- 
lation. Tile duke did, however, through Sir |i;)hn W'erden, remind Antlros of 
his desire that all the residents of New ^'ork sliould be treated with all pos- 
sible humanity and gentleness, consistent with the |)reservation of the honor 
and safety of the ])rovincial government. 

The Assize Court met in (October, and the burghers were arraigned. 
De IV'yster took the oath without further protest, Imt the others went to trial 
on charge of unlawfully refusing to swear allegiance ; and also with violating 
one of the navigation acts which forbade aliens to trade in an\' of Tlis 
Majesty's plantations. They were found guilty upon both counts, and their 
property was attached, but tlnallv taking the prescribed oath, the proceedings 
were dismissed. 

Another case wliicb caused discontent among the Dutch inhabitants was 
connected with tlieir fear that luiglish rule would mean a loss of religious 
libert}-, and the placing of them under the rule of liishops. With Andros had 
come Rev. Nicolaus wm Rensselaer, youngest son of Killaen \-an Rensselaer, 
the first i>atro(in (if Rensselaerswyck, and brother of Johannes van Rensselaer, 
second ])atroon. T.oth of these ]:)atroons remained in Amsterdam; the patroon- 
ship being managed successively l)v Jan Bai)tist and Jeremias van Rensselaer, 
sons of the first ])atroon. Nicolaus, who had studietl for the ministry, in 
Holland, had been licensed there accordiuii- to the ndes of the Reformed 



XICOLAUS r.-lX REXSSELAER MAKES TROUBLE 115 

Church. Becoming a protege of the Stuarts, he went witli them to England, 
at the Restoration, and received orchnation at the hands of a hislio]) of the 
Church of England, becoming pastor of a Dutch congregation in West- 
minster. When Andros came to America, the young pastor came with a letter 
from the Duke of York, recommending him to Andros for ap])()intment to any 
benefice that might become vacant at New N'ork or Albany. Andros, to 
whom anv recommendation of the duke appealed with the force of a command, 
sent him to Albain' with a letter to Dnmine Schaats, directing him to receive 
\'an Rensselaer as a colleague. Domine Schaats ])rotested against the irregu- 
larity of the proceeding, but sulMuitted; but soon accused him of false preach- 
ing, and a church trial, at Albany, found him guilty of heresy. 

Domine \'an Xieuwenhuvsen of the church at New York, had ])reviously, 
while Wan Rensselaer was in the city during the progress of the burghers' 
trial, refused him ])ermission to administer the sacrament of baptism in his 
church, saying that he was not a lawful minister of the Reformed Church ; 
that he had been "palmed ofif" on the church at Albany, but not legally called 
to that charge. Van Rensselaer had appealed to the governor and Council, 
and Van Nieuwenhuysen had submitted a written statement of his ecclesias- 
tical view, which he and his Consistory argued at length before Andros and 
the Council. The Domine disclaimed any aspersions against Anglican orders, 
but declared that without a pledge to conform to its practices, no minister 
could lawfully administer the sacraments in a Reformed Church. The case 
ended bv a written pledge of conformitv to the usages of the Dutch Com- 
nuinion on the part of A'an Rensselaer. 

After his return to Albany, Van Rensselaer offended again by some 
dubious expressions from the pulpit, by which the congregation felt scandal- 
ized; and a complaint was lodged against him in 1676, by Jacob Leisler, 
wlio was a deacon in the church at New ^'ork, and Jacob Milborne, an 
luiglishman then resident in Albany; with the result that the Mayor's Court 
of Albanv imprisoned him. V\)(m tliis he a])])ealed to the governor, who 
ordered his release, and directed that Leisler and jNIilborne should give 
bonds to show good cause for his arrest. Leisler refused to do this and was 
himself ordered under arrest. The case then came up Ijefore the governor 
and Council, with the result that the case was referred Ixack to the Albany 
magistrates, and settled l)v a compromise, Leisler and ]\Iilborne Ijeing com- 
l)elled to pav the costs of the suit. 

\\'hile thus officially settled, the parishioners were by no means satisfied 
with the ministrations of Van Rensselaer, against whom there were strong 
l)ersonal, as well as ecclesiastical objections; and they were much relieved 
wlien, a year later, he was deposed bv Governor Andros for bis notoriously 
offensive manner of livina'. 



IJi; HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 

Nicolaus van Rensselaer hatl ])reviously petitioned Andros to appoint him 
director of Rensselaerswyck, in place of his brother Jeremias, who had 
recently died. Jeremias' widow, who was a daughter of Oloff Stevensen van 
Cortlandt, and her brother. Stephanas van Cortlandt, resisted the application, 
but finally agreed to joint control, which continued for several years until 
the death of Domine Van Rensselaer; when Kiliaen, son of Jan Baptist van 
Rensselaer, and Kiliaen, son of Jeremias van Rensselaer, became joint admin- 
istrators ; the first-named Kiliaen ranking as the third patroon and first lord 
of the manor of Rensselaerswyck, until his death in 1687: when the other 
Kiliaen, his cousin, became the fourth patroon and second lord of the manor. 
He and his brother Hendrick. both sons of Jeremias and the daughter of 
Olofif Stevensen van Corltandt, were ancestors of the entire American family 
of Van Rensselaer. 

At the time of King Philip's War, Governor Andros oiTered his aid to 
the authorities in Mew England; but they were more afraid of recognizing 
the authority of the Duke of York than they were of the Indians, for the duke 
was insisting upon the Connecticut River as his boundary. Andros, how- 
ever, did valual)le, if unsolicited, service by entering into a pact with the 
Iroquois, which kept them from siding with King Philip. 

Several town ofiicials and individuals on Long Island, and elsewhere in 
the province, were arrested during this period upon charges of seditious acts 
and words, evincing widespread discontent. The main cause of disaffection 
was, that the oft-repeated recjuests for an assembly were not granted. Letters 
from the duke to Governor Andros indicated that the requests had been sent 
to England with the rec(^mmendation of the governor that they be granted. 
But James was a Stuart, and the Stuarts had experiences with Parliaments, 
which made them averse to establishing representative government in royal 
colonies. In his letters he told the governor that the assembly idea seemed to 
him to be dangerous and likely to create disturbances, but declared himself 
readv to reconsider the subject if the governor persisted in his recommen- 
dations. 

As there were private matters which made it advisable for Governor 
Andros to visit England, he received permission to do so; and in November, 
1677, he sailed, leaving matters in tlic province in charge of Lieutenant 
Brockholls, first councilor. Lie was given a cordial reception at C(iurt. and 
knighted by Charles, as an approval of his services in the government of 
New York. He left England May 2/. 1678, and after a long vo}'age in a 
New England merchant ship reached New York August 7. When he left 
England it was thought that a new war was imminent, Charles having con- 
cluded a Treaty of Alliance with the States-General of Holland, and Par- 
liament having voted him a large sum of monev to make war. as an allv of 



.IXDROS FAILS TO HOLD NEW JERSLY 117 

Holland, against Louis XI\'\ But when this coalition threatened, Louis 
determined to make peace with the Netherlands and in August the Peace of 
Nimeguen was concluded. But in May, when Sir Edmund Andros sailed, 
war seemed certain : and the duke, who was Lord High Admiral on colonial 
seas, had given Sir Edmund a commission to serve as vice admiral within the 
borders of his government, and to establish an admiralty court in New York. 
One of his first acts, therefore, after his return to New York, was to confer 
admiralty jurisdiction upon the Mayor's Court. 

New Jersey, which had been divided into two parts, that bordering on 
Delaware Bav and River being called West Jersey, over which Sir Edmund 
Andros assumed fiscal control, while the other portion, accessible through the 
Bay of New York, was administered by Sir George Carteret, with the seat of 
government at Elizabethtown. The duke, who had given and afterward 
re\oked a patent to Berkeley to the portion called West Jersey, and had sim- 
ilarly granted East Jersey to Sir George Carteret, was trying to get back 
control of Jersey ; and as Andros' commission included New Jersey, as well as 
New York, Nantucket and Pemaquid, he was instructed to assert the 
authority of the duke in East, as well as West Jersey. After the death of Sir 
George Carteret, in 1680, Philip Carteret, who was governor of East Jersey, 
was instructed to use no authority without the sanction of Governor Andros. 
Ignoring the inhibition, Philip Carteret was arrested and thrown into jail ii. 
New York. But though Andros presided over the court, and its memljers 
were his appointees, the jury acc^uitted Governor Carteret, who, however, was 
compelled to give bonds to exercise no authority until the matter was decided 
in England. The duke submitted the entire matter to Sir William Jones, the 
most eminent lawyer in the United Kingdom at that time. He decided the 
case fully and unequivocally against the duke's contention, with the result 
that the duke confirmed Governor Carteret's authority, forbidding the gov- 
ernment of New York to interfere with him, and giving new grants both for 
East and West Jersey which separated them entirely from the jurisdiction or 
supervision of New York. 

Several complaints had been sent to England about the administration of 
Andros, and the duke sent John Lewin to New York with a commission as 
special agent and a summons to Governor Andros to return at once to 
England, leaving his government in charge of Lieutenant Brockholls. The 
duke and his secretary both sent friendly letters to Sir Edmund. Lewin was 
also commissioned to prepare a fiscal report in regard to investigation as to 
the revenues of the government, the trade of all parts of the province, and 
similar matters 

When Lewin reached New York, in October, 1680, Sir Edmund was in 
Boston in connection with some negotiations concerning the Indians; but as 



lis HISTORY Of \r.ir ]'()RK 

soon as he returned he gave notice of Lewin's commission, to all the courts 
of the province: did what he could to aitl Lewin in his investigation, held a 
meeting- with all the justices, in Xovemher, receiving from each a report of the 
condition of his district. Leaving Lieutenant Brockholls in charge, wath the 
title of Commander (ieneral of the Province, and a special commission as chief 
of the militia; and giving Lady Andros a power of attorney to attend to his 
private affairs, he sailed for Kngland, leaving Xew \'()rk, Januarv ii, i6Si. 
Lie ]irohahlv expected to return to his governorship, and for two years and 
a half Commander Brockholls reigned in his stead; hut Sir Ldmund Andros 
was made an officer of the king's household; sent for Ladv Andros, and did 
not return to America until 1686, when he was appointed bv King James II 
to the office of Governor (ieneral of the Dominion of Xew England 

.Andros has been written ilown in hisl(.)r\-. In' most authorities, as a 
tvrant ; hut the more modern view modifies to a considerable extent, the 
estimate of him given by the earlv Xew luigland historians. He was a 
soldier and a royalist, with a very strict \'iew of obedience to his superiors, 
and of a like obedience to himself bv his inferiors. But he was a lieliever in 
and a practiser of religious tolerance, and while manv of his acts were dis- 
tasteful to ihe peo|)le, it was not because he was tvrannical on his own 
initiati\'e, but for the reason that he was obedientlv carrving out the orders of 
his royal master. He pleaded with some insistence for permission to establish 
an asseml)ly in Xew York, and was, no doubt, instrumental in the creation of 
one, under his successor. In control of the Indian situation he showed mas- 
terlv aljilitv; and in a complete reorganization of the militia, the repairing of 
the fort and strengthening the defenses of the harbor of Xew A ork, and 
augmentation of the public revenue, he showed superior ([ualilies of 
executi\'e skill. 

The complaints against Andros which had led to his recall, were chiefly 
to the efiect that he had given preference to Dutch o\-er English traders; 
added to charges in connection with the Carteret matter, before mentioned. 
An examination of the charges, which .\ndros courted, led to liis complete 
exoneration, and a roval compliment upon the success of his administration; 
his a])i)ointment as a "Gentleman of the King's I'ri\\- I'hamber." 

Commander Brockholls found the task which (io\ernor Andros had left 
him a difficult one; and was not a sufiicientlv strong man to co])e with it suc- 
cesslullw The customs rates made his first trouble. The\' had been estab- 
lished, under the orders of the duke, for three vears, in i')74, and renewed in 
\(>J/ for a second i)erio(l, which expired in X'ovember, 16S0. The duties were 
collected as betore, without a formal order 1)\- .\ndros, and when he went 
away he left no instructions to Brockholls, except that all things should con- 
tinue as thev then were. 



C.IPTJIX DVRH ACCUSED OF TREASUX li:i 

Brockholls went up the ri\'er to All)an_\-; Cajjtain William Dyre, who was 
collector of customs as well as mayor of the city, was ill of a fever. A 
vessel came from London, and unloaded her goods, which were taken by the 
consignees and placed in their warehouses without any declaration to the 
Custom House. When asked about the matter, each of the merchants made 
the plea that the customs law had expired bv limitation, and refused to pay 
any duties. 

When Brockholls returned he called all the a\'ailable members of the 
Provincial Council together. Matthias Nicolls, the secretary, was away in 
England: and John West, the lawyer who was filling his clerical positions, 
was not a C(xmcilor; so the only advice which Brockholls had, was that of 
Councilors William Dervall, Stephanus van Cortlandt and Frederick Philipse; 
all of whom were merchants. They decided that they had no power or 
authority to continue the collection of customs duties without orders from 
home. By this time other goods had arrived, and had lieen detained by Col- 
lector Dyre, for unpaid duties. Following the decision of the Council, to 
which Commandant Brockholls made no demur, the merchants affected sued 
Collector Dyre for unlawful detention of their goods; and on IMay 31, 1681, 
the Mayor's Court ordered him to deliver the goods to the consignees. On 
the same day a number of merchants, headed by Samuel Winder of Staten 
Island, filed with the Provincial Council a charge of high treason for having 
collected duties after the rates had exi^ired. The commander, in Council, 
sent this charge to the flavor's Court for further consideration. The mayor, 
who was also the defendant, was absent from the court, as were also the 
sheriff' and two aldermen when this charge was presented. Those present 
were William Beekman, the deputy ma}'or ; Peter Jacobsen ; Sanuiel Wilson, 
and James Graham. They considered the matter, and returned as their unani- 
mous opinion in which thev informed the commander, thai their court had no 
power to punish capital crimes, in which class was the crime of high treason, 
with which Captain Dyre was charged. Furthermore, as Captain Dyre was 
a member of the Provincial Council, was mayor of the city, and chief member 
of their court thev could not further examine or meddle with it. The onus of 
further action l^eing cast uj^on him. the commander, in Council, committed 
Dyre for trial at the regular autumn session of the Court of Assizes; but at 
Dyre's re(|uest, changed the order, to ha\e the matter come up at a special 
session to be at once convened. 

The cmirt, which convened on June Ji), and was in session four days, was 
composed of Commander I'rockholls, his three councilors, the alderman of the 
city, John Young, high sheriff of Yorkshire; twelve justices of the peace 
from the three ridings of Yorkshire; Thomas Delavall, justice of the peace 
of Esopns; John ^^'est, who, besides being clerk of the court, sat as justice of 



r,'(i HISTORY OF .V£/f VORK 

the peace for Peniaqnid and otlier parts eastward. The grand jin^y of twenty- 
fotir were all English, except one Dutchman, Cornelis Steenwyck. They 
found a trite bill against Captain Dyre for high treason. The court ordered 
the defendant into custody as the king's prisoner, and Commander Brock- 
holls demanded from him that he siuTender his commission and the seal of 
the city; which request Dyre, on the ground that he had received them from 
Governor Andros, declined to do. 

When he was brought into court for trial, on July i, and the indictment 
was read to him, Dyre pleaded "not guilty;" and then, after a score 
of witnesses for the prosecution had been examined, he demurred to the 
jurisdiction of the court, on the ground that like its members, he had received 
his commission from the Duke of York; and that one part of the government 
could not proceed against another part. This seemed to impress the court, 
which ordered that Captain Dyre be sent to England for trial ; and that his 
chief accuser, Samuel \\'inder, give a recognizance of £5000 to prosecute him 
in the English courts; and a committee of five was appointed to draft a letter 
to the secretarv of state, giving an account of the proceedings against 
Captain Dyre, and stating that the court was sending him to England to be 
tried because he, like the members of the court, held a commission from the 
Duke of York; and because the charge against him was that of high treason. 

Dyre, together with the letter to the secretary of state, were sent to 
England by the shi]:i Hope. On the same \essel went a petition from the 
coitrt and the grand jury, to the duke, setting forth the burdens under which 
the colony labored while the people were denied the rights enjoyed by 
Englishmen at home or in other colonies; and asking for a government con- 
sisting- of a governor, council, and an assembly to ])e chosen by the free-, 
holders. Before any reply to this document could have been received, a 
cr)mmission came fri mi Governor Andros to Brockholls, making him receiver 
general to collect the duke's revenues. Upon the strength of this, Brockholls 
ordered excise to be collected at Albany. An luiglishman of that place 
refused to pay, and the matter was referred to a jury, which found that there 
was no law requiring excise to be paid, unless the orders of the governor 
were to be esteemed as law. in which latter case thev would find for the 
plaintiff; and upon that question they referred the case to the higher 
authorities in Xew York. All around there was a spirit of discontent and 
revolt. Brockholls, in letters to Andros. complained that the government had 
l)een su])\erie(l and the social condition was one of confusion, disorder, and 
contempt of authority ; and he also told of the general outcry for an assembly. 

Even the Provincial Council was inharmonious, and Brockholls deposed 
William Derxall from its membershii), leaving" Van Cortlandt and Philipse 
as his onl\' councilors. John l.ewin. the duke's agent, had continued his 



COLLECTOR DYKE'S CASE DISMLSSllP 



\-n 



investigations, and had much incensed the officials, by ignoring- them and 
taking de])ositions mider oath without any authority from the provincial or 
local government ; and on that charge Lewin was summoned, on complaint 
of Councilor Philipse. before the Mayor's Court, over which the deputy mayor, 
William Beekman, presided. Lewin admitted the charge, and the court drew 
up a declaration, which they forwarded to the duke, declaring that notwith- 
standing their willingness to aid the agent, he 
had ignored them, and had preferred to get his 
information in a clandestine and extrajudicial 
manner, and that his methods had stirred up 
scandal and disorder. Lewin soon after re- 
turned, with his report, to England. 

The complaints against Sir Edmund Andros 
and Captain Dyre were referred to George Jef- 
freys (afterward the ill-famed chief justice, but 
then solicitor general for the duke ) , and to John 
Churchill, then the duke's attorney-general, but 
later the great Duke of Marlborough. They 
examined Matthias Nicolls, secretary of the 
Province of New York; Lewin, the duke's agent, 
and several others ; and not only acquitted them, 
but commended them iDoth for efficient service. 
This, howe\x'r, did not include the high treason 
charge against Dyre; which languished, because 
Winder did not appear to prosecute. After wait- 
ing a long while, Dyre having in the meantime been released on bonds, the 
case was dismissed. 

With reference to the customs the duke wrote to Brockholls, bidding him 
to continue them by some temporary order, and also promised that he would 
take steps toward the amelioration of conditions in New York. Meanwhile 
he desired him to keep all magistrates in their places, even though their terms 
might expire, until further orders from England. Rut in spite of the duke's 
orders, the New York merchants paid no more customs duties until thev were 
imposed by a representative assembly. Relief to the strained conditions came 
with Colonel Thomas Dongan, whom the duke appointed to be governor of 
New York, with authority to create an assembly. 




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CHAPTER T ir E L r E 

THOMAS DONGAN, THE FIRST NEW YORK 

ASSEMBLY, AND THE CHARTER OF 

LIBERTIES AND PRIVILEGES 

The new governor, Colonel Thomas Dongan, was a member of a promi- 
nent Irish Catholic family. He was the youngest son of Sir John Dongan, 
Baronet of Castletoun, in the County of Kildare; and his older brother, 
William, who had been created Baron Dongan and Viscount Claine. in the 
peerage of Ireland, became Earl of Limerick in 16S5, on the accession of 
James II to the throne. His mother's l)rother, Richard Talbot, was the l)oon 
companion of the Duke of York in his younger days, and having become 
Earl of Tyrconnel, was appointed by James, after his accession to the throne, 
as viceroy of Ireland, to carry out the i)lans of the king to drive the 
Protestant religion out of Ireland. 

Colonel Dongan, who was born in 1634, was bred to the profession of 
arms, chiefly in France, whither his family had gone after the beheading of 
Charles 1, in i(')4(j. He received a commission from Louis Xl\" in an Irish 
regiment made up of adherents of Charles I, becoming its colonel in 1674, and 
taking part in the campaigns against the X'etherlands. After the Treaty of 
Nimeguen, in 167K, when Charles II ordered home all British subjects 
serving under the b^rench crown, he left that service, in spite of liberal offers 
if he would remain in the armv of Louis XIV. For his lovaltv to the Stuarts, 
and his refusal to continue in the French arm\-, he was commanded to leave 
b'rance in forty-eight hours; Louis at the same time refusing to pay the sum 
of sixty-five thousand livres which was due him for arrears of pay, and for 
recruits. 

\\'hen he reached London, the Duke of ^'ork and the king bntli honored 
him. He was given an appointment as colonel in the English army, in 1678, 
and to compensate him for his losses in France, an annual pension of £500 
was settled upon him ; and he served for two years as lieutenant governor of 
Tangier, returning in 1680. He made a short visit to Ireland, then went to 
London at the invitation of the Duke of \'ork, to whom he became sociallv 
attached. 

When it had been determined that .Sir I{dmund Andros was not to go 
l)ack to New York as governor, the duke selected Dongan to be his 
successor; and his commission as such was dated September 30, 1682, 
although he did not arrive in New York for nearly a year later. James, in 
selecting Dongan, probably had in view plans for the extension of the 
Catholic religion in the province; Imt he was, doubtless, actuated by a reali- 



1-^i HISTORY OF XLW YORK 

zalion that this man had many special (iuahfications for the place. His 
experience in Tangier had given him some knowledge of administration ; he 
was a soldier of excellent training and record; and he had a knowledge of 
the French and Dutch languages, which would give him certain advantage in 
connection with complications o\er Indian and other questions which had 
arisen between New York and Canada : and in governing the Dutch residents 
of New York. 

Governor Dongan reached Nantasket. Massachusetts, August lo, 1683, 
and made the journe}- from there overland ; from Boston he and his consider- 
able retinue were accompanied by several Boston gentlemen and a troop of 
Boston militia. Crossing the Sound, he found much discontent among the 
people in the towns of eastern Long Island, who had ever since their 
separation from Connecticut, maintained a continuous agitation for a repre- 
sentative assembly. These he assured with the statement, that no laws or 
rates for the future should be established, except by the action of a General 
Assembly; and on Saturday, Augtist 25, 1683, he arrived in New York. 

The following Monday he met the Common Council and other officers at 
the City Hall, which was then in Coenties Slip, and published his com- 
mission ; also announcing the duke's instructions that he should give and 
confirm to the city all the rights and privileges now enjoyed, and stich others 
as might be necessary. The records say that the magistrates escorted the 
governor back to the fort, and on Tuesday he dined with the corporation at 
the City Hall, where he also met several of the "old magistrates and ancient 
inhabitants." 

At the time of Dongan's arrival. New York had about four thousand 
inhabitants. The coming of the new governor practically stopped the dissen- 
sions in the province. The duke had given instructions for the reappoint- 
ment of Anthony Brockholls as chief councilor, and of Frederick Philipse and 
Stephanus van Cortlandt, and other "eminent inhabitants," not exceeding ten 
in number. The duke also ordered that John Spragge, who came with 
Governor Dongan, should succeed John West as secretary, and that Lucas 
Santen should take the place of \\'i]liam Dyre as collector and receiver 
general. Governor Dongan added John ^'oung to the membership of the 
Council and later Lewis Morris, whn was also a member of the Council of 
Fast Jersey. 

Although the duke's written orders in regard to the government of the 
province were quite explicit, they contained no word in regard to religion; a 
feature which caused nmch anxiety among the inhabitants, and particularly 
the Dutch. The pastor of the Dutch Church at this time was Domine Selyns, 
who had served congregations on Long Island and at the Bouwerie Village, 
but had returned to Holland in 1664. He had served parishes in the Father- 



OOJ'F.h'XOR noXG.IX C.lfJS .IX ASSHMrU.]' 125 

land, and had resisted all invitations to retnrn to New Netherland ; hut when 
on Domine Van Nieuwenhiiysen's death, there had come a call from the New 
York Church, he had accepted, and came to the city in 1682. He, with the 
other earnest Protestants, had heard with misgiving- that the new governor 
was a Roman Catholic; which feeling was much accentuated when it was 
found that the private chaplain who came with Governor Dongan, Father 
Thomas Harvey, of London, was a Jesuit priest. To the governor went the 
good domine, with some trepidation, and asked as to the plans he had in 
regard to freedom of religion. He came awa\' from the interview fully 
reassured, the governor saying that the orders of the duke contemplated full 
liberty of conscience; and much impressed with the knowledge, refinement and 
modesty of the new ruler of New York. Besides Domine Selyns, who held 
two services in the church on Sunday, there was a French congregation 
which met after Selvn's second service; its pastor being Domine Pierre 
Daille. who had been a professor in the Huguenot College at Saumur. France. 
and had been sent out by the Bishop of London to serve the French congre- 
gation. Immediately after Selyn's morning service. Rev. John Gordon, a 
presbyter of the Church of England, who had been sent out by the Bishop of 
London to serve as chaplain of the garrison at Fort James, held a service in 
English everv Sundav for members of the Anglican Communion. These four 
services in one church building represented a degree of intersectarian toler- 
ance which could be found in no other part of old or New England at that time. 

Governor Dongan, pursuant to the duke's orders, called for the election 
of a General Assembly, which convened October 17. 1683. It was to have 
been composed of eighteen members, but onlv seventeen responded. The 
journal of the proceedings of this important body is lost, so that it 
cannot be told who was the absent member. Matthias Nicolls, one of 
the four members from Manhattan, was chosen speaker of the Assembly, 
and among the other members were Henry Beekman and William Ash- 
ford of Esopus ; Giles Goddard of Pemaquid. and Samuel Mulford of 
Easthampton, L. I., who was one of the two members from the East 
Riding of Yorkshire. John Lawrence, of the- city, was a member either 
of this assembly or the second one. which met in 1685, and probably of both; 
and William Nicolls, who was a son of Matthias Nicolls, and a lawyer, was 
also, in all probability a member from the city; for he claimed in after years to 
have been author of the principal act of the assembly which was entitled 
"The Charter of Liberties and Priviledges Granted by His Royal Highnesse 
to the Inhabitants of New-Yorke and Its Dependencies." 

This was a bold and progressive pronouncement for those days ; its first 
declaration being that "the supreme legislative authority under His Majesty 
and Roval Highness James, Duke of York, Albany, etc., Lord Proprietor of 



V>i) HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

the said province, shall forever lie and reside in a Governor, Conncil and the 
people met in General Assembly." This is notable as being the first time "the 
people" were ever mentioned in a legislative declaration of the ruling powers 
in government. This charter guaranteed to everv freeholder the right to vote 
freely for members of assembl_\ ; ]irovided for the holding of a session of the 
General Assemblv once in three vears at least; forlxade the governor to take 
any action without the advice of his council ; provided for the districting of 
the province into twelve counties, and specified the numlier of their reiiresen- 
tatives. The other provisions of the charter took the character of a bill of 
rights and e\i(lentl\- had their inspiration in the FV-tition of Rights, which 
received the assent of Charles I in 1628: guaranteeing against arbitrary 
taxation, arbitrarv arrest, martial law, the billeting of soldiers and marines 
in the time of peace, and granting the ancient English rights of trial by jury, 
and of grand inquest in grave criminal or ca])ital cases. It ]irovided for 
religious libertv of all classes of Christians, providing that "no person or 
persons which profess faith in God bv Jesus Christ shall at any time be any 
ways, molested, punished, disquieted or called in question for any difference of 
opinion or matter of religiotis concernment, who do not actually disturb the 
civil ]X'ace of the ])rovince." Each town miglit bv a two-thirds vote, establish 
any communion it pleased, and all inhabitants were then oltliged to contribute 
to the su])port of that communion, whether they chose to set up other 
churches in the town or not. The "Charter of Liberties and Privileges" was 
passed by the Assemblv, October 26, 1683, assented to bv the governor and 
Council October 30th, and thus became a law, subjecl onlv to the veto of the 
Duke of ^'ork. 

The Assembly also passed a revenue bill, which provided for an excise on 
liquors, export and import duties ; and this bill, jiroclaimed bv the governor 
November i, stopped all cavil about the rights of the duke's collector. The 
Assemblv passed an act creating twelve sliires or counties. Duke's County 
comprised Martha's X'ineyard and Nantucket ; Cornwall County was the 
Pemaquid region in Maine; and the other ten counties, which, with some 
changes in boundary are still in existence, were X'ew York, Richmond, 
King's, Queen's, Suffolk, Westchester, 1 )utcliess. Orange, Ulster and 
•Albany. Also a naturalization law; a law for registration of land papers 
having to do with pro])erty worth £50 or more; and other Acts relating to 
courts, to criminal otTenses, to rewarding the killers of wolves; an act fixing 
the allowance to representatives, at ten shillings a da\- for each day of service 
and for sixteen da}'s of travel, to be paid b\- tlie respective counties. In all 
there were fifteen bills which were passed; and C'aptain Mark Talliott, 
appointed as a s])ecial messenger for the purpose, left earl\- in December, 
carrying copies of these enactments to London for the approval of the duke 



XI'.W YORK BECOMES A ROYAL PROJ'IXCE 137 

and the king. Tlie documents were first submitted U> the (kike's advisers, 
and then to those of Charles, who were much more critical, jjreparing" a 
document of '"( )hservations" with regard to the charter in which several 
objections were eml)odied, covering every ]irovision of the charter except that 
])ro\-i(Iing for religious liberty; the chief implications of these criticisms Iteing 
that the charter emphasized too much the power of the ])eo])le, and minimized 
too much the authoritv of the govern: )r in council. 

Charles 11 died Februarv 6, 1685, and the Duke of York liecame King- 
James II. Xew Ynvk was no longer a pruprietarv, Ijut a roval ])r(i\'ince. So 
the "Observations," intended to be advisorv t(j Charles, went to James, March 
3, 16S5; and the king decided not to confirm the charter. This did not invali- 
date the charter, but left it in full and binding effect until the king should 
take up the matter again and veto the bill, should he desire to do so. 

The accession of James II was celebrated in Xew York on A])ril 2^^, 
16R5, the date of the coronation of the new king and his (|ueen. Alary of 
Modena, the militia parading in honor of the event. The governor in council, 
meeting May 12, drew up an address to the king, to whom Governor Dongan 
personallv addressed a letter of congratulation. 

The legislature had met in a second session in October, 1684, Matthias 
Nicoll again being speaker, and Robert Hammond lieing clerk, in place of 
John Spragge. It made thirty-one laws, chiefly in relation to legal matters 
and the procedure of courts, but also including laws in regard to marriage; 
regulating l)rewing; one forl)idding slaves and bond servants to engage in 
trade, and prohil)iting all persons from trusting them for drink or other com- 
modities, and authorizing justices to impress men, horses and boats, to 
capture and return slaves who should escape from bondage. 

Following the custom in England, where the tenure of the House of 
Commons expired at the death of the king. Governor Dongan dissolved the 
Assembly, but immediately after its dissolution, he issued writs to the sheriffs 
of each of the twelve counties, in accordance with the law passed in 1683, for 
the election of a new assembly. This assemblv met in October, 1685, and 
passed some laws concerning the courts, and. penalizing drunkenness, 
Sabbath breaking and profanity, \\hich were approved by the governor, and 
others which he vetoed. The speaker of this assembly was William Pinhorne, 
an English merchant. No list of the members has been preserved. 

William Beekman was succeeded, under Dongan's appointment, by 
Cornelis Steenw}-ck as mayor, in 1683, and James Graliam, a Scotchman, was 
appointed to the office of city recorder, John ^^'est Ijeing continued as clerk. 
In October, 1684, occurred the first election for aldermen, assistants, con- 
stables and assessors. One of those elected was Nicholas Stuyvesant, second 
son of Governor Stuyvesant. As provided ])y law, the magistrates submitted 



1-Js HISTORY or Xliir ]'ORK 

to the g'overnnr a list of seven names from which a mavor should lie chosen, 
and he selected Gahriel ]\Iinvielle, a I-'rench merchant, who had married a 
daughter of John Lawrence. In Octoher, 1685, Nicholas Bavard became 
mayor of the citv. 

Althoug'h in Xew Xetherland burgher government for the citv had been 
granted Iw (Governor Stuyvesant at the command of the West India Com- 
pany, and it had been organized in i')53, it was a city without a charter, 
and one absolutel_\- under the autocratic supervision, first of Stuyvesant, and 
afterward of the English governors. During thirty-three years there had 
been a demand for representative government and a charter; but neither the 
Dutch A\'est India Companv nor the Duke of ^'ork were in favor of anv large 
measure of pojiular go\'ernment. To (Governor Dongan was left the honor 
of giving to Xew York its first charter, ever since prized by the city as a part 
of its inheritance of freedom. The charter, which bears date April 22, 1686, 
is in the City Hall, preserved in a tin box, which also contains the later 
Montgomerie Charter. 

The charter runs from "Thomas Dongan, Lieutenant-Governor and Vice 
Admiral of X'ew York and its Dependencies, under His Majesty James (the 
second) ]>y the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland. 
King and Defender of the Faith, Supreme Lord and I'roprietor of the Colony 
and Province of X'^ew York and its Dependencies in America." It recites 
that Xew York is an ancient city within said province, and that the citizens of 
the said citv have ancientlv been a body politic and corporate and have enjoyed 
divers and sundry rights, liberties, privileges, etc. ; not onlv from divers 
governors and commanders in chief of said province, but also of the several 
governors and directors of the "Xether-Dutch X^ation," while the same was 
under their power and subjection; also that divers lands, tenements and 
hereditaments, etc., had been granted to the citizens and inhabitants of that 
citv ; sometimes liv the name of schout, burgomasters and schepens of the city 
of Xew Amsterdam, sometimes bv the name of the mayor, aldermen and com- 
monaltv of the citv of X^ew York and other names; and had built several 
enumerated pulilic buildings, bridges, wharves and docks; had established a 
ferry, and that the inhabitants of the city and "Manhattan's Island" held 
various lands, messuages, etc., from and under His Most Sacred Majesty. 

All these enumerated rights, lilierties, privileges, lands and properties 
were bv the charter confirmed to the ma}-or, aldermen and commonalty of 
the citv of X'ew York. The charter .aLo provided that the mayor, aldermen 
and commonaltv of the citv of X'ew N'ork shotild form a Imdy corporate and 
politic, to be composed of a mavor. recorder, town clerk, six aldermen and six 
assistants; that there should also be a chamlierlain or treasurer, one sheriff, 
one coroner, one clerk of the market, one high constable and seven subcon- 



PROriSIOXS OF THE DOXGAX CHARTER lt?9 

stables and one marshal or sergeaiit-at-niace. Nicholas Bayard, then nia\'or, 
was designated as mayor; James Graham, recorder; John West, town clerk; 
Andrew Brown, John Robinson, William Beekman, John Delavall. Abraham 
de Pevster, and Johannes Kip, aldermen; Nicholas de Myer, Johannes van 
Brug'h, John de Brown, Tennis de Key, A])raham Corbit, and Wolfert Webber, 
assistants; Peter de Lanoy, chamberlain; John Knight, sheriff; Jarvis Mar- 
shall, marshal; and directed that the high constable should be appointed by 
the mayor. The charter provided for the annual election in each of the six 
wards of the cit\', on the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel, of one 
alderman, one assistant and one constable for each ward, and mie constable 
for each division of the out ward. 

Besides the confirmation of the title of the city to all of its property then 
held, it also gave the city title to all the waste, vacant, and unappropriated 
lands on "Manhattan's" Island, extending to low water mark; and all waters, 
rivulets, coves, creeks, ponds, water courses in the city and island, and all 
hunting, fishing and mining privileges ; for which an annual quitrent of one 
beaver skin per vear was to be ])aid. The indorsement on the back of the 
charter, of these quitrent payments until 1773, is an interesting detail of the 
original document now in the City Hall. Excepted from the transfer were 
Fort James, a piece of ground l)v the gate called the Governor's Garden, and, 
without the gate, "the King's Farm, with the swamp next to the same land 
by the Fresh Water," the latter being the property granted in 1705 to Trinity 
Church. The charter gave the mayor, recorder and aldermen the right to 
hold a court of common pleas for cases of debt and other personal actions. It 
went into numerous details in reference to the powers and duties of the 
municipalit}'. The document was prepared with great care, and dealt in 
a liberal and enlightened sjiirit with corporate and private rights. Though 
dated April 22. it was actually signed by the governor April 27, 1G86. 
x'Mbany recei\'ed a charter Julv 22, folli^wing, with Peter Schuyler as its 
first mavor. 

In England trouble was ])rewing for the colonies in America. James and 
his advisers had devised plans for closer royal control of these coliinies. To 
carry out this idea the eastern colonies had been consolidated into the "Terri- 
tory and Dominion of New England in America," of which Sir Edmund 
Andros was commissioned as "Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief." A 
new commission was also issued to Dongan, dated June 10, 1686, creating 
him the king's Captain General and Governor in Chief over his "Province 
of New York and the territories depending thereon in North America." 

Instructions from the king, dated Mav 2(), 1686, reached Dongan with 
his new commission. Thev included a veto of the Charter of Liberties and 
Privileges, passed by the General Assembly of New York, in 1^)83, and 



130 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

tleclaring' its repeal ; but contiiuiiug in force all other laws of the province. 
The instructions also were, that all legislative power should be in the hands 
of the governor and Council; and at a meeting on December 9, 1686, the 
Council decreed that the revenue, and all other laws passed since 1683, except 
those which His [Majesty liad repealed, should continue in force until further 
consideration; and on January 20, 1687, issued a proclamation declaring the 
dissoltttion of the General Assembly of the Province of New York. The 
king's instructions further chargx'd the governor that "as nnich as great 
inconvenience may arise bv the libertv of ])rinting within our Province of 
Xew ^'ork" he should provide that no i)erson sh(iuld keep anv printing press 
or do any printing" without his special leave or license. Still another pro- 
vision contained an inhibition against trading in the river of New York by 
East Jerseymen or others, and rerjuired that all goods passing up the Hudson 
River should pay duties at New A'ork. 

The latter provision was intended to remedy a condition which was found 
very prejudicial to the welfare of New ^'ork, from which nmch trade was 
deflected, because by land and sea goods found their way to New Jersey, 
where there was neither excise, customs or export duties. 

B\- this time New York had grown to an important city of eighteen 
thousand inhabitants. In Feliruar_\-, 1687. Dongan made a comprehensive 
report to the Plantations Committee in London, descriptive of the city and 
the entire i)rovince; its conditions and prolilems. He said that it was his 
belief that not more than twenty English, Scotch or Irish families, had 
arrived in New York from England; but that many French families had come 
from St. Christopher's and from England, and manv Dutch families from 
Holland; in fact the foreigners in the Pro\'ince of New York so outnumbered 
the native-l)orn sul)jects of His ]\Iajesty that he recommended the adding of 
the government of New York to that of the neighboring colonies in order 
that a more equal balance might be kept between the natural born and 
foreign elements, the latter being the prevailing part in New York. As to 
the distribution of the population religiously, he said: "New York has a 
cli.aplain lielonging to the fort, of the Church of England; secondlv a Dutch 
Calvinist; third, a I'rench Cah'inist; and a fourth a Dtitch Lutheran. Here 
lie not many of I^ngland ; a few Roman Catholics; abundance of Quaker 
l)reachers. men and women — Singing Quakers, Ranting" Quakers. Sabbata- 
rians, anti-!>abbatarians ; some Anabaptists, some Independents, some Jews; in 
short of all sorts of opinions there are some, and the most part of none at all." 

Dongan's view was that the Jersev Provinces and Connecticut should be 
annexed to New York, and Pemaciuid to Massachusetts. When Sir Edmimd 
Andros came to take his g"o\-crnment of New England, he asked Connecticut 
In surrender lier charier and become part of New England, to which Pemaquid 



GOJ'ERXOR IHJXCAX .IXD THE IXIU.IXS 1-1 

had been added. Governor Dongan conleiided that having' lost Pemaqnid, he 
should be C(.inipensated liy llic annexation of Connecticut to New York; but as 
the king decided the question, Andros took into his hands the government 
of Connecticut, October 31, 1687; annexing it to Massachusetts and other 
colonies of New England under the rule of Andros as captain general. 

Dongan's attention was much taken up, during this period, with the 
Indian problem, and French aggression in the Indian Country, which he 
handled in a masterly way. The French had pursued the Iroquois Indians in 
New York territory, had seized fifty Indians and sent them to France to serve 
in the galleys. Dongan held a conference with the Indians, at Albany, in 
August; and agreed to supply them with arms and amnuinition. though he 
would not agree to aid them with white troops. The French had threatened 
to destroy Schenectady and Albany; and Dongan determined to spend the 
winter in Albany, leaving Major Brockholls in charge of his duties in New 
York City, and admitting James Graham as a member of the council. I'»efore 
he left he ai)i)ointed Stephanus van Cortlandt to be mayor of the city, and in 
September had sent John Palmer to England to lay before the king the Indian 
situation, and the conduct of the French in Canada. Dongan held to the 
view, originally formulated by Governor Andros, that the Five Nations were 
British subjects, and this theory being adopted by King James, he wrote, 
November 10, 1687, instructing Dongan to defend and protect the Iroquois 
Indians from the Canadians, to build all necessary forts, to employ the 
militia of New York, and to call on all the neighboring English colonies 
for aid. 

On the other hand, the French king complained to James of the actions 
of Dongan ; and James, who was anxious to be on good terms with Louis, 
consented to an agreement by which English and French commanders in 
America were directed to commit no act of hostility against the territories of 
either of the king-s. Notwithstanding this agreement, the French became 
troublesome in the spring, and in May, 16S8, Dongan again went up the river 
with a force of soldiers to watch the enemy ; api)ointing Stephanus van Cort- 
landt, Frederick Philipse and Nicholas Bayard to take charge of provincial 
matters as temporarv administrators. 

James, the king, had in the meanwhile been working on the problems of 
consolidation of his dominions in America. The New England colonies were 
assuming an independent attitude; were wedded to ideas of representative 
government ver\- obnoxious to a Stuart, for it was throitgh such ideas at 
hoine that James" father had lost his head. Dongan's recommendation about 
New Jerse}- and Connecticut had made an impression on him, but Connecticut 
had alreadv been joined to New England l)v Sir Edmund Andros. He there- 
fore decided to ioin New York and New Jersev to the other colonies absorljed 



i:;-.' n/STOR]' OF XIIW YORK 

I)V Xew ]ui_^iand. and issued a new Cdiiiniission to Sir Ednnind Andros, 
March 23, 16SS, to lie governor general of the entire "Territory and 
Dominion of Xew England, covering all of I'ritish Xorth America from Pas- 
samaquoddv to Delaware llav and across the continent from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, onlv excei^ting "'ijur Province of Pennsylvania and Country of 
Delaware."" The king wrote, A]M"il 22, 16SX, to Governor Dongan 
instructing him to turn over to Governor-General Andros the seals and 
records of the Province of Xew York, when he should come to the city to 
receive them. This letter reached Dongan in July, lie ordered tlie letter 
read in council and spread upon the records of the province, Init continued to 
go\-ern. the prox'ince for some weeks afterward; his last oHicial act on the 
record heing a law made by him and promulgated Augitst 2, 16SS, prohibiting 
shoemakers to use '"the mystery of tanning hides."" When Governor- 
General Andros arrixed, August 11, 16SS, he was received Ijy an infantry 
regiment commanded by Colonel Xicholas Payard, and a troop of horse. 
Governor Dongan then resigned his authoritv to Andros. 

Dongan, in compensation for his l)ss of his go\-ernorship, was offered bv 
the king the command of a regiment with llie rank of major general: ])Ut the 
offer was declined by him, because he had a great liking for Xew \'ork, and 
propertv interests in the cit\' and neighl)orhood whicli re(|uired his attention. 
He had a home in the city, and a Iteautiful garden, of several acres, fronting 
on Broadway, l)etween Alaiden Lane and Ann Street; where he spent manv 
of his leisure hours among his fl(iwers. Fie had also ])urchased, in I'lSj, a 
manor house willi about twentv-five th'>usand acres ot land on Staten Island, 
which he formed into the "Lordship and ]\lanor of Cassiltowne,'" named after 
his father"s estate at Castletoun in the County of Kildare. He is also said to 
h.ixe owned several plots on ^Manhattan Island, and some land on ALirtha"s 
X'ineyard. 

After the flight of King James to l-'rance, a rumor was prevalent in 
X'ew York that some of the Jacol)ins in Xew ^'ork had plotted to seize the 
coliiuv; and because of Dongan"s well-known loyalt}- to tlie Stuarts, and the 
fact that he was a Riiman Catholic in religion, a rumor was abroad that he 
was at the head of a conspiracv to burn the citv; and that he was harboring 
a band of "Papist"" co-conspirators on his Staten Island estate. There were 
no concealed Papists, and there was no consi)iracy; but when Jacob Leisler 
assumed control of Xew \'ork he hatl Dongan"s hunting-lodge on Staten 
Island searched for arms. Four guns found there were regarded as evidence 
of guilt, and Dongan went into hiding, lie had a brigantine in the bay and 
had hoped to sail in it for England, Init the weather was l)ad and so he made 
his wav overland to Xew Lf^idon, where he was joined bv Sir Ednnind 
Andros. He afterward returned to Llempstead, Long Island, but warrants 



GOJ'ERXOR DOXG.IX KHTURXS TO EXGL.-IXD 133 



having" been issued for him and other corehgii mists, in lOyo, he went to Xew 
lersey and thence by sea to Boston, from which place he sailed to England, 
in 1 691. 

His brother, Earl of Limerick (created 1685), followed James to France 
and died at Saint Germain, in if)i)S; but his estates were confiscated and 
g-iven to the Earl of Athlone; so Thomas Dongan succeeded to his l)rother"s 
litle without the estates. The estates were afterward restored to him upon 
condition that he should redeem them l)y paying those who had purchased 
])arts of the estate from the luirl of Athlone. This charge, and his l)rother's 
debts, left him a very meager income, and only a portion of the amounts due 
him for advances made when governor of Xew York, and for his arrears of 
pension. He died in London, Deceml)er 14, 1715, and he lies buried in the 
churclivard of the parish church of St. Pancras in that citw 

Llis property in America had been in charge of agents, Init he later had 
transferred it to his nephews Thomas, John and \\'alter Dongan. His 
nephew Thomas sold the farm at Hempstead to pay the governor's debts, and 
the three brothers retained the Staten Island ]:)roperty, which descended to the 
heirs of Walter Dongan, because his l^rothers died without issue. 

Governor Dongan's administration was marked by many excellencies and 
few defects that were chargeal)le to him personally. He was generous and 
tolerant, just and uriiane, desirous not onlv to be a faithful servant of his 
roval master, but also to promote the ])eace and happiness of the people 
under his government, whose rights and lil^erties he respected and upheld. 
Xone of the roval governors excelled him in the essential ciualities of states- 
manship and administrative ability. 



134 



H/STORV OF XEJJ- YORK 




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CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



END OF STUART RULE IN NEW YORK 

THE LEISLER TROUBLES, AND 

GOVERNOR SLOUGHTER'S ADMINISTRATION 

When Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Xcw York, August 15, i(>SS, the 
change of governors created no dissatisfaction, because he was personahy a 
very popular man. It did not jilease the people, however, that the Province 
of New York should be merged with the other colonies as a part of Xew 
England. Andros A\as, however, well received during his short stay, which 
was ended bv Indian troubles on the frontier between New York and Canada. 
When he left New York he went to Albany to resume his old friendship with 
the Iroquois, and to give the Indians assurance of cor)perati()n against the 
French. 

Lieutenant-Governor Francis Nicholsrjn, who had been left in charge at 
Boston, was sent for by Andros to go to Albany and take part in these 
negotiations; and when they were completed Andros ordered Nicholson to 
New York, and himself went to Boston, where his presence \\-as needed 
because of Indian troubles in Maine. 

Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson arrived at New York, October i, 1688, 
and took up the reins of government, aided by the council, which was com- 
posed of Frederick Philipse, Stephen \an Cortlandt, Nicholas Bayard and 
Joseph Dudley. Nicholson was favorabl}- received, Init many of the people 
were, soon afterward, considerably alarmed when Father Thomas Harvey, 
the Jesuit priest who had come from England as the private confessor and 
chaplain of Governor Dongan, was permitted to equip an apartment with 
images of saints, and to minister publicly to Roman Catholic worshii:)]iers. 

King James had aroused Protestant resentment in England by his acts 
aiming at the reestablishment of Roman Catholicism in England. In America 
the feeling against him was especially strong in the New England colonies, 
A\4iere anything that favored Catholicism was frowned upon, and there was, in 
fact, little toleration in that region for any religion or sect except Congre- 
gationalism. In New York, as has been shown, there had been great toler- 
ance, and under Dongan, himself a Catholic, none of the Protestant denomi- 
nations had anvthing to complain of, so far as any hostility on the part of 
the provincial government was concerned. Dominant factors in the go\"- 
ernmental policy of James II were the desire to reestal^lish the Catholic 
Church as the State Church of England, and the upbuilding of kingly as 
opposed to parliamentary power. Of a piece with his policy at home was 
that applied to the colonies, as manifested by his diss'^huinn of the New 



i:i(i HISTORY OF XEir YORK 

York Assenibl}- and combining all power in the governor in council, and by 
his consolidation of New England under one government, with Sir Edmund 
Andros in viceregal charge. 

(3n November 5, 168S, William of Orange landed in England at Torbay; 
in the following month James 11 fletl to I'rance, and Februarv 13. i6Sg, 
William and ]\lary were proclaimed king and queen of Great Britain. When 
the news reached lioston there was "a buzzing among the people,"" so 
Andros said: that the buzzing became a roar, and in two days grew to a 
revohition; and on Ai>ril 18, 1689, he was deposed and imprisoned. The 
following vear he was sent to England under charges made by a 
committee of colonists, but it was thought impolitic to pursue the matter 
further, and he was ne\-er lirought to trial. lie became governor of 
Virginia from i6<;2 to 1608, and of the island of Jersey from 1704 to 1706, 
and died in London in 1714. The administration of Andros as governor- 
eeneral of X"ew England has been condemned bv historv; but it was an 
administration of ol)edience to a royal master; the hand was the hand of 
Andros, but the acts were the acts of James. In his i)revious government of 
Xew ^'ork his administration was that of a benevolent autocrat and left him 
personallv popular with the people, and later, in A'irginia, he was a po])ular 
?rnor. 

The news of A\'illiam"s landing, and the flight of James, reached Xew 
York 1)}- wa}' of Boston. The people of X"ew "^'ork were of \-arious shades of 
religious belief, bttt thev were in a large majoritv Protestant. The anti- 
Catholic movement, from their standpoint, crystallized about the persons of 
James II and Louis XI Y. James had taken away their representative gov- 
ernment and had consolidated their province with X^ew England, much 
against their will, and was now rumored to be in a "Popish"" plot with Louis 
XIA': one of the supposed details of which included the cajiture of Xew 
^'ork bv the French and Indians under the Count de Frontenac. Such 
rumors were especially alarming to the Huguenots, who formed a consid- 
eral)le ])art of the population of X"ew York; for the events following the 
revocation of the Edict of Xantes, onl\- four vears before, were firmly fixed 
in their memories. 

Besides the matter of religion, there was one of nationality. The popu- 
lation of the province was chiefly Dutcli, and so of the city, in even hirger 
pro])ortion. A\"illiam of Orange was a great name with i.)eople of that nati(.)n- 
alitA-. To ])ass from the rule of James to that of William was, with the 
Dutch settler, almost an ideal culmination. As for James II, he had few 
friends outside of the lieutenant governor and councilors, who were all his 
own appointees. Being such appointees they could not abandon his authority 
until the\- knew that another had succeeded him uijon the throne; and the 



JACOB LEISLER CALLED TO LEAD 13- 



news of the landing of William and the flight of James did not, they felt, 
absolve them from their allegiance. They were, therefore, placed in an 
unenviable position during the time following the news of these events and 
that when the tidings of the joint con)nation of William and Mary arrived 
in New York. 

The news was unofficial, but convincing, and there was much excitement 
in the city. The people generally were rejoiced at the Protestant accession, 
antl jileased on their own account, because James, the embodiment of 
autocracv, was no longer to be their sovereign. Lieutenant-Governor 
Nicholson and his council, c<imposed of Stephanus van Cortlandt, ma}'or of 
the city; Nicholas Bayard, colonel of the city militia; Frederick Philipse, and 
Joseph Dudley, wealthy citizens, insisted that the Revolution had not over- 
thrown the colonial government, which should hold authority until further 
advices from England. 

By far the greater part of the people held a different view. Although 
Nicholson and his councilors professed themselves loyal to W'illiam and 
Mary, there was general distrust of them, and doubt as to their sincerity. The 
fact that Nicholson was of the Catholic faith had a tendency to accentuate 
this distrust, which was fanned into a flame by various rumors of Catholic 
plots, in which the names of Ex-Governor Dongan, Governor Nicholson, 
Father Harvey and others w-ere freely used. The rumors were groundless, 
but they were effective. Several of the magistrates on Long Island were 
deposed by the people, who elected others in their stead. 

Although Nicholas Bayard was colonel of the City Troop, the senior 
captain, Jacob Leisler, was its idol; and was also looked up to as a leader l)y 
the populace. One especially persistent rumor was that the "Papists" had 
plotted to massacre the Protestants while at service in the church in the fort, 
to take possession of the government and erect the standard of King James 
and the Pope. A large concourse of the citizens assembled, with the five 
militia companies, and surrounded Leisler's house, and requested him to take 
command of the fort. 

Jacob Leisler was a native of Frankfort on the Main, born in 1640, son 
of Rev. Jacob Victorian Leisler; and had lived a life of adventure. He had 
come to New Netherland in 1660, as a soldier, in the service of the Dutch 
East Lidia Company, soon after which he left the army. He engaged in the 
Indian trade, and amassed a considerable propertv, and he married Elsje 
Loockermans, widow of Cornells Vandeveer, and thus became uncle by 
marriage of both Stephanus van Cortlandt and Nicholas Bayard, who were 
afterward his greatest enemies. When the city was ceded to the English he 
took oaths of allegiance to the new go\-ernment, and was among those who 
contributed, in 1672, toward the rejxairs of Fort James. In 1O74 he was 



138 HISTOR]' OF XRIT YORK 

appointed one of tlie conunissioners for the forced loan levied by Colve, at 
which time his property was assessed on the basis of a valuation of fifteen 
thousand o-uilders. He was one of the two prosecutors (his son-in-law, 
Jacob Milborne, being the other) who made the charg'e against Rev. 
Nicholas van Rensselaer "for dul)ious words spoken in a sermon" at Albany, 
for which Leisler and Mill)orne were condemned to pay the costs, as related 
in a former chapter. Leisler had endeared himself to the common people by 
his charitable interposition in behalf of a family of French Huguenots that 
had been landetl on Manhattan Island so destitute that a pul)lic trilnmal had 
ordered that they should be sold into slavery to pay their ship charges. 
Before the sale could be held, Leisler purchased the freedom of the widowed 
mother and her son. 

Governor Dongan had appointed Leisler one of the commissioners of the 
Court of Admiralty in New York, but he had impressed himself upon the 
popular mind as a champion of the people and the Protestant religion. Thus 
it was that he became the choice of those who distrusted the Jacobite officials, 
and the peo|)le became divided into parties; one called the Aristocrats, 
including Xicholson, his council, and their adherents; and the Democrats, or 
Leislerians, including a large majority of the people. \\'hen, on June 2, i68g, 
the popular gathering asked Leisler to be their leader in the overthrow of the 
appointees of James II, he at first refused, but finally acceded to their recjuest 
and about an hour afterward received the keys of the fort, which had mean- 
while been seized on behalf of the democratic faction bv Ensign Stoll. 

A strong point in favor of the Leislerians was that the fort contained all 
the public funds, the return of which Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson in vain 
demanded. The news of the actual accession of William arrived upon the 
6th of June, i68o, and the public would ha\'e none of the Jacol)ite office- 
holders, though when this delinile news that William was indeed king arrived, 
the officials all protested their full allegiance to the new monarch. When 
Leisler had refused to deliver the money in the fort upon the order of 
Nicholson and his council, who designed to remove it to the house of 
Frederick Phili])se, the_\' had endeavored to secure the customhouse revenues; 
but the_\- found that there were no customhouse recei|)ts, because the people 
had already refused to i)av dues to Matthias Plowman, upon the pretext that 
he was a Catholic and therefore shoukl not be permitted to collect money for 
a Protestant sovereign. 

xMthough the i)eople had called Leisler to be their leader, and he had 
taken charge of the fort as senior captain, he did not set himself up as a 
military dictator; but in view of the fact that the nominal rulers had lost 
control of the ci\il authoril\- he, with the other captains, on June lO, called 
a con\ention of delegates to meet on the _'^)lh and choose a Committee of 



COMMITTEE OF SAFETY APPOINTED 139 

Safety. The coniniittee so chosen included Samuel Edsall, Richard Denton, 
Theunis Roelofse, Pieter de Lanoy, Jean Marest, Matthias Harvey, Daniel 
le Klercke. Johannes Vermilye, Thomas Williams and W'illiam Lawrence; 
representative of Dutch, Huguenot and English, in whose hands the con- 
vention reposed the temporary government of the province. 

So far as actual government is concerned, the old officers were practically 
deposed. Nicholson, finding his authority disregarded, departed to lay his 
case before the home authorities; and Philipse, Bayard and \^an Cortlandt 
were left to deal with the problems of disaffection and revolt. At a council 
held on the 25th of June, they removed Plowman, the Catholic collector, 
wishing, as they declared, "to quiet a restless comnnmity." They sent 
Bayard, a day or two later, with some others, to take charge of the Custom 
House, but found that the Committee of Safety had already appointed a 
collector of their own, who was accounting to that body for the customs 
receipts. When Bayard and his supporters acted as if they would try to take 
possession of the Custom H^ouse, they were handled roughly by the crowd. 
None of them were seriously hurt, but Bayard, finding his presence 
obnoxious to the people, concluded to seek safety in Albany, where his 
brother-in-law, Peter Schuyler, was mayor. From there Bayard claimed to 
be at the head of the government of the province and denounced Leisler as 
"an arch-rebel." 

The Committee of Safety took charge of affairs in the province and its 
authority was readily acknowledged in various counties except Albany and 
Ulster, which were under the control and authority of Schuyler, Bayard and 
the Jacobites. They made Jacob Leisler "captain of the fort," and on August 
16, authorized him to act as commander in chief of the province until 
further instructions should C(_ime from London. New England approved the 
selection, and the General Court of Massachusetts sent two deputies to New 
York with the congratulations of that province, and with offers of such 
assistance as he might need t(i maintain his authority as the representative of 
the new Protestant government. These deputies brought to New York the 
first copies of the ])roclamation of William and ]\Liry on their accession, 
which Leisler ordered proclaimed at the sound of the trumpet at the fort and 
the City Hall. 

News also came that the b^rench court had taken up the cause of the 
deposed monarch, James IL and that war with France must soon ensue. 
Leisler set about repairing the fortifications, stockaded the fort and erected 
a battery of seven guns to the west of it, the public park in that location 
retaining the name of "the Battery" to this day. The Jacobite officials who 
had gone to Albanv were still defiant to the claims of Leisler, and the conflict 
of authority in that region, which was threatened bv prospects of an Indian 



111! mSTOR]' OF XEir )'i>h'K 

attack, made matters more (liriieult. In Xovember, Leisler sent his son-in- 
law, lacob Alilborne, with an armed force to render sncli assistance in the 
defense of Albany as mig-ht be necessary. i)rovided that Leisler's anthority 
was recognized In' placing the fort under command of Alilborne. The 
Jacoliite (ifticeholclers refused, and Milborne returned. 

Earl\- in December the Committee of Safety requested Leisler to take 
the duties of lieutenant governor and to ap])oint ;i council to act with him until 
definite instructions should be received from King William. Acting 
ui)on this re(|uest he chose eight members of the Committee of Safet\- to be 
his council, including Peter Delanoy, Dr. Samuel Staats. llenrv Jansen and 
Johannes A'ermih'e, from the county and city of Xew \'ork ; Ca])tain Gerardus 
Beeckman, M.D., from Kings; Samuel Edsall, from Uueens, and William 
Lawrence from ( )range. In m.any of the histories of this period, Leisler has 
been |)ictured as a traitor and a demagogue, whose support came onlv from 
the rabble: but his councilors were citizens of rejuite and standing, and 
among them were the ancestors of families who have stood and still stand with 
the best in New York and other States. The council thus constituted was the 
most democratic in its organization that hatl \et been appointed in New ^'ork; 
having been called with the understanding that the acts of a majoritv were 
to be the acts of all. 

A1)0Ut the time of the organization of this council, there came from 
William and Marv a letter, dated July 4, lOStj, addressed "to b^rancis 
Nicholson, Es([uire, C)ur Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief in 
Our Proyince of New York, and in his absence, to such as, for the 
time being, take care for preserving the peace and administering the 
laws." As Nicholson was gone, Leisler took this as giving him authority, 
un.til superseded. ( )n January 22, lOijO, Nicholas Bayard, who had 
continued his agitation against Leisler, was arrested, and im])risoned in 
the fort. Two davs later he wrote a letter addressed "To the lion. Jacob 
Leisler, lvs(|., Lieutenant-Go\ernor of the Province of New York, and the 
lion. Council," stating that he is sick, acknowledges his error, craves pardon 
and humbly petitions for release from ])rison. The ])etition was not granted, 
ancl P>a_\;ird remained in the jail for a \'ear, nursing his yengeance. 

Bayard's recognition of Leisler in his ])etition, however unwillingly 
made, was soon followed bv similar action on the ])art of the authorities at 
Albau}', who, facing an Indian uprising, gladlv welcomed Jacob ]\lilborne 
and his troops, tbciugli it in\-ol\ed recognition of Leisler and his government. 

The Count de h'rontenac, who had been reappointed governor of Canada 
by Louis NI\\ in ( )ctober, if)S(), entered upon a course of aggression against 
New ^'ork. Canada had suffered nuich by the invasion of Indians from New 
^'ork, and I'rontenac's roval master had detinitelv taken the side of lames 



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against William and was at war with luigland. iM-untcnac, thoui^h sevcnty 
years of age, planned an active campaign against the British colonies by land 
and sea. Vhe first mo\-ement was to mobilize the Mohawks who had been 
converted h\ the [esuits and who had settled near [Montreal. This force, 
with numerous Frenchmen, was put in marching order, and after a march 
of twenty da_\s through the 
deep snow, approached Schen- 
ectady, which was a Dutch 
village in the vicinity of Al- 
bany, first settled by Arent 
van Curler in i66i. It con- 
sisted of about forty houses, 
enclosed in a palisade ; but in 
the dead of winter amid heavy 
sn(iw, the inhabitants had no 
apprehension of danger. The 
gates had been left open and 
all the inhabitants were asleep 
^^■hen, on the night of Feb- 
ruarv 8, K^xp, the French and 
Indian invaders entered by the 
gates and divided into several 

small bands, to make a simultaneous attack. At the signal of the shrieking 
war-whoop doors were broken open and the terrilile massacre began. Sixty 
men, women and children were killed, twenty-seven were taken prisoners, 
while the torch was apjilied to every house. Those who escaped from the 
invaders fled, half naked, sixteen miles through a blinding snowstorm to 
Alliany, where many arrived with tlieir limbs so frost-bitten that they had to 
be amputated. 

From Albany went the news, by cjuick courier, to Leisler ; and the 
French Huguenots of New York were almost panic-stricken at the news of 
the massacre and burning of Schenectady, because they knew that Fronte- 
nac's success, if continued to New York, would mean the utmost disaster for 
them; for the deep hostility of Louis XIY toward French Protestants was 
well known. Leisler showed himself equal to the situation, for as soon as the 
story of the burning of Schenectady reached him, he hurried a force of one 
hundred and sixty men to Albany and, that being done, sent ten delegates to 
confer with the other colonies and devise plans to rei^el the French invaders. 

He called a Provincial Assembly — the second of its kind, the earlier one 
having been long before abolished by order of Janies — to provide means for 
the war, and his delegations to the other colonies bore fruit, in answer to bis 



OLD DUTCH HOUSE 

IN BROAD STREET 

Built, 1698 



OLD DUTCH HOUSE 

IN PEARL STREET 

Built, 1626. Demolisherl, 1S2.S 



IIISTURY OF Xliir ]'URK 



call, in the convening' in Xew ^Ork, in Alay. of the tirst Colonial Congress, 
which apportioned to each of the colonies the number of troops each should 
fiu'nish, of which the quota of Xew York was four hundred men. 

Leisler also equipped, and dispatched against Ouehec, the first tieet of 
men-of-\\"ar that had been sent from the port of Xew \'ork : and according 
to De Peyster, spent a large part of his own estate in this public enterprise. 
Leisler was democratic in his principles, and intiuenced the sul)sequent 
history of X'ew York, by his recognition of the idea of a representative 
assembly as the seat of legislative authority, and the source of taxation: for 
alth(iugh Leisler was overthrown, the Provincial Asseniblv was continued. 

While Leisler was thus caring for the interests of the province, events 
occurred in England which were soon to bring him disaster. King- William 
commissioned Colonel Henry Sloughter to be governor of X^ew York, and 
ordered Major Ingoldesb}-, with an independent company of British regulars, 
to come to X'ew York for the defense of the province. These two officials 
were on separate ships, but were parted in a storm and Major Ingoldesb}', \vith 
his troops, arrived three months earlier than did the new governor. 

When [Major Ligoldesbv reached X"ew York Bay, in Jt'^nuary, 1691, his 
first visitors were Philipse. \ an Cortlandt and others of the anti-Leislerians, 
who stated their side of the case. Ingoldesby had no credentials or authority 
either from the king or Governor Sloughter to decide upon Leisler's claims 
to hold the place of lieutenant governor, under the king's letter, before men- 
tioned, as well as l)y the election of the Committee of Ten, which he believed 
gave him tlie right to act until his successor should present his credentials. 
Therefore \'\'hen Major Ligoldesbv demanded of him the possession of the fort. 
Leisler replied, requesting to see his orders either from the king or the 
governor. Ligoldesbv, ignoring this request, sent the brusque reply: "Pos- 
session of LLs Majesty's fort is what I demand." Leisler replied that as he 
had seen no credientials, he would not deliver the fort, but that he would 
l)rovide all courtesy and accommodation for his troops. 

The people finding a controversv between their ])opular governor and 
this new-arrived soldier who had, as an introduction, been consorting with 
the nutch-<lislike(l Jacobite officials, l)ecame greatlv excited: and according to 
the narrative of Dominc A'arick, who was an eve-witness of the scene, they 
ran from all the houses toward the fort as if to repel a i)ul)lic enemy, and 
o])ened a brisk fire, and in the iiiclcc two persons, one a soldier and one a 
negro were killed. Concerning this reception, Ligoldesby wrote an angry 
letter to Leisler, who returned a reply, saying that ha\'ing investigated and 
found the charge true he would ]Hmish the otlenders if they could l^e found. 

For three months afifairs went on in this manner, Leisler, with his council 
and nearly all the people maintaining Leisler's authority, while Philipse, Van 



EXECUTIOX OF LEISLER AXD MILBORXE 143 

Cortlandt and Ingoldesb}- \\-ere defiant of it. Thongli there was much excite- 
ment, there was no bloodshed. Finally Governor Sloughter arrived in the bay, 
Alarch 19, 1691, was rowed in a barge to the landing, where he was met by 
Ingoldesby and the anti-Leislerian leaders, with whom he proceeded to the 
City Hall. There, messengers from Leisler came, and were arrested by order 
of Sloughter, who took Leisler's letter from them and pocketed it without 
reading. He then installed a Council, and ordered that Leisler and the mem- 
l)ers of the Leisler council be arrested. Ingoldesby executed the order, and 
the nine men were imprisoned. 

Brought to trial on the charge of treason and nnn^der ( the latter charge 
referring to the killing of the soldier, Josias Browne, in the conflict w'hich 
had occurred upon Ingoldesby's arrival), Leisler and Milborne refused to 
plead until the court should decide the one question — ^^'hether the king's 
letter received by him (addressed to Nicholson), had given him the 
authority to assume the government in Nicholson's absence? This question 
was referred by the court to the governor and Council — Sloughter, Philipse, 
\'an Cortlandt, ]\Iinvielle and the others — Leisler's worst enemies, and of 
course thev decided against him. The trial proceeded and Leisler, his son- 
in-law, Alilborne, and six members of the council were convicted and sen- 
tenced to death ; Leisler and ]\Iilborne having refused to plead and being tried 
as mutes. 

After conviction, they asked reprieve until the king shall be heard from, 
to which Sloughter verbally agreed. Domine Daille presented a petition on 
Leisler's behalf, signed by eighteen hundred people. But the few on the other 
side had the ear of Llis Excellency, who decided to leave it to the Council. In 
the Council on May 14, 1691, Philipse, Bayard, A^an Cortlandt, Nicolls and 
Minvielle, declared it "absolutely necessary that the execution of the principal 
criminals (Leisler and IMilborne) should take place at once.'" On the next 
evening, Thursday, May 15, there was a festive gathering in Bayard's 
house. Alany chroniclers say that wine (of which Sloughter was over fond) 
flowed freely, and that he was under the influence of that fluid when, much 
persuaded, he signed the death warrant for Leisler and "Milborne, late 
Thiirsday night; and on Saturday, May 17, these two men of blameless 
private lives were first hanged and then beheaded. Leisler, in his last address, 
protested his devoted loyalty to the king, and declared that he would have 
delivered the fort to Ingoldesby if that soldier had presented his credentials. 
He met his death calmlv and bravely. His son-in-law, Jacob Milborne, was 
no less brave, but not so calm as his chief; and seeing in the crowd Robert 
Livingston, who had been one of the bitterest of the enemies of Leisler, said 
to him from the scaffold: "Robert Livingston, for this I will implead thee 
at the bar of God!" 



IlISTORV ()/• Xliir YORK 



The killing- of these men was a judicial niiirder; and in the cases of the 
other condemned men the judgiiients were tinallv set aside, while the estates 
of Leisler and Milborne. which had been forfeited hv attainder, were 
restored to their families. The bodies of Leisler and r^lilborne, which 
were, immediately following;- their execution, buried on Leisler's property, 
near what is now the corner of Spruce Street and Park Row, were taken up 
and buried, in September, 1698, in the cemetery of the Reformed Dutch 
Church in Garden Street, now Exchange Place. 

Governor Sloughter's career as governor was short. In compliance with 
instructions from King William he had called, upon his arrival, a Provincial 
Assembly, which convened April 9, 1691, and in a l)rief session passed 
fourteen laws, of which the most important was one to establish a Supreme 
Court for the province, under which the governor appointed Joseph Dudlev 
as chief justice; Thomas Johnson, second justice; and William Smith, 
Stephen \-an Cortlandt and AA'illiam Pinhorne, associate justices, to compose 
the first l)ench of the new court. 

In this administration, also, the "Test Act" was enforced, by which 
everv civil and military officer was recjuired to take the oaths of allegiance to 
and supremacv of the king's authority; to publicly receive the sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper, according to the usage of the Church of England, and to 
subscril:)e a declaration against the Romish doctrine of Transubstantiation. 
The Provincial Council, by appointment of William III, consisted of 
Frederick Philipse, Stephen van Cortlandt, Nicholas Bayard, William Smith, 
Gabriel Alinvielle, I'hidlcv Brooke, William Nicolls, Nicholas de Meyer, 
Francis Roml)outs, Thomas Willett, William Pinhorne and John Haines. 

Four months and four days after his arrival — on July 27, — Governor 
Sloughter was taken suddenly ill and died within a few hours. Those about 
him, who had been the enemies of Leisler, sug-gested that some of Leisler's 
adherents had bribed a negro to ])Ut poison in the governor's coffee, but a 
posf-ijioj-fciii examination showed that the death was from natural causes. He 
was one of those need}' adventurers, immoral in ]irivate life and notoriously 
intemperate, who, for some reason, usually through the influence of some 
court favorite who wished them across seas, were foisted in important 
positions upon the colonies in America. He was weak and easily controlled, 
and so was made the instrument for the carrying out of the plans of Leisler's 
enemies. 

Major Richard tngoldesbv was a])pointed b\- the Pro\incial Council to 
act as governor in .Sloughter's place until the king should name his successor, 
and served thirteen months without important incident, until the arrival of 
the new governor, C(jlonel Benjamin Fletcher; when Major Ingoldesby 
returned to his former post as commandant at the fort. 



C H .4 P T E R FOURTEEN 



BENJAMIN FLETCHER'S ADMINISTRATION 

THE FIRST PRINTER-FOUNDING OF 

TRINITY CHURCH-FLETCHER AND THE PIRATES 

The ship Wolf, bringing- Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, the new governor 
of New York, arrived off vSandy Hook on Sunday, August 2?^, 1692, and 
flag signals from the Narrows told the news to Fort William. The next 
morning, a large concourse assembled at the landing place, headed by Chief 
Justice Joseph Dudley, the mayor, Abraham de Peyster, the Provincial Council 
and the Common Council of the city, with all the militia regiments in arms 
and a large company of citizens. \Vith salutes from guns and acclamations 
from the people the procession moved to the Council Chamber where the new 
governor's commission was read and the council sworn in; the membership 
now being Joseph Dudley (chief justice), Frederick Philipse, Stephen Cort- 
landt, Nicholas Bayard. William Smith, Gal^riel Minveille, Chidley Brooke, 
William Nicolls, Thomas Willett, William Pinhorne, Thomas Johnson, Peter 
Schuyler, John Lawrence, Richard Townley and John Young. A year later, 
Caleb TIeathcote replaced Joseph Dudley in tiie council, and William Smith 
was appointed chief justice in place of Dudley, who returned to England, 
and was appointed governor of the Isle of Wight. William Pinhorne, the 
recorder, moved to New Jersey and was succeeded by James Graham. 

The Citv Council at this time consisted of Abraham de Peyster, mayor, 
and common councilors William Beekman. Alexander \Vilson, ^\'illiam 
Merritt, Thomas Clarke, John Merritt, Garrett Dow, Johannes Kip, Robert 
Darkins, Peter King, Brandt Schuyler and Stephen De Lancey. 

Upon the arrival of Governor Fletcher in New York, he at once aligned 
himself with the anti-Leislerians. The six associates of Leisler, who had 
been sentenced to death but not executed, were still in j^rison when he took 
office, ])Ut orders came from King William that Fletcher should pardon them, 
which he did; Init first tried to exact from them a confession of guilt, which 
they refused, then he secured from them a promise not to leave the province 
without his consent, which they gave, though the king's order had attached 
no such condition to their pardon. Though his personal relations were chiefly 
with Leisler's enemies, he found that the feeling of resentment on the part of 
the populace in general was very strong, and as there were several of the sup- 
])orters of Leisler, besides the condemned men in jail, who had l)een placed 
under recognizances upon various charges during the administration of 
Sloughter and Ingoldesby, he discharged all these obligations and dismissed 
all proceedings growing out of the Leisler movement. While he spcjke fair 



HISTORV OF A/-;/- YORK 



to the l.eislerians of influence, and ex])resse(l himself in a letter to former 
Chief Justice Dudley as greatly gratitied over the peace that had come between 
the two factions, his personal association continued to be with Leisler's 
enemies, who still held the reins of the pro\-incial government. 

The lull (jf public discontent which inspired this feeling of serenity in the 
governor, was soon dissipated. Throughout the ])rovince men discussed with 
anger, the retention of "the old King James Council." who had compassed 
the death of Leisler, and there was a general demand that reparation should 
be made; that Leisler's and Alilborne's estates should be restored to their 
families, and that punishment should be meted out to his persecutors. 
Abraham Gouverneur, one of the paroled prisoners, escaped in a fishing boat 
bound for Boston, where he arrived after being wrecked on Nantucket Shoals. 
He wrote a letter from I'.oston to bis parents, telling of his adventures and 
b(iw he had been kindlv received bv Sir William Phipps, the Governor of 
Massachusetts, who ]n"aised Leisler and declared the necessitv for the ousting 
of the Jacobite council at Xew ^'ork. This letter fell into Fletcher's hands 
and brouglu from him an angrv response addressed to Governor Phipps, 
rebuking him for speaking ill of a neighI)oring and friendlv gr)vernment, and 
demanding that Gou\erneur lie returned to Xew York as a fugitive from 
justice. Phipps denied using the wortls attributed to him but declined to sur- 
render Gouverneur, who went soon after to England and aided Leisler's son 
in his long efforts to have the attainder of Leisler reversed, and at the same 
time to discredit Fletcher before the king and influential officials of the 
government. 

The Assembly, which met soon after Governor Fletcher entered upon his 
administration, abolished the monopolv granted to Xew York, in 1678, of 
bolting and baking. It had been verv lucrative to the millers and bakers of 
New York, ])Ut a burdensome exaction to the ])eo])le of the other towns in the 
province. Fletcher had much trouble with fiscal matters, there being a pro- 
vincial delit of £3000, and the burden of the Indian \\'ar had been largely 
thrown u])on X'ew York; the other colonies making no ])rovision to help in 
that direction. The peo])le were taxed to the limit, and tliis, together with 
the Leisler (|uestion, made Metcher's wav difiicult. Fie called another 
assembly to take u\) the matter, but that bo(l\-, des])ite Metcher's insistence, 
added little to the tax burden. 

hdelcher took ])rom])t action in the Indian troubles when a l<"rench and 
Indian force swoo])ed down upon the neighborhood of Schenectady, and 
with forces including the commands of Colonels Bayard and Lodow'ick from 
Xew ^'ork. C olnnel Cortlandt, of Kings, I'olonel Willett of Queens, ]\[ajor 
(and ALiyor ) Peter Schuvler, of Albanv. and Lieutenant-Colonel Beeckman, 
of Ulster, sofMi dro\-e back the enemv. The go\'ernor 



THE BRGIXXIXG OF TRIXITV CHURCH lir 

with the Five Nations and River Indians, which extended from June 27, to 
July 6; at which important treaties were concluded, and a stronger alliance 
of the Indians with the British authority was secured. Fletcher's prompt 
and efficient service in this connection was recognized hy the Common Council 
on his return, Ity an address of congratulation, and hv an order entered ui)on 
the minutes of the council. Julv 14, i6i),^, that a gold cu]) sliould he presented 
to His Fxcellency, on behalf of the citv, as a token of their gratitude. Six 
days later Mayor De Peyster reported that he had Iiought twenty ounces of 
gold for the cup, of Peter Jacob Alarius, and had delivered it to Cornelius 
\'anderburgh to be made. 

There was no object for \\-hich Governor Benjamin Fletcher worked 
more zealously than the establishing of the Church of Fngland in New 
York. It was among- the chief items in his instructions, and he tried to 
impress it ui)()n the Asseml)ly in session soon after his arrival, but without 
success, and with the next Assemblv to no more purpose. Most of the 
members were either Dutchmen, aligned with the Reformed Dutch Church, 
or New Englanders of Congregationalist antecedents and membership, 
neither class being favorable to episcopacv. But the next Assembly, which 
met in .September, 1693, "^'^'''^ more favorable to the i)r(iject, and ])assed a law 
known as the "Settling Act," providing for the Intilding of a church in the 
city of New York, two in Suffolk, tw'o in Westchester and one in Richmond 
counties, and providing for the installing in each of a Protestant minister 
whose salaries, ranging from forty to one hundred pounds per annum were 
to be paid by a tax levied on the freeholders. 

A petition was presented, March 9, i6q6, to Fletcher, for a license 
to purchase a small i)iece of land without the North Gate "l:)etween the King's 
Garden and the burying-place" to build a church for the use of the 
Protestants of the Church of England; to solicit and receive voluntary con- 
tributions and to perform other acts necessarv for these purposes. The 
petitioners, who described themselves as inhabitants of the city of New York 
and members of the Church of England, were Thomas Clarke, Robert 
Leveting, Jeremiah Tothill, Caleb Heathcote, James Evetts, William Morris, 
Ebenezer Willson, A\'illiam Merritt, James luuott and R. Ashfield. Governor 
Fletcher not only granted the license, but in a proclamation commended the 
project; and the managers met w-ith great success in their subscription, in 
which all classes took part, even the five Jewish merchants giving their aid 
to the project. 

The managers, having nearlv com])leted the church, a|)])lied May 6, 
1697, for a charter under the "Settling Act," for the vearly maintenance 
for the minister provided in that Act, and for such lands as His Excellency 
and the Council thought fit. The Charter of Incorporation was granted, and 



1 IS 



HISTORY or XIIU- YORK 



the King's Farm was leased to the corpi:)ration for seven years fr(ini Angust 
19, i6(j7, the vearh- rental Ijeing fifty l)ushels of wheat. When the lease 
expired in 1704, Oneen Anne granted the land in fee simple to the church, 
known then and ever since as Trinity Church. The King's Farm was 
bounded on the east hy Broadway, extending from what is now Fulton 
Street north t(i a line between Chambers and Warren Streets and extending 

west to the X(5rth l\i\er. Xnrth of this 
tract was the "Domine's Bouwerie," com- 
j)rising aljout sixtv-two acres on Broad- 
way from Warren to Duane Streets, and 
niirlhwesterlv from Broadwav along the 
ri\'er. This farm n-as also granted by 
Uueen Anne to Trinitv Parish, and a 
complicati()n in the title has in our own 
time made it famous in litigation in what 
is po])u]arl_\- known as tlie "Anneke |ans 
case," mentioned in a former chapter. 

The first rector of Trinitv was Rev. 
W illiam X'esey, who was born in lirain- 
tree, Massachusetts, in if)74. He was 
graduated from Harwird in i')'),^ and 
began the study of theologv in Boston, 
under Increase blather, and he afterward 
was a minister over a congregation of 
Puritans on Long Island. He afterward 
took orders in the Church of Fngland, 
in which he was ordained to the priest- 
hood b_\- the Bishop of London, August 2. 1697; was inxited by (Governor 
Fletcher, the magistrates, vestrymen, and wardens to bec(Mne rector of 
Trinity Church in New York, the induction occurring" in the Reformed 
Dutch Church on Garden Street, on Christmas Day. i('>^)J. Two Dutch 
clergvmen, Re\'. Henricus Selvns of Xew ^'ork, and Rev. John Peter Xucella, 
of Kingston, Xew York, toiik a principal ]iarl in the exercises. The Church 
of England congregation afterward held one ser\-ice in the Dutch Church, and 
on March 13, i6(^S, ibev held tlieir first service in the Trinity Church 
])uilding. Mr. \'esev held the rectorship of the church until his tleath, July 
iS, 174'x He was also ap])ointed commissarv to the X'enerable Societ\- for the 
Pro|);igation of the Ciospel, and in tliat capacitv planted twenty-two Anglican 
chtu'ches in his jurisdiction. \'ese\- Street was named in his honor. 

iV'sides being appointed Ciovernor of the I'rovince of Xew \ ork, special 
commissions yave Colonel Fletcher authoritv over the militia of Connecticut 




TRINITY CHURCH, 1737 
Utar view) 



XEJ]' YORK'S riRST PRIXTER 149 

and Rhode Island and East and West Jerseys; and also as fnll anthority 
over Pennsylvania and Delaware as o\-er New York. Fie met with a reljtiff 
when he went to Connecticttt, and none of the X^ew England colonies wonld 
furnish troops to Governor Fletcher id ])rosecnte the war against Canada. 
He went to Philadelphia, in Ajjril, 161)3, ^'^ assume the government, which 
was at once surrendered to him ; sunnnoned the Asseml)ly of Pennsylvania and 
demanded money to defray the expenses of the expedition against the French 
in All)any. The result was that the assembly passed a bill for a tax of a 
pennv in the pound for the supi)ort of the government and a poll-tax of six 
shillings, which yielded v$7oo. Fletcher a]ipointc<l A\'illiam Markham as 
deputy governor of Pennsyh'ania. 

Among the acts of Governor Fletcher while in Philadeli)hia, was to pre- 
side at the trial of \\'illiam Pradford, the ])rinter. He had printed a jjamphlet 
by George Keith, which accused the Quaker authorities of Pennsylvania of 
violating their pacific principles by aiding in the capture of a i)rivatccr; and in 
consequence, Bradford's press and materials were seized, and he was thrown 
into prison. He was acquitted at the trial, but felt discouraged from further 
activity in Philadelphia. Governor Fletcher, however, persuaded him to 
remove to New York, where the Pro\-incial Council had passed a resolution 
to emplov a public printer and ])a\- him a salary of £40 per annum. He was 
appointed Roval Printer, and entered uixm his ditties, April 10, i6<;3, and 
served for over tiftv years, dying in New York, ^lay 2^,, 175-, aged (S(j years. 

It is believed that the first book printed in New York was one by Colonel 
Nicholas Bavard and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Lodowick, entitled, "A 
Journal of the Late Actions of the French at Canada, with the Manner of 
their being Repulsed by His Excellency, Benjamin Fletcher, Their 
Majesties' Governor of New York." There is no copy of this original 
American edition, but of a London edition, printed later in the same year, 
two copies are extant. The second (some authorities say the first) of the 
books printed bv Bradford was a small volume of the laws of the province ; 
and another earlv book was a 241110 volume of 51 pages, entitled "A Letter of 
Advice to a Young Gentleman leaving the LTniversity, concerning his 
Behavior and Conversation in the World, by R. L. Printed and sold by 
W. Bradford, Printer to His Majesty, King William, at the Bible in New 
York, 1696." Bradford not only did the first printing in New York, but 
also issued the first newspaper, a weekly, printed on a small foolscap sheet, 
under the title of New York Gazette, the first numljer of which appeared 
October 16, 1725. 

During the administration of Governor Fletcher New York attained 
enviable notoriety for the harboring and encouragement of j)irates. The 
prevalence of piracy began with the system of privateering, which all ihe 



150 HISTORY Of XlllV YORK 

maritime nations used as a method of ettective warfare, which thev reo;arded 
as perfectly legitimate. The business of privateering was attractive to the 
most adventurous, and in many cases the most unscru])ulous class of mariners. 
The high seas were ])Oorlv policed in tlmse davs. The ])rivateer with a king's 
commission to destroy or plunder the ships of an enemy, often found a richlv 
laden vessel of a neutral power too much of a temptation ; and from priva- 
teering graduated into actual piracy. Captain William Kidd, who was 
executed in London, ]\Iay 24, 1701, for piracv and nnu^der, was a commis- 
sioned and trusted privateer before he i)ecame one of the most famous pirates ; 
and Ijefore being a privateer was one of the most ])rominent ship captains 
sailing out of New York. 

Piracv especiallv flourished in the Red Sea and the Indian ( )cean, and 
much of the bootv found a market in Xew ^'ork. Pirate captains, who called 
themselves privateers and were dressed with oriental magnificence, armed with 
gem-hilted swords and pistols, were frequent and prominent visitors in New 
York. Some of them were men of wide travel antl attractive conversational 
powers, and became familiars of the governor. It was charged against Gov- 
ernor Fletcher that he was protecting piracy for his ])rivate gain; that he had 
granted commissions as privateers to Thomas Tew, John Hoare and other 
well-known pirates, for monev for himself; and that he had taken as a ])resent, 
the pirate ship Jacob, and had sold it for fSoo. 

jacol) Leisler's son had l)een in London agitating for a reversal of the 
attainder against his father, and with e(|ual zeal against Governor Fletcher, 
who ga\'e all his support to the anti-Leislerite part}-. AA'ith him was Abraham 
Gouverneur, (_»ne of those who had been convicted with Leisler, and who, as 
has been stated, went to London via Poston after his release from Jail. A 
still more powerful alh' oi these in opposition to Fletcher, was Robert 
Livingston, of All)an\-, who was in England with a claim against the gov- 
ernment for money advanced, and sui)i)lies furnished, during rnid after the 
War of lOSS. LI is claim had been resisted l)y Fletcher, and Livingston 
turned his attention more particularly to efforts for the removal of Fletcher. 
11k' charges which he brought were of interfering with the freedom of 
elections h\ marching voters to the polls to intimidate electors; also of 
refusing to account for public moneys received, and of receiving bribes. 

Charges from other sources were, that Governor Fletcher had granted 
large tracts of land for trifling considerations, and that he had drawn funds 
from Engianil for full muster rolls for the forts, when thev were not h.alf full. 

In London, the attorney-general and Robert Weaver re])resented the king, 
and Sir Thomas Powis was counsel for Governor Fletcher in an investigation 
before the Lords of Trade, in i()i)S; and the board rejxn-ted to the king, that 
Fletcher's proceedings were a neglect of dutv and an encouragement to 



GOJ'ERNOR FLETCHER IS RECALLED 



151 



piracy; that his grants of such large tracts of land to single persons was 
reprehensible; and recommended that these charges be referred to the 
attorney-general for further action. The king and the Bishop of London, 
however, were personally friendly to Fletcher, the king, because of the gov- 
ernor's military service in the Irish War, and the bish(ip, because of 
Fletcher's service in establishing the Church in Xew York. 

Before the board had convened, howe\er, requests for Fletcher's depo- 
sition had come from so manv sources in New York, that the king had 
recalled Fletcher and had appi)inted the luirl of Bellomont as governor, to 
succeed him. Bellomont's commission was dated Jtme iS, 1697, but delays in 
London, and storms on the \-o_\-age, pre\-ented him from reaching his govern- 
ment until 169S. 

Bellomont, l)efore leaving England, had l)een in touch with Leisler, 
Gouverneur, and especially Robert Li\'ingston ; from whom he had received 
the belief that Fletcher was a corrupt man, who not only encouraged piracy, 
but was an embezzler of public moneys. It was urged upon him that Fletcher 
should not be permitted to depart until his accounts had been investigated by 
the Provincial Assembly, but the new governor ciintented himself with 
taking from Colonel Fletcher bonds in the sum of f 10,000 to answer to the 
king for all public money irregularly disposed of by him. 

There seems to be no record of Colonel Fletcher's later career or the 
date of his death. 




HOME OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD. 1696 



CHAPTER FIFTEEN 

THE EARL OF BELLOMOiNT'S ADMINISTRATION 

LAND-GRABBERS AND SEA PIRATES-CAPTAIN KIDD 

LEISLERITES IN THE SADDLE 

Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont. was a man of commanding 
presence and genial disposition. His grandfather. Sir Charles Coote, had 
served with distinction against the Irish in the Rebellion of 1641. The 
familv continued to reside in Ireland, and took an active part in the resto- 
ration of Charles II, who created the two S(jns of Sir Charles, in lObo, mem- 
bers of the Irish peerage under the respective titles of Earl of Montrath 
and Baron Coote of Colooney. 

Richard, son of Baron Coote, was Iwrn in Ireland in 1636, and when, 
on the restoration of the monarchy, his father became occupied about the 
court, he also mingled with the yuunger members of the court circle. 
After the accession of James, he spent most of his time on his estates in 
Ireland and, being a Protestant, had no sympathy with the efforts made 
bv that king to make the Roman Catholic Church the established church 
of England. He was elected to Parliament, and in 1688 was one of the 
first adherents of the Prince of Orange. In the Jacobite Parliament held 
bv lames II, in Dublin, in i88ij, he was attainted of treason, Init in the same 
year he was created Earl of Bellomont by William III and appointed 
treasurer and receiver-general to (Jueen ]Mary. 

In Xovember, 1607, ^^'illiam II appointed him governor of Xew York, 
and soon after made him also governor of ^Massachusetts and Xew Hamp- 
shire, but through various delays he did not arrive in Xew York mitil 
April 2, 1608. Before his coming he had become interested, in various 
ways, with questions of vital interest pertaining to Xew York and the 
other colonies. One of these was related to the execution and attainder 
of Leisler, which, although the death of Leisler occurred in 1691, had been 
kejit alive bv the untiring eft'orts of Leisler's son and others in London 
to have the attainder of high treason removed, and the land restored to 
Leisler's heirs. This was done through the action of Parliament and 
the approval of the king in 1695. 

The Earl of Bellomont was a memlier of the parliamentary com- 
mittee which examined the subject and reported on it, and in Parliament 
made a speech on the bill, denouncing the execution as a murder. In a 
letter to Rev. Increase blather, soon afterward, he expressed his views 
still more strongly, stating his opinion that Leisler and Milborne "were not 
onlv murdered, but barbarouslv murdered." When he came as g(-)vernor 



LORD BELLOMONT AND THE PIRATES 153 

he broutiht the same views with him. Curiuusly enough there had Ijeen 
pubhshed, just before Bellomont's arrival, several pamphlets of an anti- 
Leislerian tenor, one of which came from the press of William Bradford, 
in the early part of 1698, with the official afiproval uf Governor Fletcher 
and his council. The Rev. Ash])el (i. \ermilve, D.I)., whose monograph 
on "The Earl of Bellomont and Suppression of Piracy" forms a part of 
Wilson's "Memorial History of the City of New York," very pertineittly 
regards this reopening- of the old story at this time as an evident attempt 
to create an opposition in the aristocratic i)arty against the administration 
of the incoming governor. 

But the principal reason for the ai)pointment of Lord Bellomont by 
William was given in that monarch's letter of notification to him, in which 
he stated that he had appoined Bellomont to the place because he thought 
him a man of resolution and integrity, and with those qualifications more 
likely than any other he could think of to put a stop to the illegal trade 
and to the growth of piracy. New York being "remarkably infected with 
those two dangerous diseases." Bellomont was chosen for the task because 
he had shown particular interest in the suppression of piracy, which sul)- 
ject had much troubled the lords of the Admiralty. In 1695 that body had 
determined to take vigorous measures against the pirates, some of the 
boldest of whom were known to be from New York and Rhode Island, 
and some from other colonies. 

It was not practicable to employ men-of-war for the purpose, because 
they were all needed for active service in the French war; so the plan 
was to send out a privateer, with letters of marque, who could operate 
against French commerce and the pirates, as either of these enemies of 
the king might be encountered. The most important ((uestion was to 
secure the right man for the place. 

In London, at that time, was Robert Livingston, a rich N\nv Yorker 
whose Scotch family connections had procured him the ciitrcc into the 
court circle in London. Livingston had, from the position of town clerk 
in Albany, through political influence, i)nrchased from the Indians, grants 
from the government, and in other ways, secured an estate comprising 
one hundred and sixty thousand acres of the finest land on the Hudson. 
Livingston had been counted as against Leisler in the troubles which had 
followed the accession of William and Mary, but had afterward been an 
active helper of young Leisler in the successful endeavor to reverse the 
attainder against his father. Through this relation he had become 
acquainted with the Earl of Bellomont, who consulted with him as to the 
proposed plans for the suppression of piracy. Livingston was sure that 
he knew just the man that was needed to command the i)roposed 



154 HISTORY OF Mil J' YORK 



operations against the pirates, one Cajjtain William Kidd, master mariner 
who had done \-aliant service in the West Indies, and who had been compen- 
sated with a grant of £150 by the General Assembly of New York. 

Livingston was fully justified by the reputation which Kidd bore in 
New York, in his recommendation of the captain to Lord Bellimiont. 
Captain Kidd was regarded as a thoroughly reliable man, brave, well 
educated, wideh- traveled in Oriental as well as \\'estern seas, and one of 
the most skillful mariners of his day. He had an estimable wife and little 
daughter, housed in a comfortable home on Liberty Street, in New York, 
and was looked u]ion as a good and patriotic citizen. 

Bellomont joined Livingston in an agreement with Captain Kidd, 
backing the enterprise, and a company was organized which included in 
its membership Lord Shrewsbury, Lord Orford, first lord of the 
Admiralty, and Lord Somers, keeper of the Great Seal, as stockholders, 
while Bellomont and Livingston retained the largest interest in the 
company. The sum of £6000 was subscribed, and the galley Adventure, 
of 287 tons, with 30 guns, was purchased and fully eciuipped, with Captain 
Kidd in command. He was given letters of marque, and two additional 
special commissions, one empowering him to act against the French, and 
another investing him with authority to seize pirates and take them to 
some place where they might he dealt with according to law. 

Captain Kidd could only find part of a suitable crew in England, so 
he sailed short-handed from Plymouth for New York, April 23, 1696, 
capturing a French ship on the way, and bringing her as a prize to New 
^'ork. where he found plentv of adventurous spirits anxious to volunteer 
for his expedition. According to the plans laid down, one-tenth of the 
booty was to go to the king's treasvu^y, and the remainder was to be divided 
among the shareholders, the captain, and the crew. After he had filled the 
complement of men, Kidd sailed for ]\Iadagascar, with the declared \n\r- 
pose to operate against the pirates. 

Nothing had been heard from him after that, up to the time that Lord 
Bellomont came to New York, specially selected to suppress piracy and 
enforce the navigation laws. His instructions were to "inquire strictly 
into the connivances and i)rotections that were given to pirates by Colonel 
Fletcher, late governor." 

Lord Bellomont was accompanied I)\- his wife, who was a well-known 
court l)eauty, only child and heiress of Bridges Nanfan, Esq., of Birts- 
Morton. Worcestershire, England. l'])on his arrival the new go\ernor 
published his commission and swore in his Council, which was the same as 
that of Governor Fletcher, its members being Frederick Philipse, Stephen 
van Cortlandt, Nicholas Bayard, Matthias Nicolls, Gabriel jNIinvielle, Wil- 



BELLOMOXT FIGHTS ILLICIT TRADIXG 155 

lian: I'inhorne, John Lawrence, William Smith, Chidley Brooke, and 
Thomas AVillet. For several days after their landing- there were a series 
of entertainments given for the benefit of the earl and conntess, beginning 
with a large corporation dinner, presided over l>y Alayor Johannes de Peyster, 
followed l)v several dinner ])arties at the honses of the leading families. 

It was only about a week after his arri^•al that the new governor had 
an o])portunity to indicate his attitude with reference to enforcement of 
the customs and navigation laws, when the ship h^ortune. Captain 
Moston, arrived in the harbor with East India goods in an "unfree" 
bottom. The governor found that the goods were being landed in boats, 
without any attempt to collect customs duties. Lord Bellomont ordered 
Chidley Brooke, the collector, to seize the goods, but that functionary 
replied that it was none of his business to do so, as he had no boat to 
b()ard the ship, and made other excuses; but after several days' delay the 
command of the governor became more imjierative, and Brooke seized the 
last of the boats with goods worth £1000, out of £20,000 in all. Finding that 
other violations of customs laws were also permitted, the earl removed him 
from office. 

The evident intention of the earl to enforce the law alarmed the mer- 
chants who, under Fletcher, had been permitted unchecked to deal with 
smugglers and to cheat the revenue, though the most prominent of these 
merchants were members of the Council or held other important posts 
under the provincial or city governments, and bound l)y oaths and ethics 
to u])hold the law. The twenty-one merchants who owned the lading of 
the Fortune made a loud outcry. The governor's course would ruin the town 
and drive away trade, and his action with reference to the Fortune had already 
driven awav £100,000 in trade, they said. 

Lord Bellomont had discovered that while the trade of the city had 
more than doubled in the past ten years, there had been an actual decrease 
in customs revenue. Ofticials, supine or corru])t, had let abuses grow, and 
merchants had grown rich on illicit traffic. The vigorous cotu^se of the 
governor, by which the Fortune and another vessel had been condemned 
by the Court of Admiralty, wdiile ships bound for Madagascar (where 
pirates disposed of their stealings) were asked by the governor to give 
security not to trade with pirates. The ships having failed to furnish the 
securit}-. the governor delaved issue of the clearances, and called t<igether 
the Council to take up the matter, but he found the Council unanimous 
against him, so that, with much reluctance, he permitted the vessels to 
clear without the suggested security. The Council was for the old policies 
and met suggestions of reforms with the argument that "they had not 
been practised before." 



l.v; HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 

l\y act of Parliament ])assed in 161J5, the Leislcr jtroperties had heen 
ordered restorech hut such restoration had not been made, so the earl at once 
rio'lited this wront;', hringino- upon himself the charg-e that he had caused 
"innocent parties." who had l)oug'ht them in good faith, to he turned otit 
of houses and stores. Finding himself hampered l.iy a Council not at all 
in sympathy with his plans. Lord llellomont removed all of them except 
A an Cortlandt. William Smith and Peter Schuyler, selecting" Abraham de 
Peyster, Roliert Livingston, Dr. Samuel Staats and Robert Walters to 
make uj) the total of seven members. 

In reforming the Council so as to bring it in harmonv with his views 
he had incidentally turned out the leaders of the aristocratic, or anti- 
Leislerian i)arty. Brooke, the dismissed collector, went to England to 
present a petition for the earl's recall, and was soon followed by Bayard, 
the leader of the party. The petition did not lack names of wealthy and 
proS]3erous merchants, and I'rooke and Bayard were ardent representa- 
tives of these, wdiose gains Belloniout's honest course had crijipled ; l:)Ut the 
earl was not recalled. 

Robert ^^'alters, of the new cr)uncil. Abraham Gouverneur who had been 
one of the condemned six and hail married AIill)orne"s widow, and others of 
the family, petitioned the governor for permission to disinter the bodies of 
Leisler and Milborne from the grave which had been dug for them at the 
foot of the gallows and give them Christian l:)urial in the crxpt of the old 
L)utch church. Anti-Leislerians filed objections to the ])lan. but the governor 
granted the ])etition. not only on the ground of '"compassion fi^r the family" 
as he said, but still more because Parliament had not only reversed the attain- 
der of the two men. l)Ut had legitimatefl Leisler's assumption of the govern- 
ment. Therefore he sent a hundred soldiers as a guard of honor to the dis- 
interment, and although it took ])lace at midnight in a heavy storm, twelve 
hundred ])ersons assembled to show their sympathy and give their aid. The 
procession marclied with lighted torches to the Citv Hall to the sound of muf- 
fled drums, and after Ixing in state there for several days, the bodies were 
decentlv interred in the church crypt. 

The Assemblv which met .March 21. 1600. was of greativ changed political 
complexion. There were twenty-one members in all, and sixteen were l^eisler- 
ians, under the leadership of Gouverneur and W^alters, the former representing 
the counties of ( )range and Kings, and becoming speaker of the Assembly; 
one of the first acts of which was to pass a bill for the i)aymcnt of the sum of 
£2700 expended b^• Leisler, oiU of his own funds, for the public service. A still 
ni(.)re important measure was passed vacating several public grants n]ade by 
Governor Fletcher. These grants were large, while the government (|uitrents 
were scandalously small, one grant covering 840 square miles at a rental of five 



BELLOMOXT .!.\'GERS RECTOR J'ESRY loT 

Ijeaver skins annually, and many others l)eino- as glaringly inadcciuate, while 
not one gave anything worth calling a return for their lands. 

This bill, approved by Bellomont, angered all the great landowners, in- 
cluding among many others Domine Godfreidus Dellius, who had been given 
bv Governor Fletcher a grant in what is now Washington County, on the east 
side of the Hudson, abo\'e xA^lbanv, extending,- to Vergennes, \'ermont, seventv 
miles long by twehe miles in breadth. He had also, with William Pinhorne, 
Colonel Peter Schuyler, Evert Banker and Dirk ^^'essels. bought from the In- 
dians a tract fifty miles long and four miles wide in the Mohawk X'alley (now 
in Herkimer County). 

Another enemy aroused by the bill was Rev. William A>sey, the rector of 
Trinity. Fletcher, after the news had come to him that the Earl of Bellomont 
had been appointed to succeed him, had leased to his closest friend. Colonel 
Caleb Heathcote, what was described as "the pleasantest part of the King's 
Garden," and also leased, for a term of seven years, the King's Farm, which 
was a perquisite of the governor and adjoining his residence. These leases 
the bill nullified, further providing that the King's Garden and the King's 
Farm shotikl not be leased by any governor for a longer period than his own 
term of office. 

Domine Dellius was not only aggrieved by the rescinding of his grants, 
but because the Assembly had also passed a bill suspending him from his min- 
istrv. On the charges made which led to his suspension the earl seems to have 
l)een misled, fur the Domine went to Amsterdam and was thoroughly exoner- 
ated by the Classis there: but the contention in favor of the land grants, which 
the Domine took to England, was not successful. The earl and the Assem- 
bly were so palpably in the right there, that while the efforts of the land-grab- 
bers delayed, they did not prevent the ajjproval of the bill. 

The rector of Trinity, Rev. William \'esey, was very much wrought up 
by the action of the Assembly and the earl. He left the earl and his family 
out of their wonted place in the prayer "for all those in authority," and 
prayed every Sundav for Domine Dellius by name, that God A\ould give him 
a safe voyage and deliver him from his enemies. He wr(ite to the bishop of 
London, asking him to aid in securing the recall of the earl, but the bishop 
advised him to make his submission to the governor. He did as advised, and 
was told bv the earl to behave himself decently and discreetly for the future 
and he would be his friend. 

The Earl of ISellomont was governor of Massachusetts as well as of New 
York, and after proroguing the Assembly, May i6, 1699, he went to Boston, 
remaining fourteen months and giving an administration to Massachusetts 
which was so thoroughly satisfactory that he became one of the most popular 
of the colonial aovernors. 



].->s JIJSTOR]' nr XRW YORK 

Less than two iiiontlis after his arrival in Boston the governor made a 
ca]itnre which was the cnhnination of the war against piracy he had from his 
first arrival carried on withont faltering. The story of his connection with the 
commission of Captain William Kidd as a ])rivateer has already been told. He 
and Robert Livingston were snreties on Kidd's bond as a privateer officer. 
After he left Xew Y<irk in October, ifxjf), for Madagascar, Kidd made no cap- 
ture for more than a year. Then news of him came from various sources 
whicli indicated that the man sent out as a pirate-catcher had himself tinmed 
pirate. 

When this news came to Xew ^'ork, the merchants and others who had 
been hit I)y the earl's vigorous opposition to jjiracv and other illegal trading, 
did not hesitate about charging, or at least strongly hinting, that the governor 
was an accomplice of Kidd. Whether Kidd started out with piratical inten- 
tions when he sailed from Xew York is a f[uestion which has l)een much dis- 
cussed, but he pn)l)ablv did not. When he reached the Indian (Jcean. how- 
ever, temptation overcome him. It was much easier to l)e a pirate than to 
catch one, and vastly more profitable, and after several small captures he took 
an Armenian vessel of 400 tons, the Ouidagh Merchant, in ]\Iay, i()ijS. This 
was a prize worth £64,000. of which his own share was f 16,000. Lie after- 
ward i>lundere(l the P.anian merchants, and in May, 169S. he took the Ouidagh 
Merchant to Madagascar. The fact of piracy was so well authenticated that 
on X^ovember 23, 1698, orders were sent to the governors of all British colonies 
to apprehend him if he came within their jurisdiction. In A])ril, 1699, he 
arrived in the West Indies in the Ouidagh Merchant, which he made fast in 
a lagoon on the island of Saona, sotttheast of Havti. Fnnn there he went 
north in a 55-ton sloop, the San Antonio, with forty men. At Oyster Bay, 
Long Island, he took aboard James Emott, a prominent Xew York lawyer, 
w'hom he landed on Rhode Island, sending him to the earl at Boston to reqitest 
a safe condtict. Kidd's wife and little datighter went aboard the sloop at 
Block Island, and thence he went to (iardiner's Island, leaving part of his 
treasure with the owner of the island, who afterward turned it over to the 
attthorities. 

Mr. Emott, in his errand to the earl, could get from him no more than 
a message to Kidd that "if what Mr. Emott said was true" Captain Kidd might 
come ashore. Kidd arrived in Boston, Julv i, 1699, ^•I'J ^'^''^s taken before the 
council and interrogated. Llis replies were so unsatisfactory that he and sev- 
eral of his men were arrested and sent to England, where he was charged 
with pirac\- and the burning of houses, besides several nun^ders and lirutali- 
ties. The specific charge ti])on which lie was found guilt\- was the nmrtler of 
one of his men. William Moore, and he and nine of his accomplices were hanged 
at Execution Dock, London, Mav 24, 1701. 



DEATH OF THE EARL OF BELLOMOXT 159 



In England an attempt was made to impeach Lord Chancellor Somers 
for passing- Kidd's commission under the Great Seal, and also the first lord of 
the Admiralty, the Earl of Orford; and Lord Bellomont's name was freel\- 
used bv the agents of Bellomont's enemies in London, but a complete investi- 
gation vindicated Bellomont and the others who had fitted out Kidd as a pri- 
vateer. 

The Earl of Bellomont returned to New York by sea from Boston, arriv- 
ing Julv 24, 1700, and continued his attacks on piracy and illegal trading with 
much \-ig()r. So, although strongly opjwsed in his policy by powerful com- 
mercial interests he, with the assistance of Thomas Weaver, who had become 
collector, succeeded so well that the pirates found no shelter in New York. 

The session of the General Asseml)ly which followed soon after the gov- 
ernor's return did nothing of special benefit to Xew York, the only notable 
measure passed by it being to prohibit Roman Catholic priests and Jesuits 
from coming into the province, under severe penalties. After the session the 
earl went to a conference with Indians at Albany. He returned to New York 
in Ixid health, but in February, 1701, he had a severe attack of the gout, and 
on March 5 he died. 

As with other rulers over countries divided by partisan rancor, there ha^•e 
been many estimates of the character and services of the Earl of Bellomont. 
The latest verdict of history is strictly favorable with reference to his govern- 
ment of New York, as it has been from the first with regard to his acts as 
they relate to New England. He was honest, fearless and zealous, and while 
not immune from error, was nearly always just in his judgments. He be- 
lieved in representative government and upheld it : believed in justice and 
worked with disinterested enthusiasm to right the wrong done b}- Leisler's 
death and attainder. 

He was probably wrong about Dellius so far as the Domine's character 
was concerned. Dellius had been a great enemy of Leisler, and a favorite of 
Sloughter and Fletcher, but he seems to have been a faithful pastor and he 
certainly did good service in teaching and restraining the Indians. On the 
other hand his land grants were far more than any man should have been 
given, and the earl did a patriotic service in persuading the Assembly to re- 
voke them; for from Leisler's time on, Dellius attended more to civic than to 
ecclesiastical matters. 

During the earl's administration the most notable Imilding erected in 
New York was the new City Hall, built in 1699-1700. The old "Stadt Huys," 
built in 1642, had become so dilapidated that it had Ijeen abandoned by the 
courts and the Common Council. The property on the north side of Wall 
Street was owned, in alternate sections, by Colonel Nicholas Bayard and 
Abraham de Pevster. Mr. De Pevster, who was the earl's most faithful 



Klo 



HISTORV OF \l-ir YORK 



friend and adviser during his entire administration, gave the land, and Lord 
Ijellimiont permitted some material from the old fort to be used. The et)rner- 
stone was laid in 1699, In- David Provoost, mayor of the city, in which otihce 
he succeeded Johannes de Peyster, his brother-in-law. 

Domine Selyns, pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church, who died in July, 
1701, after a pastorate in that church of nineteen years, was not friendly to the 
earl's administration, having been pastor to most of the anti-Leislerian leaders. 
In 1699, the infirmity of Domine Selvns becoming apparent, Gaultherius Du 
L'xiis, twenty-eight years old, was called as his assistant, and two vears later 
succeeded him, and was a ]jrominent figure in church and ci\-ic ati'airs during 
a pastorate of fifty-two years. 



1 










. 'i^ 



'H'lifi- 










CITY HALL, WALL STREET 

Erected in 17011. Demolishe.i in I SI 2 



CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY 
NEW YORK'S WORST GOVERNOR 

Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornhury, who was appointed governor of 
New York by King William, was grandson of the first Earl of Clarendon, 
prime minister and lord chancellor of England under Charles II. His 
father, the second earl, was brother-in-law to King James II, and the son 
was, therefore, first cousin to Princess Anne, later Queen. He was edu- 
cated in Geneva, and in 1688 married a daughter of Lord O'Brian. 

Lord Macaula}-, in his History of England, describes Lord Cornbury 
as a man so mentally inferior as "almost in verge on intellectual 
imbecility," while he was absolutely lacking in principle, dissolute in his 
life, arrogant in his demeanor and violent in temper. His kinship to James 
II secured him place and preferment, and he held a commission in the 
household troops of that monarch. He held the confidence of the king as 
one devoted to his person and his cause, and he was supposed to be one 
of the most loyal of the Jacobites, but when William of Orange 
approached the city of Salisbury, Lord Cornbury was one of the first to 
abandon his uncle's standard, carrying three cavalry regiments out of the 
army of James to that of William. There was no matter of principle 
involved in this action, the only motive of which was the desire to be on 
the winning side, and this act of desertion was regarded, even in that day 
of easy political morals, as absolute and despicable treachery. 

It was for this act that William rewarded Lord Cornburv with 
appointment as governor of New York, to which office he was commis- 
sioned in September, 1701. He did not sail, however, until the following 
March, two daj's before the death of the king, and he arrived in New York 
May 3, 1702. Upon his arrival, after having his commission publicly 
read and taking the usual official oaths before Chief Justice Atwood, he 
received the seal of the province from Lieutenant Governor Nanfan, who 
had administered the affairs of the province since the death of the Earl of 
Bellomont. Lord Cornbury thereupon administered the oaths of office to 
those members of the Council who had been specifically named in his 
instructions. 

In the first important matter that came up for the governor's action, 
he aligned himself squarely with the anti-Leislerian, or aristocratic faction. 
This was in connection with Nicholas Bayard, then in jail under conviction 
for high treason. During the last part of Bellomont's administration the 
Leislerians were in full power, a majority of that party having been elected 



16-^ HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

to the General Assembly, and others having been appointed members of the 
Provincial Council when Bellomont dismissed councilors from the other party 
who would not support his endeavors to suppress piracy, or to vacate 
excessive land grants. After Bellomont's death the Leislerians became 
more stronglv partisan in their actions, and determined to avenge the acts 
of their opjjonents in general, and of Nicholas Bayard in particular, who 
had brought about the death of Leisler and Milborne. 

Chief lustice William Atwood had been sent from England to be head 
of the court in New York, where he arrived July 24, 1701. He had been 
selected because he was reputed to be an expert in admiralty law and 
therefore especially qualified to punish pirates and violators of the naviga- 
tion laws, in which direction Chief Justice Smyth, whom he succeeded, 
had not given much support to Lord Bellomont's efforts. The accession 
of Atwood, who at once aligned himself with the Leislerians, and the loss 
of office by Smyth, who had been their friend, added greatly to the dis- 
comfiture of Bayard and associates. The lieutenant governor, John Nanfan, 
was a relative of Ladv Bellomont, and in sympathy with the Leislerians. 

On the other hand, Thomas Noell, anti-Leislerian, was elected mayor 
at the annual election in October, 1701. In three of the wards the alder- 
manic candidates of both parties claimed election. The Leislerian claim- 

L 
ants were sworn in bv De Remer, the retirmg mayor, but Noell, when 

himself sworn in, refused to recognize them, and the city government came 
to a standstill. 

Bavard and his friends saw little hope of return to power unless Lord 
Cornburv ( whose appointment had been announced, but whose arrival 
was delaved) could be won to their side. So addresses to the king, to Par- 
liament, and to Lord Cornbury were prepared, setting forth the Bayard 
view of the government of the colony under the late governor, the present 
lieutenant governor and other officials in which some statements were made 
which were considered sufficiently strong to base an indictment against 
Bavard and against Alderman John llutchins, one of his satellites, for high 
treason. The indictment was founded on an act which, in 1601, after 
Leisler's execution for high treason. Bayard had himself prepared and had 
passed 1)y the legislature and approved by the king. It prescribed the 
])ains, jienalties and forfeitures of high treason for those who should in any 
])ossil)le wav endeavor "'by force of arms or otherwise to disturl:) the peace, 
good and (|uiet of their ^Majesties' government as now established." 

Asked for his oi)inion, Attorney-General Broughton, who had come 
from England with Chief Justice Atwood, said he believed no crime had 
l)een conunitled l)y Bayard, and therefore declined to take part in the 
prosecution, whereupon ]\Ir. Weaver was ap]:)ointed solicitor-general for 



BAYARD SENTENCED TO DEATH, THEN RELEASED 163 

the government and tried the case before the cotirt, composed of Chief 
Justice Atwood. with De Peyster and Walters as lay judges. After the 
jury had been out a long time they returned a verdict of guilty, and Bayard 
was sentenced to death by Judge Atwood. He asked for a reprieve, but 
was told by the lieutenant governor that unless he confessed his guilt he 
would be executed. Bayard made several equivocal expressions of sorrow 
and half-confession, but finally, learning that his death warrant was to be 
signed he sent the recjuired confession, which, however, he afterward con- 
tended, was merely to gain respite until Lord Cornbury should arrive, and 
upon receiving this confession Lieutenant Governor Nanfan granted a 
reprieve "until his Majesty's pleasure could be known." When Governor 
Cornbury arrived he reversed all the proceedings against Bayard, and 
restored him to liberty. When the anti-Leislerians petitioned, soon after- 
ward, that Abraham de Peyster, Robert Walters and Dr. Samuel Staats, 
members of the Provincial Council, should be punished for their activity in 
the "late troubles," Lord Cornbury thoroughly aligned himself with the 
Bayard faction, dismissing these gentlemen from the council without a 
hearing, and appointing Dr. Gerardus Beeckman, Rip van Dam, Killiaen 
van Rensselaer and Thomas Wenham to membership in that board. 

This arbitrary act of the governor incensed a large number of the 
people, and the New York Assembly, resenting it, passed an act to indemnify 
those who had sustained losses during the Revolution, which became known as 
the "Leisler Act." When the act was reported to the Lords of Trade in 
London they sent a peremptory order to Lord Cornbury that the Assembly 
should not be permitted to take such action. 

A confirmation of Lord Cornbury's commission from Queen Anne was 
received Wednesday, June 17, 1702, with orders to proclaim her queen, 
which was done the following day in New York, and on the following Mon- 
day at Burlington, N. J., whence he went to Philadelphia and proclaimed the 
queen there the next day. On his return he found an epidemic (probably 
yellow fever) raging in the town. In alarm he went with his family to 
Jamaica, L. L, but foimd no place fit for his occupancy. The best house in the 
village was occupied by Rev. Mr. Hubbard, the Presbyterian minister, having 
been built for him by his congregation. William Smith's "History of New 
York" tells us that: "His Lordship begged the loan of it for the use of his 
own family, and the clergyman put himself to no small inconvenience to favor 
the governor's request ; but, in return for the generous benefaction. His Lord- 
ship perfidiously delivered the parsonage-house into the hands of the 
Episcopal party, and encouraged one Cardwel, the sheriff, a mean fellow, who 
afterward put an end to his own life, to seize upon the glebe, which he sur- 
veyed into lots and farmed for the benefit of the Episcopal Church." 



164 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

The action here referred to was executed July 4. 1704, by the sheritt on 
an order from Cornbury, whose plea was that the church and parsonage 
having" been btiilt with public money it cotild Ijelong only to the Church of 
England. As a matter of fact the church had been planned b}- Xew England 
Puritans resident in Jamaica, who had raised sufficient money to purchase the 
ground and to partly build the foundation of the church. They were the insti- 
gators of the "Ministerial Act" of i6qi, under which the church was finished and 
the vearlv salary of the minister was paid. The congregation built the manse 
and the Rev. 'Sir. Hubbard, whom they called to the pastorate, ministered to 
the people and remained unmolested until Lord Cornbur}- suddenly developed 
a degree of fanatical zeal for "the Church of England as by law established," 
though it had, in fact, never been established in Xew York. Moreover, in 
1691, when the "Ministerial Act" was passed, there were no Episcopalians in 
Jamaica. In fact there were less than a score of that faith there when Corn- 
bury had the Presbyterians ousted in 1704. The Presbyterians, contending 
that the governor exceeded his authority, occupied the church after being 
notified by the sheritl. until on one Sunday afternoon, when the service was 
in progress, a party of Episcopalians, tmder Cornbury's advice, broke down the 
doors of the church and drove the worshipers into a neighboring orchard, 
where Z\Ir. Hubbard concluded his sermon. 

Rev. William Urquhart, clergyman of the Church of England, was put in 
possession of the church and parsonage, and the salary of the Presbyterian 
pastor was paid to him. After his death, in October, 170c;, his daughter, who 
married a dissenting minister, continued to occupy the parsonage with her 
husband until 171 1, but was then ousted by Governor Htinter at the reqttest of 
the Episcopalians, and an Anglican minister again installed, and the wrangling 
continued, the church being occupied for different periods by the contending 
denominations, while a fight was kept u]) in the cotirts which did not finally 
settle the matter until 182S, when the decision was given in favor of the 
Presbyterians, who thereafter remained in peaceable possession. 

During the administration of Cornbtiry. the province was in a state of 
perpetual expectation of an attack from the French fleet which had l^een 
assaulting the British possessions in the West Indies. This had some good 
effect in inciting the colonial government to the repair and increase of the 
defenses of the city. Fifteen hundred pounds was appropriated to fortify the 
Narrows, but went astray of its purpose, Lord Cornbury taking the money and 
using it to build a country seat on Xutten or Governor's Island, for himself and 
his successors. There was mtich discontent expressed when this diversion of 
funds became known, and considerable alarm when the news came of the 
arrival of a French privateer of fourteen guns oft' Sandy Hook, following 
news that French vessels, oft' the capes of \'irginia. had recently captured 



THE ASSEMBLY OPPOSES CORN BURY 165 

seven merchantmen. All able-bodied citizens of New York were set to work 
throwing up earthworks for the defense of the city, while Captain Richard 
Davis manned the Triton's Prize, which was the new name of a lately captured 
French man-of-war. He came up with the Frenchman at early dawn next 
day, July 26, 1706, and engaged the privateer until sunset, when in a dead calm 
the French vessel was carried out of range and sight by the use of the sweeps, 
and made its escape. Captain Davis, who had received an ugly wound in the 
neck during the engagement, returned and reported all present danger passed. 
The next dav a report that ten large French ])rivateers had passed inside of 
Sandy Hook created a panic, which was allayed by the later information that 
the ten French vessels were prizes captured by Captain Adrian Clavear, who 
was bringing them into port. For a time ever}- incoming vessel was figured 
as a hostile Frenchman, until it came close to land. 

When the panic had sulxsided the people began to talk earnestly about 
the governor's criminal perversion of funds ; the City Council ordered that the 
aldermen should solicit subscriptions, each in his ward, for the fortification of 
the Narrows, and the Assembly, in view of Cornbury's misfeasance, insisted 
on appointing its own treasurer to receive and disburse anv moneys the legis- 
lature might order to be raised for public purposes. This legislature was 
very bold and had passed an act to establish a free grammar school under con- 
trol of the corporation of the city ; a provision which was very obnoxious to 
Cornbury, who did not believe in the education of the masses. He is said to 
have been dissuaded from open opposition or veto by Rev. William Vesey 
the rector of Trinity. The Assembly was a thorn in Cornbury's side, for it 
had very democratic ideas of its rights and ])owers. Even worse, from the 
Cornbury standpoint, was the Legislature of New Jersey, which refused point- 
blank to accede to his requests to grant him a salary of £2000 per annum for 
twenty years ; and when he immediately dissolved the Assembly and called for 
the election of a new one in the spring of 1706, for the specific purpose of 
increasing and renewing his salary, he found the new bodv even less appre- 
ciative of his proposition than the old one. 

When the New York Assembly made the right to appoint its own treas- 
urer a condition precedent to the granting of supplies for specific purposes, 
Cornbury tried to have it remove the condition ; but finding it obdurate, 
and fearing he would have no supplies voted, he referred the matter to the 
home government. Much to his chagrin the reply endorsed the action of the 
Assembly and ordered him to ]wrmit the General Assembly to name its own 
treasurer, and this order was accompanied by a letter expressing a hope that 
his lordship would lay before the Assembly an account of all moneys raised by 
acts of Assembly whenever they should desire the same, and counseled him to 
moderate and persuasive conduct in dealing with the Assemblv. When the 



166 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

order of the home autliorities was transmitted to the Assembly it appointed 
Colonel Abraham de Peyster to the office of treasurer, and appropriated £3000 
for the defense of New York. 

Katherine, Lady Cornbury, died nn Sunday, August 11, 1706, in the 
thirty-fifth year of her age. She had 1)een in poor health from her arrival in 
New York, sufifering from a pulmonar\- complaint. She had been married to 
Lord Cornbury eighteen years and had seven children, of whom only one son 
and two daughters survived her. Rev. John Sharp, chaplain of the fort, con- 
ducted the obsequies and preached her funeral sermon, and she was buried 
in Trinity Church. 

Cornbury was a man of dissolute hal)its, and after his wife's death he 
became more dissipated. But he was regular in his attendance at church, posed 
as the devoted champion of the Church of England, and to emphasize his zeal 
was as severe as possible in his dealings with dissenters. Rev. John Hamp- 
ton, of Maryland, and Rev. Francis Makemie, of Virginia, being on their way 
to Boston, and calling upon the governor, were invited to dine with him, and 
did so. The few Presbyterians in New York had no church, so the next day 
(being Sunday), Rev. Mr. Mackemie preached to them in the house of a shoe- 
maker named Jackson, and Rev. Mr. Hampton conducted services in the Pres- 
byterian Church at Newtown, Long Island, ^^'hen Cornbury heard of their 
preaching he ordered the sheriff of Queens County to arrest the two clergy- 
men, and bring them before him. When this was done, the governor told them 
that the law would not permit him to countenance strolling preachers "who 
might be Papists in disguise." for all he knew to the contrary, and that they 
had no right to preach in New York without his consent. ]\Iakemie claimed 
that having qualified in Virginia he was entitled to preach anywhere in the 
queen's dominions, and the controversy, wliich became very warm, was ended 
by the two clergymen being sent to the citv jail, where, because Roger Mom- 
pesson, then chief justice, was out of the city, they languished for seven weeks. 

At that time the great majority of the people of New York were of the 
Reformed Dutch Church, and there was a French Huguenot church in Pine 
Street, erected in 1704, with a congregation made up of refugees, while the 
few Presbyterians mentioned and a not very much larger number of English 
Episcopalians made up the rest of the churchgoing population. Even the lat- 
ter were not pleased at Cornbury's arbitrary action, while those of the other 
denominations were greatlv exercised at his tyranny. 

Rev. Mr. Makemie, while in the jail, managed to have conveyed to Bos- 
ton and printed the sermon which he had preached at Newtown, with a dedi- 
cation to those who heard it. This sermon, with the title, "A Good Conver- 
sation," now one of the most rare of our historic pamphlets, was an able and 
evangelical discourse entirely free from controversial matter, and it caused the 



fe 



TRINITY CHURCH ACQUIRES THE QUEEN'S FARM 167 

entire community, without respect of denominational alignment, to recognize 
the great injustice done to Messrs. Makemie and Hampton. They were ac- 
quitted at the trial, hut with great inconsistency were condenmed to pay the 
costs of the action. 

During Cornbury's administration Trinity Church acquired its title to the 
great properties which it has since held, at that time known as the "Queen's 
Farm" and the "Queen's Garden." The Queen's (formerly "King's") Farm 
was a tract of sixty-two acres, the present boundaries of which are the Hud- 
son River, Christopher Street, Bedford Street, West Houston Street, Sullivan 
Street, Canal Street, West Broadway, Barclay Street, Broadway to Fulton 
Street, and on that street west to the river again. The tract was granted to 
Roeloff Jansen by Governor Wouter van T wilier, in 1636. Jansen died a few 
months after recei\-ing the grant, leaving his widow, Annetje Jansen (name 
corrupted into "Annetje Jans"), with four children. The widow married Do- 
mine Everardus Bogardus in 1638, and had four other children by him. Bo- 
gardus was drowned September 27, 1647, and in 1654 the property, then popu- 
larly known as "the Domine's Bouwerie" was confirmed by patent from Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant to the widow, and again confirmed by the English govern- 
ment in 1664. It was conveyed in 1671, by the heirs, to Governor Lovelace, 
and was afterwards known as the King's Farm ; and it was the failure of Cor- 
nelius Bogardus, one of the heirs, to join in this conveyance, wdiich brought 
the liMig-continued "Anneke Jans" litigation, which was only ended a decade 
or two ago. The farm was leased to Trinity Church by Governor Fletcher, 
but the lease was terminated by the Earl of Bellomont. Mr. Vesey, the rector 
of Trinity, had set his heart on securing the property for the church, in per- 
jietuity, and Lord Cornburv who made great outward jirofession of zeal for 
the Church of England, secured from Queen Anne, in 1705, a grant, by let- 
ters patent under the great seal of the Province of New York, "to the Rector 
and Inhabitants of the City of New York in Communion with the Church of 
England," which included not only the Queen's Farm, but also another tract, 
known as the Queen's Garden, a tract south of Trinitv Church, extending west 
from Broadway to low water mark on the Hudson River. 

The act of the queen and Lord Cornbury in making this grant was very 
obnoxious to the great majority of the people of New York, although it was 
only one of many of the grievances which the citizens of New York held against 
that disgraceful personage. The New York Assembly appointed a Committee 
on Grievances, which made out a formidable list of tyrannies, arbitrary exac- 
tions, and peculations of the governor, which thev sent to the home govern- 
ment, accompanied by many petitions from citizens of New York and New 
Jersey asking for his recall. Lord Cornburv. thoroughly alarmed, called his 
Council together and had them pass a resolution exonerating him from all the 



168 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 



charges of corruption; but, the showing made against the governor was too 
strong to be overcome by this finding of his satelhtes, and Lord Cornbury was 
deposed from the governorship. John, Lord Lovelace, Baron of Hurley, was 
appointed governor as his successor. 

Cornl)ury was a weak, efifeminte, immoral man. a political adventurer 
without conscience or character. He amused himself in all kinds of sensual 
pleasures, and had so little personal dignity that he delighted to don female 
attire and walk around the fort thus dressed, in view of the soldiers of the 
garrison. The fact that he did so is mentioned in nearlv all the narratives of 
his doings, and the only guess that has been hazarded as a possible reason for 
this conduct is that, so attired, his phvsical resemblance to his cousin, the 
queen, was made very evident. As an administrator there is scarcely any- 
thing to his credit. He was a bribe-taker, he appropriated public funds to 
his own use, was thoroughly seltish and dishonest, dissolute in his conduct, 
and absolutely depraved. WHien he was no longer governor he was thrown 
in jail for his private del)ts, for he scarcelv ever had paid a personal bill, but 
upon the death of his father he paid his del)ts and left for England to take 
his seat in the House of Lords as the third Earl Clarendon. The verdict of 
history is practicallv unanimous, that he was the worst governor Xew York 
ever had. 




FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH 
Erected in the year 1704 in the iircsent Pine .'Street 
nenr Nassau Street 



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF LORD LOVELACE 

AND GENERAL HUNTER 

SETTLEMENT OF THE PALATINES IN NEW YORK 

John, Lord Lovelace, Baron of Hurley, who was appointed as successor 
to Lord Cornbury in the office of g-overnor of New York and New Jersey, 
was appointed March 2>>, 1708, but did not embark at once, because he was 
engaged in the war then going on under the Duke of Marlborough, in Flan- 
ders. Finally, in October, 1708, he embarked in Her Majesty's ship Kings- 
ale, with his wife. Lady Charlotte, dauo;hter of Sir John Clayton, and three 
little sons, John, Wentworth and Nevil Lovelace. The fleet of which the 
Kingsale formed a part was dispersed by a heavy December gale, from which 
the Kingsale herself took refuge in Buzzard's Bay, whence, after the storm sub- 
sided, she steered through Long Island Sound, the navigation of which, in the 
ice of a winter of exceptional severity, was found so difficult that the captain 
made a landing at Flushing, Long Island. 

From there, after a rough land journey to the ferry at Breukelen, Gov- 
ernor Lovelace and his family made a miserable passage by open boat, on De- 
cember 18, 1708, to New York, where he was recei\'ed by Lord Cornbury and 
the Council. Lord Lovelace and two of his children caught colds on their trip 
from Flushing to New York, from which tliey never recovered; but in spite of 
ill health the new governor went gracefully through the inaugural ceremonies 
and a dinner which Lord Cornbury and the Cotmcil had provided for him. 

The members of the new council appointed by Lord Lovelace were Colo- 
nel Peter Schuyler, president, Dr. Gerardus Beeckman, Rip van Dam, Thomas 
Wenham, Chief Justice Mompesson, Adolph Philipse (son of Frederick Phil- 
ipse), John Barljerie, William Peartree. With the incoming of the new gov- 
ernor the Provincial Assembly was dissolved and writs were issued for the 
election of a new one, which met April 6, 1709, and elected William Xicoll 
speaker of the Assembly, an office which he held during six i)receding and ten 
later sessions, after which he declined reelection because of failing health. 

The royal instructions given by the Lords of Trade to Lord Lovelace did 
not dit¥er much from those which had been given to his i)redecessor. Lord 
Cornbury had used them oppressively to raise appropriations which he had 
applied, in large degree, to his own use. Lord Lovelace asked the Assembly 
to provide funds for the expenses of the go\ernment and to extinguish the debt 
which had been piled up by his predecessor. He also asked for a special ap- 
propriation for the fitting out of a sloop to attend Her Majesty's men-of-war 
in their cruisings on the New York coast, declaring his willingness to have his 



i;o HJSTORV OF .\7-;ff VORK 

own salary taxed for the last-named purpose. He called their attention to 
the act which passed the Provincial Assenil.)l}- in 1702, which had provided 
for the raising of a specific annual revenue for the term of seven vears, and 
w'hich would expire in the then current year, and asked them to renew the 
grant for another like term. But the Assembly remembered Cornbury's exac- 
tions, and while they liked Lo\-elace. they decided that the onlv safe methud 
was to vote re\enue for the go\ernment year by }ear and in specific appropria- 
tions for designated purposes. This principle was afterward maintained and 
the stand taken bv the Assemblv then, was the beginning of a contest between 
the representatives of the crown and the representatives of the people. Lord 
Lovelace, however, did not contend, his health being very bad all winter because 
of the cold he had caught on the journey from Flushing to New York. His 
son, \\^entworth, had died in April, and his oldest son, John, was seriously ill 
when Lord Lo\'elace died of pneumonia, AL»}' 6, 1709, the boy following two 
weeks later. 

Tn his short service as governor. Lurd Lovelace had made a most favor- 
able impression upon the citizens of Xew A'ork, and his death was the occa- 
sion of general sorrow among the peo])le. Rev. William A'esey ]ireached his 
funeral sermon on ]\Iay 12th. The berea\-ed Lady Lovelace returned to Eng- 
land with her third son. Lord Nevil Lovelace, in whom the baronage of Llur- 
ley became extinct upon his death without issue or male relatives, in 1S36. 
Ada, daughter of Lord I5yron, was, through her mother, a descendant from an 
elder branch of the Lovelace family in a female line, and the name was re- 
vived by conferring ujjon her husband. Lord ( )ckham, in 1S38, the title of Earl 
of Lovelace, which is now (loio) held ]>\ his son bv a second wife. 

T^ieutenant Governor Ligoldesby became acting governor until an order 
came for his removal, when he resigned the government into the hands of Dr. 
Gerardus Beeckman, who was then acting as president of the Council in the 
absence of Colonel Peter Schuyler who was then with the troops engaged 
against the I*"rench and Indians on the frontier. Dr. Beeckman filled the 
ofiice until the arrival on June 14, 17 10, of the new governor. General Rob- 
ert Hunter, who was ;i scion of the old Scotch familv of the Hunters of 
llunterston. I'Zntering the army and serving with the Duke of ALarlborough, 
he rose to the rank of major general. He was well known as a courtier, 
scholar and wit, and was a friend of Dean Swift and also of .\.ddison, who, 
being secretary of state, appointed him governor of \"irginia, in 1707. 

On his way outward to \'irginia the shi]:i which carried him was captured 
by a French privateer, and he was carried to France and im|)risoned until 
1709, when he was exchanged for the bishop of Ouebec. When he arrived 
in London he was ofl:"ered by Queen Anne a commission as governor of Jamaica, 
but as news came of the death of Lord Lovelace he was offered a choice be- 



COLOXIZIXG THF. PALATINES 1-1 



tween Jamaica and New York, and chose the latter. His council, the mem- 
bers of which were named in his "Instructions," were Peter Schuyler, Dr. 
Samuel Staats. Robert \\'alters. Dr. Gerardus Beeckman. Rip van Dam, Caleb 
Heathcote, Killian van Rensselaer. Rooer Mompesson, John Barberie, Adol- 
phus Philipse, Abraham de Peyster and Da^'id Provost. 

Governor Hunter brouoht with him the most notable accession to the 
population of New York made during- that period, comprisino- three thousand 
people from the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine. That principality had strongly 
espoused the Lutheran faith and had for that reason become victim to the 
fanatic rage of Louis XI\', who ravaged their land on the pretext that they had 
harbored heretics; burning cities, towns, granaries, homes, vineyards and grow- 
ing crops, treating the inhabitants with inhuman cruelty, and carrying ofif 
everything valuable they did not destroy by the torch. 

A few of these Palatines, headed by their pastor, Joshua Kocherthal, made 
their way to London and petitioned Queen Anne to include some of then- peo- 
ple in a company which was soon to be sent out to America; and as the peti- 
tioners produced evidences alike of their own worth and of their distressful 
condition, their appeal was favorably received and the queen granted the re- 
quest, giving them lands free of tax or quitrent, free transportation, seed, 
agricultural tools and furniture, and provided for their support until their first 
harvest should be gathered. They were settled on a grant of 2190 acres, above 
the Highlands of the Hudson, on the west bank of the river, where the city of 
Xewburg now stands. There they created a thriving community, clearing the 
lands, bridging the streams, making roads, creating a town and building a 
church, for which Queen Anne provided a bell. 

As soon as the colony was in good running order Pastor Kocherthal re- 
turned to London, and after reporting to the queen, who approved of his pro- 
posal to add to the number of his compatriot co-religionists, he went to Ger- 
many, where he brought together three thousand more victims of the persecu- 
tion of Louis Quatorze, whom he conveyed, by way of Rotterdam, to London. 
The number was rather staggering: Anne had expected scarce one-tenth as 
many, and the undertaking to provide for this larger body on the same scale of 
liberality, as for the smaller band which had preceded them was a much more 
luirdensome proposition. Some of her advisers suggested sending them to 
Jamaica, but that did not appear advisable, for climatic and other conditions. 
It so happened that General Hunter, who was in London, preparing to go 
to his government of New York, to which he had been appointed, had been 
consulting with the Admiralty upon a project to secure from the American 
colonies the supply of naval stores, shij) timbers and masts, for which Norway 
had been the source of supply. He was deliberating upon this problem when 
the other one, about the Palatines, was presented, and after some thought he 



HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 



presented a pro.qram for the solution of botli. It was simply to take the Pala- 
tines to America, under a contract to coniljine the production of naval stores 
and timber material with their homemaking, to settle on the lands allotted to 
them and not leave them without the approval of the governor, and to manu- 
facture tar and other naval stores until, at the agreed rate of five pounds per 
ton, they had repaid the amount advanced them : and as soon as that was done, 
each settler was to receive forty acres of land to be free of tax or quitrent for 
fwt years. The voyage was tempestuous. A boat passing from one ship to 
another was capsized and its occupants drowned, and a sickness carried away 
others, so that the fleet arrived in New ^"ork with 470 less of the emigrants 
than had started from London. The locating of the Palatines was finally ac- 
complished with much difiiculty, and after Governor Hunter had advanced 
large sums in the project he found great troulile in securing a refund from 
the home government, which had changed in partisan complexion since he had 
left England. 

(Governor Hunter made a friend and adviser of Colonel Lewis Morris, 
a leading landowner of New Jersey and New York, who was the son of 
Richard Morris, an officer in Cromwell's Army, who emigrated about 1670 
and bought a manor twelve miles square, north and east of the Harlem 
River, to which he gave the name of Morrisania. He was a wise and 
judicious counselor to the governor, for whom he had a great friendship. 
He named after the governor one of his sons, Robert Hunter Morris, who 
later became chief justice of Pennsylvania. 

Though Governor Hunter was a devoted member of the Church of 
England, he became mixed up with religious dissensions due to the intem- 
perate zeal of Rev. William Vesey, who charged the governor with too 
much friendliness for dissenters, making bitter complaint to the bishop of 
Lundon and Earl of Clarendon; and getting other clergymen and laymen 
to make similar com])laints, all of which were fully answered in letters 
which the governor and Colonel Lewis Morris sent in refutation, and no 
harm came to the governor from these attacks. 

The governor was busy in 171 1 , raising troops and getting appropria- 
tions from the Assemblies of New York and X^ew Jersey, for the partici- 
l)ation in the united l)ut, as it proved futile, attack u])ijn Canada. The 
New N'lirk Assembly raised f 10, 000 and the New Jersey Assembly £5000 
for the purpose. The army, which, headed by Lieutenant General Nichol- 
son, mustered at .\]])any, included Colonel Ingoldesby's regiment of regu- 
lars completed from ilu- New [ersev troops and three hundred Palatines, 
who were drafted for the purpose: Colonel Schuvler's New York regiment, 
filled out with Palatines and Indians; Colonel W'hiting's regiment, raised 
in C'onnecticut ; and a detachment from the b'i\-e Nations and their allies, 



LEADIXG SL-IVRHOLDERS OF NEW YORK 173 

making an army of 2310 men. A fleet was organized in tlie colonies, under 
command of Admiral Walker, to cooi)erate with Her Majesty's fleet for 
the capture of Ouehec, and a message was received from Walker by Gov- 
ernor Hunter, dated from the uKiuth of the St. Lawrence River, on Au- 
gust 14th, stating that they were on their way to Quebec and asking for 
more supplies because of the possibility that the fleet might be icelocked 
for the winter and The Feversham and transports were sent forward with 
large supplies of provisions. In September a despatch from General Hill 
on Her Majesty's ship Windsor told how in a heavy fog on August 22, 
171 1, through the ignorance of the pilots shipped at Boston, the fleet had 
gone on the north shore, losing eight transports and a thousand men, be- 
sides a full-laden provision ship. Following this disaster the admirals and 
captains decided that in view of the incompetence of the Boston pilots the 
ascent of the river must be abandoned as impracticable. General Hill 
asked Hunter to inform General Nicholson of the news, leaving it to his 
option whether or not to go on or return with his troops. Nicholson felt 
that, under the circumstances, he had better postpone the campaign, and 
the tr(^ops came back. The fleet returned to England, arriving after the 
loss of another ship, the Edgar, seventy guns, with four hundred men, by 
an explosion. The war between England and France had a listless course 
from that time until ended in 1713 by the Peace of Utrecht. 

The importation to New York of African slaves, which had been in- 
augurated bv the West India Company was continued under the English 
regime. The census of New York City, dated June 5. 1712, showed a pop- 
ulation of 4848 white and 970 black people. A slave mart had been 
established on Wall Street and the more aristocratic families had each from 
three to fifteen slaves. Some statistics have been preserved and are cjuoted 
in Wilson's Memorial History of New York, which says that "in 1704 
Widow Van Cortlandt owned nine slaves; Colonel De Peyster, the same; 
Rip van Dam, six; the widow of Frederick Philipse, whose household com- 
prised only herself and child, seven; Balthazar Bayard, six; Mrs. Stuy- 
vesant, five; Captain Morris, seven; while William Smith, of the Manor 
of St. George, had twelve." In 1712 the town was aroused by a conspiracy 
of negro slaves, of whom twenty-three met in an orchard, armed with 
swords, guns, knives and hatchets, planning to capture the town. Cufl^ee, 
the negro slave of one Vantilburgh, was assigned by the conspirators to 
start the attack by setting fire to his master's outhouse which he did, then 
joining the others as they hastened to the fire. When the building began 
to blaze and citizens hurried to the scene, the negroes fired upon them, 
killing several. The report of the muskets revealed the conspiracy and a 
general alarm was given. Governor Hunter promptly ordered a detach- 



]-A HISTORY OF XEJJ' YORK 

ment of soldiers to the scene, and at the first roll of the drums the con- 
spirators scattered into the adjacent woods. The militia was called out 
to l)eat the woods and all the conspirators were taken except six, who com- 
mitted suicide rather than be captured. At the trials, as reported by Gov- 
ernor Hunter, "twentv-seven were condemned and twenty-one executed; 
some were burnt, others hang'ed, one broke on the wheel, and one hung 
alive in chains in the town, so that there has been the most exemplary 
punishment inflicted that could be thought of." It seems at least to have 
l)een effective, for there was no further slave uprising for three decades. 

The Palatines who had come with Hunter caused a great deal of trou- 
ble with their mistakes and misfortunes. Land-grabbing speculators pre- 
vented them from getting desirable lands, and laid claims to the various 
locations thev selected, and the matter was not settled until after the close 
of the Hunter administration. 

jacobus van Cortlandt was mayor of New York in 1710, Colonel Caleb 
Heathcote was mayor from 171 1 to 1713, and John Johnston was mayor 
from 1713 to 1720. He was a merchant and vessel owner. Among the 
noteworthv immigrants of the Hunter period were William Smith, who 
came in 1716 and whose son, \\'illiam Smith, was later notable as historian 
of New York; James Alexander, who came the same year from Scotland, 
was a good lawyer and was later appointed by Hunter surveyor general 
of New Jersey and later attorney-general of New York. He married Mrs. 
Provoost, a New "S'ork lady, and by lier had a son. AX'illiam, who fell heir 
to the Earldom of Stirling and afterward figured prominently in the 
American Revolution. Chief Justice Mompesson died in 171 5, and Colo- 
nel Lewis Morris was appointed in his stead. 

General Robert Hunter was one of the best and ablest of the royal 
governors of New York. He dealt justly according to his light, and wisely 
within the liounds of his limitations. One of these limitations was con- 
tained in the instructions given him by the British Colonial Office, which 
insisted that the Assembly should make grants for long terms. The 
Assemblv consistently stood for the plan of annual estimates and appro- 
priations, and u])oii that issue were constantly out of accord with the gov- 
ernor, until in 1715, with the aid of his friend and adviser, Lewis Morris, 
he succeeded in securing the election of an Assembly which was more tracta- 
ble, and which was largelv dominated by Morris, who was a member. This 
Assemblv readilv acceded to the governor's request for a revenue grant run- 
ning for three years. 

Soon after his arrival, in 171 1, Governor Hunter had made an innova- 
tion bv establishing a Court of Chancery, with himself as chancellor, which 
had met with strenuous objections from the Assembl}', as the chancery 



HUXTER RETIRES FROM THE GOVERNORSHIP i:5 

jurisdiction had. previous lo that, been in the hands of the governor and 
Council, jointlv. The legislatures had always contended against the 
assumption of the right to establish courts as a matter of royal preroga- 
tive, but the Lords of Trade decided in favor of the governor's right to 
establish the court. 

Governor Hunter made many concessions to popular o])inion, which 
added to his prestige in the province. He permitted the naturalization of 
the Dutch inhabitants, imposed taxes on British imports for the benefit of 
the province, and levied tonnage duties on foreign vessels. He appointed 
Colonel Lewis Morris, who was an able lawyer, to be chief justice of New 
York and New Jersey, in 171 5, and in addition to judicial duties he con- 
tinued in his seat in the Assembly. 

On August 2, 1714, Queen Anne died, and George, Elector of Han- 
over, was proclaimed king, as George L The news did not reach New 
York until October 7, and a day or two afterward King George was pro- 
claimed with appropriate ceremonies, and the fort's name was changed 
from Fort Anne to Fort George. 

It was at the close of Governor Hunter's term, in 1710. that the Pres- 
byterians built their first church in New York City, on a plot which they 
had bought for church and cemetery in the previous year, in Stoutten- 
berg's Garden which fronted on the north side of Wall Street, between 
what is now Nassau Street and Broadway. The building was torn down 
in 1748 to make room for a larger structure, of stone, which continued as 
the First Presbyterian Church until 1844. The first pastor was Rev. James 
Anderson. 

Governor Hunter notified the General Assembly of his retirement, 
making a speech in which he felicitated the legislators on the fact that par- 
tisan rancor, which had been rampant on his accession to the governorship, 
had entirely disappeared, and wishing the province a great and prosperous 
future: and Robert Livingston, speaker of the Assembly, re])lied, speaking 
of the governor and his administration in the most eulogistic terms. 

Governor Hunter had many reasons for wishing to return to England. 
He was sufl^ering tortures from sciatica, of which, as he declared in a letter 
to Secretary Popple of New Jersey, "I have no hope of Ease on this Side. 
having try'd all remedys. Christian and Pagan. Palenical, Chymical and 
Whimsical, to no purpose. Aix-la-Chappelle is all my present Comfort." 
His wife had an inheritance in England, which he wished to secure for his 
children, and he had expended large sums out of his own funds for the 
benefit of the Palatines, for which he had made great but futile efforts to 
secure reimbursement from the British Government, but hoped for better 
success through personal importunit\-. He had arranged for his return 



i:(i 



HISTORV Of Xliir )'ORK 



carefully and secretly, chiefly in correspondence with his friend, William 
Burnet, son of Gilbert Burnet, a distinguished divine, who, as bishop of 
Salisbury from 1689 to 171 5, bad lieen a powerful factor in seating- Wil- 
liam and Marv on the r)ritish throne, and making- certain the Protestant 
succession. 

A\'illiam Burnet had incurred great losses through the bursting of the 
historic South Sea Bu1)ble, and was desirous of securing some more lucra- 
tive post than that of comptroller-general of customs for Great Britain, 
which he then held at a salary of £1200 per annum. That post, with resi- 
dence in London, seemed to Governor Hunter, in spite of its smaller com- 
pensation, an attractive one to step into from the governorship of New 
York. So the two arranged to exchange offices, and as both of them had 
much influence at court their arrangement was officiall}- ratified. William 
Burnet was commissioned captain general and governor in chief of New 
York and New Jersey, and General Hunter took the comptroller-general 
appointment. 

He lived in London from 1719 to 1727, associating with that brilliant 
literarv coterie of which Steele and Swift were then the shining lights 
(Addison dying in 1719). He was a contributor to The Spectator, author 
of the famous letter on "Enthusiasm," which was attributed by some to 
Swift and bv others to Shaftsbury, and was also the reputed author of a farce 
called "Androboros." In July. 1727, ( ieneral Hunter was appointed gov- 
ernor of Jamaica, which office he held until his death on that island, ^Larch 
II. 1734- 




NEW YORK IN 1674 



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM BURNET AND 

JOHN MONTGOMERIE 

FIRST NEWSPAPER AND MONTGOMERIE CHARTER 

When William Burnet came to New York as governor, in 1720, he was 
thirty-two years of age and a w^idower, his wife, who was a daughter of Rev. 
Dr. George Stanhope, dean of Canterliury, having died leaving- a son, Gil- 
bert, who was five years old when he came with his father to New York. The 
governor arrived September 16, 1720, and published his commission the next 
day. Making a quick investigation he found that the party which had been 
politically unfriendly to Governor Hunter had increased in strength since his 
departure, during which time the government had been administered by Peter 
Schuvler, senior member of the Council, as acting governor. Governor Burnet 
therefore determined, instead of the usual course pursued by new governors. 
of calling for the election of a new Assembly, to summon again the old body 
which had got along so harmoniously with Governor Hunter. 

George Clarke, who had been secretary of the province from 1703, made 
strong objections to this course, but the governor was determined, and the 
Assembly, called together at Fort George, immediately made a grant for the 
support of the Provincial Government for fv\t years, and he secured similar 
action from the legislature of New Jersey. 

The Council organized by Governor Burnet consisted of Peter Schuyler, 
Abraham de Peyster, Robert Walters, Gerarclus Beeckman, Rip van Dam, 
Caleb Heathcote, John Barberie, Adolph Philipse, John Johnston, Francis Har- 
rison, Thomas Byerly and George Clarke. Peter Schu)'ler and Adolph 
Philipse, with some others were very earnest in their advocacy of the calling 
of a new Assembly, and the friction was such that on the request of the gov- 
ernor, transmitted to the authorities in London, they were removed from the 
Council, and Dr. Cadwallader Golden and James Alexander, both fast friends 
of Governor Burnet, were appointed members of the Council in their stead. 
At the request of Robert Livingston, who, because of his advanced years, 
wished to resign his place as secretary for Indian ai¥airs, his son Philip was, 
on the recommendation of Governor Burnet, appointed in his stead. 

Governor Burnet, in addition to the affairs of state, found pleasant per- 
sonal occupation, and as the result of it, in aliout eight months after his 
arrival in the province, he married, in May, 1721, Anna Maria van Home. 
She was born in New York in January, 1702, being the daughter of Abraham 
and Mary (Provoost) van Home, and granddaughter of David Provoost. 
Her father, who was a Dutchman whose knowledge of English was very 



irS HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

limited, was one of the wealthiest merchants of Xew York, and had a bolting- 
mill and baking- house in Wall Street. When Colonel Abraham de Peyster 
became incapacitated from further service in the Council, in ij22, the governor 
secured the appointment of his father-in-law. Abraham van Home, to the place, 
and he remained a member of the Council until his death, in 1741. 

Burnet found a serious problem in the increasing traffic of French traders 
from Canada with the Indians in the province of Xew York. Boitnd up with 
the incursions of these traders and of Jesuit missionaries was a national 
desire to so attach the Indians to the French that at some opportune time they 
would allv themselves with the French to capture the province from the Eng- 
lish. As the French traders procured in Xew York the goods which they after- 
w-ard sold to the Indians, Burnet conceived the idea that the most effective way 
to stop French aggression was to prohibit the sale to the French of merchan- 
dise, such as the Indians desired, and to open up ways for the Indian needs to 
be su])plied bv traders who were stil^jects of King George, at ])rices with which 
the French could not compete. 

As part of his plan he put a bill through the legislature, by the efforts of 
Lewis Morris, which ]irohibited all sales of goods to the French under a penalty 
of forfeiture of the articles so sold and a fine of £100 additional. The Xew 
York merchants who had been engaged with ])rofit in the sale of goods to the 
Montreal traders made vigorous protest, and laid the matter before the British 
Lords of Trade, which suggested a modificatiDu, but otherwise fully sustained 
the governor, and in 1726 an act was passed which imposed a tax of thirty 
shillings per piece on sales to the French of "strouds," as the kind of English 
cloth in demand among the Indians was called, from the citv of Stroud, in 
Kent, where it was woven. The same goods, if sold to English traders, were 
taxed only fifteen shillings per piece. 

To push his ])olicy Governor Btn-net depended not only on legislation, but 
also on active efforts to encourage the colonials to engage more vigorously in 
Indian trade. He held various conferences with the Indians and sectired their 
friendshi]); obtained legislation from the Assemblv authorizing the renewal of 
the stockades amund Albany and Schenectady, which were in a state of decay, 
and permitting the Albany authorities to erect two new blockhouses for home 
protection. He established a trading post at Oswego in 1722, thus for the first 
time i)lanting the English flag on the Great Lakes. This, while not nmch liked 
by the Troqtiois. or Six X'^ations, turned out a \ery ])rofitable policy for the 
English. Peter Schuyler, Jr., son of the ex-president of the Council, with eight 
other young traders, established a great business. The new duties enabled 
them to sell goods much more cheaply than the b'rench traders, and the busi- 
ness in furs greatly increased, though at first there was a considerable falling off 
of the business of some merchants who had been supph'ing Montreal traders. 



SOa.lL LIFE UXPER GOJ'ERXOR BUKXET 179 

The social life of New York City was bright and gay- The governor 
was a handsome man of excellent manners, genial and affable, and his wife 
was a social favorite; so the governor's mansion at Fort George at the Battery 
was the scene of man}- noteworthy gatherings of the best colonial society. 
Manv of the wealthier classes maintained elaborate establishments, and Secre- 
tary Clarke and a few others owned spinets, those queer little jingle-boxes 
which were the crude forerunners of the pianoforte. "Likely negro men and 
wenches" fetched from £45 to £60; and besides those already in the colony or 
brought from the other colonies there were directly imported from Africa 703 
negro slaves during the seven years from 1720 to 1726. The negro slave 
market established in 1709 at the foot of Wall Street was still in operation. 

As a consequence of the ordinance passed in 1708 to permit Broadway 
residents to plant trees in front of their houses, that thoroughfare presented 
a very attractive appearance all the way to the Common, where at the upper 
end of the present City Hall Park, there was a famous spring of excellent 
water over which a large pump had been placed. The well-water downtown 
was of execrable quality, so the people secured water for their tea from this 
])unip. which men carried in carts and sold to customers. This "Tea-Water 
Pump" was one of the leading institutions of the city until the early part of 
the Nineteenth Century. Not far from the pump was the public gallows. 

While tea was a favorite beverage, it did not displace a general liking for 
stronger waters. Everybody drank, not onl\- of the beer and hard cider made 
at home, Init also of rum imported largely from Jamaica and retailed at two 
shillings and ninepence the gallon, and of wine brought from Madeira, while 
some of the Dutch residents continued to prefer Schiedam schnapps. 

Trade increased considerably both in imports and exports, but particu- 
larlv the latter. Imports for the period, 171 7-1 723 averaged £21,254, and from 
1723 to 1727 averaged £27,480 vearly, while the exports, which averaged 
£53.389 from 1 71 7 to 1723, averaged £73,000 per annum from 1723 to 1727, 
notwithstanding the obstruction to commerce caused by frequent captures of 
vessels by the pirates who infested the neighboring seas and coasts. 

Municipal finances were very sim])le in those days. The receipts of the 
city for the seven years from 1721 to 1727 inclusive, were £317'^, and the dis- 
bursements for the same period were £2187. There was due the city in 1728 
a total of £1384, and there had never been a i^enny of bonded debt. The 
resources of the citv were increased in 1728 by a lease, on better terms, of 
the ferry ])rivilege between the citv and Long Lsland, the term being- for five 
years, and the rental £258 yearly. The City of New York claimed this right 
of ferriage exclusivelv, and the legislature backed that view of the matter, 
though the little Dutch village of Breukelen, a mile inland, asked for the right 
to estal)lish a ferrv of its own, which was not granted. 



ISO HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 

Opposition to the governor was for the first few vears confined to the dis- 
missed councilors, Peter Schuyler and Adolph Philipse, and a few who sup- 
ported them in their demand for a new legislature, but there were many who 
objected to the active assumption by the governor of the functions of chan- 
cellor. A case came up in reference to Rev. Louis Rou, pastor of the flourish- 
ing Huguenot congregation, L'Eglise du Saint llsprit. It had a stone build- 
ing in Pine Street, and after Mr. Rou succeeded James Laborie in the pas- 
torate, in i/io, it increased in membership so that several years later Rev. 
J. J. Moulinars was called as assistant pastor. In the autumn of 1724 the 
Consistory of the church dismissed the pastor, appointing Mr. Moulinars t^^ 
the place. Mr. Rou protested against dismissal and was backed by many 
of his parishioners, and the council, after a hearing, declared the dismissal 
was irregular and unlawful, but as the Consistory declined to reinstate the 
pastor he filed a bill in chancery to compel them tn produce their contract 
with him. Governor Burnet, acting as chancellor, overruled a plea by the 
Consistory to the jurisdiction of the court, whereupon the suit was drop- 
ped, Mr. Rou was reinstated and those of the defeated faction left the 
church, and charged their defeat to Governor Burnet, who was an inti- 
mate friend of the victorious pastor. The most powerful of the disgruntled 
faction was Stephen DeLancey, who was a man of much influence in local 
and provincial afifairs. Adolph Philipse, who had a bill in chancery dis- 
missed by the governor, for want of equity, found in this ruling new cause 
for enmity, and both he and DeLancey were open in their expressions of 
ill will against the governor. 

At the meeting of the Assembly, in 1725, Adolph Philipse was elected 
speaker and Stephen DeLancey was one of the new members chosen to fill 
vacancies. \\'hen DeLancey presented himself to c^ualify for the place. Gov- 
ernor Burnet unwisely refused to administer the oaths to him until he had 
proved his citizenship. Later, after consulting Chief Justice Morris, the 
governor receded from this position, but his action in the matter had in- 
creased DeLancey's hostility. After a few weeks session in which several 
bills intended to embarrass the governor and Chief Justice Morris were 
passed the Assembly adjourned. In the spring it met again, but instead of 
renewing the appropriation for five years, as asked by the governor, they 
only provided for three years, so he dissolved the Assembly, which had been 
in ofiice for eleven years. In 1726 he called a new one, which proved no 
less intractable, except that they approved his Indian policy, and his propo- 
sition to build a stone fortress at the mouth of the Onondaga River. Gov- 
ernor Burnet, being thus empowered, set about the work at once and the 
French, after erecting a fort at Niagara, sent a demand to New York that 
the fort at Osweo-o be abandoned. 



BURXET SEXT TO MASSACHUSETTS 181 

Burnet, on the accession of George II, ordered the election of a new 
Assembly, which convened September 30, 1727, and adjourned November 
25 following. There had been no friction between the Assembly and the 
governor about legislation, although it was dominated by Philipse and De- 
Lancey, but there had come, meanwhile, the tidings that the new monarch 
had appointed a new governor for New York, and so the opportunity 
seemed ripe to give Burnet a volley. On the last day of the session, be- 
fore the Assembly adjourned, it adopted resolutions denouncing the Court 
of Chancery set up by the governor, and declaring a purpose to pass an 
act at the next session declaring all the acts, proceedings and decrees of 
that court null and void, coupled with denunciations of the tyranny and 
violent measures of the court. The governor, greatly incensed, dissolved 
the Assembly. He had reason to be indignant, for whatever may be said 
of the merits of the contention that a court should not have been created 
without the consent of the legislature, as a matter of political ethics, it is 
still true that as the law then stood it was on the side of the governor's 
right to do as he did; and the criticism of the governor's acts as chancellor 
was entirely untruthful and unjust, for his rulings seem to have been 
marked by an endeavor to judge rightly. 

Burnet and his friends, when the news came that he was to be trans- 
ferred to the governorship of Massachusetts, tried to have the order 
changed, but the word came back that he had been chosen, because of his 
abilities "to manage the troublesome people of Massachusetts," and the 
king's service required that he should make the sacrifice; so he made no 
further effort. He was in great sorrow at this period, for after Mrs. 
Burnet had borne him a son on the morning of August 7, 1727, she be- 
came very ill, and she and her child were buried together, after a few 
days, in the chapel within the fort. He had three other children, William, 
Thomas and Mary, by this wife, who survived their mother. 

Though he had enemies, Governor Burnet was liked by a majority of 
the people in New York, and was very popular in New Jersey. In Massa- 
chusetts he had a controversy with the Assembly in endeavoring to have 
that body carry out the king's instructions in the matter of appropria- 
tions, but did not succeed in inducing the legislature to accede. His term 
was short, for he died of pneumonia September 7, 1729. 

At the time of his death he had only been in Massachusetts a few 
months, for although his successor in New York, Colonel John Mont- 
gomerie, had been appointed August 12. 1727, he did not reach Xew York 
until April 15, 1728. 

During the administration of Governor Burnet as governor, the city 
had three mayors: first, Richard Walters, an Englishman, who was a mer- 



1S5 HISTORY OF XHJV YORK 

chant, and son-in-law of Jacob Leisler, and was mayor from 1720 to 1725; 
then Johannes Jansen, who after nine years' service in the Common Coun- 
cil was elected mayor in 1725. serving one year. He was succeeded by 
Robert Lurting, who served from 1826 to 1735. He was of Enolish liirth, 
came to New York as a voung man, became a successful merchant and 
married the widow of a rich merchant named Richard Jones. 

In the history of the administration of Governor P.urnet no event is 
more important, historically, than the fact that it saw the inauguration of 
the newspaper in New York City. AA'illiam Bradford, born in Leicester, 
England, in 165S, learned the printing trade in that country, and being a 
Quaker, was brought by W'illiam Penn to America in 1682, and was thus 
one of the founders of Philadelphia. In 1685 he established in Philadel- 
phia the first printing press south of New England and the third in the 
colonies, and in 1691 was tried for seditious libel, but acquitted by the 
jurv. Governor Fletcher, after his acquittal, invited him to New York, 
where he arrived in 1693, and was appointed public printer for the province 
of New York at a salary of £50 per annum, and later was also appointed 
printer to the government of New Jersey. He printed, besides |)ublic laws 
and documents, many of the early books and pamphlets of the colonies, 
and had desired to start a newspaper several years before, under Gover- 
nor Burnet, he was permitted to do so. On October 16, 1725, he issued the 
first number of the New York Gazette, the fourth news])a])er in the colo- 
nies. William L. Stone, in the monograph chapter written in 1893 on the 
"Newspapers and Magazines of New York," in (General Wilson's Memo- 
rial History of New York City, says of this publication: "Bradford's 
Gazette was printed on a half sheet of foolscap, with large and almost 
worn-out type. There is a large volume of these papers in the New York 
Society Library, in good preservation, and a few numbers also in the New 
York Historical Society. The advertisements do not average more than 
three or four a week, and are mostly of runaway negroes. The ship news 
is diminutive enough, now and then a ship and some half-dozen sloops 
arriving and leaving in the course of a week. Such was the daily news- 
paper published in the metropolis of America one hundred and sixty-eight 
years ago!" 

John Montgomerie, who succeeded Burnet in the governorship of New 
York, was a Scot from Dumfries-shire. He had been reared to the profes- 
sion of arms and reached the rank of colonel, but he became a member of 
Parliament, and attached to the court of George, Prince of Wales, as groom 
of the bedchamber. He became an intimate and favorite of the prince, 
who, u|)on his accession to the throne, ga\e Montgomerie his choice of various 
positions, and he selected that of governor of New ^'ork and New Jersey. 



THE MOXTGOMERIE CHARTER 183 

When he arrived in New \'ork in April, 1728, he went through the 
usual ceremonies of induction, and followed the estahlished custom of 
calling the Indian chiefs together and telling them how much His Majesty 
George II loved them, making them \ari(ius presents to ])r()\e it. He 
called a new Assembly, and as he was not insistent in his demands for any- 
thing, he secured a liberal grant, running for five years, with less trouble 
about the matter than any of his predecessors. 

The new governor was a man of good uK^ral character, but intellec- 
tuallv dull and temperamentally indolent. He had the virtue of modesty, 
however, and was fullv aware of his limitations. Therefore he decided 
not to preside over the Court of Chancery, although under the law that 
was one of the functions of his oiTice as chief magistrate. But he gave the 
\erv excellent reason that he lacked both knowledge and ability for the 
proper performance of the duties of the office, an example of reasonable- 
ness which might often have been followed with great benefit to the coun- 
trv, but which has seldom been imitated in the history of American offi- 
cialdom. 

Soon after Montgomerie"s arrival the boundary line between New 
York and Connecticut, which in some of its detail had still remained a 
subject of dispute, was settled by actual survey upon the lines which are 
still retained. But the most important thing which occurred during the 
administration of Montgomerie and bears his name, is the Montgomerie 
Charter of the City of New York. The city had been governed under the 
charter of 1686, known as the "Dongan Charter," which had been promul- 
gated by Governor Dongan and signed by the Duke of York; and under a 
supplemental charter relating to ferr_\- i)rivileges, granted by Lord Corn- 
bury in 1708. There was some question as to the strict legality of the 
Dongan instrument, which was a proprietary charter, and had not been 
ciinfirmed bv the crown after the accession of the Duke of York to the 
throne under the title of James II. Needs of the city had from time to 
time been developed which did not seem to be sufficiently covered by the 
existing charters and, therefore, the corporation laid before the governor 
and his council, August 6, 1830, a petition for the issue of a royal charter 
by His Majesty George II. in which certain grants and privileges, addi- 
tional to those embodied in the existing charters, were outlined. This 
]ietition was referred to a committee headed by James Alexander, a mem- 
lier of the Council, who had been surveyor general and attorney-general, 
and who was during the next quarter of a century to take a leading place 
among those who made the history of New York. After a week the com- 
mittee reported, with some amendments in the form and substance of the 
charter, which was unaniniouslv aj^proved by the Council and then trans- 



184 HISTORY OF XE]V YORK 

mitted to England for consideration of the authorities there. It was ap- 
proved there and received the king's seal, and was forniallv presented to the 
city February ii, 1731 (O. S., or February 22d, N. S.). exactly one year to a 
day, before the birth of George Washington. The presentation was made to 
the city officials headed by Robert Lurting, who was named in the charter 
as mayor, at whose nomination John Cruger, one of the aldermen, was 
appointed deput}- mayor by the governor. Francis Harrison, the recorder, 
read a verv flattering address, to the governor, full of praise of his "just 
and wise administration," and of his bountiful goodness in permitting the 
city to receive this valuable charter. 

The charter was very thorough in its provisions, covering practically 
every detail necessary for the thorough and efticient government of the city. 
The mayor continued to be appointed by the governor of the province and 
afterward by the governor of the State, until 1834; but the Montgomerie 
Charter still applies in many of its provisions as a part of the organic law 
of the city, and still merits the comment made upon it in 1836 by Chan- 
cellor Kent, who said of it in a treatise on "The Charter of the City of New 
York, with Notes Thereon": "This last charter is entitled to our respect 
and attachment for its venerable age and the numerous blessings and great 
commercial prosperity which have accompanied the due exercise of its 
powers," and further adds, "It remains to this day with much of its origi- 
nal form and spirit, after ha\ing received by statute such modifications and 
such a thorough enlargement in its legislative, judicial and executive 
branches, as were best adapted to the genius and wants of the people, and 
to the astonishing growth and still rapidly increasing wealth and magni- 
tude of the city." 

It was only a few months after the promulgation of this important 
charter that Governor Montgomerie's term was ended by his death. He 
had been ill only a few days, and as his demise seemed imminent the 
Council was summoned during the night, and the governor gave clear in- 
structions that until the next governor should come from England the 
member of the Council who had served the longest should be acting gov- 
ernor and president of the Council. The go\-ernor died at five o'clock on the 
morning of July i. 1831, and an hour later the Council met in formal session 
and recognized President Rip van Dam as governor pro tciu. 



CHAPTER NINETEEN 



THE VAN DAM INTERREGNUM AND THE COSBY 

ADMINISTRATION-ZENGER'S "JOURNAL" 

AND THE FIGHT FOR A FREE PRESS 

Van Dam was a Dutchman, thonoh a native of Albany, at which place 
his father was an Indian trader when it was called Fort Oranoe and the 
province New Netherland. Claes Ripse van Dam was a successful business 
man and his son Rip was brought up in the Dutch settlement in which he was 
born. The date of his birth is not accurately known, but is some date be- 
tween 1662 and 1670. He came to New York City when he entered upon his 
business life and engaged in the West India trade, first as a captain and after- 
wards as owner of vessels. During the Leisler troubles he was on the side 
of the old Council, his signature appearing on one of the petitions against 
Leisler. 

He had accumulated a large fortune in trade, had married a wife of Dutch 
extraction who bore him fifteen children, and until his mature manhood his 
social relations were almost exclusively Dutch. Of him and Abraham van 
Home, the father-in-law of Governor llurnet, a contemporary writer, says: 
"If they understand the common discourse, "tis as much as they do." 

When Bellomont was enforcing the English navigation laws with much 
vigor, Van Dam was one of those hardest hit and loudest in complaint, as he 
was one of those whose vessels were seized, and he was one of the most 
vigorous opponents of the earl's policy. He was one of the signers of a peti- 
tion sent bv the New York merchants to the king, protesting against Bello- 
mont's acts. The agitation of that period led him into politics, and he pro- 
cured election to the Assembly, in 1699. That body was strongly favorable to 
Bellomont, and A"an Dam led the opposition party, and during the ad ijitcriiii 
administration of Lieutenant Governor Nanfan, he had been in harmou}- with 
the party of Nicholas Bayard. He thus was found in harmony with the new 
governor, Lord Cornbury, who took the same side and dismissed Abraham de 
Peyster, Robert Walters and Dr. Samuel Staats from the Council, appointing 
new members in their place, of whom one was Rip van Dam. He had con- 
tinued in the Council under Cornbury and the succeeding governors for 
twenty-nine years, and the death of Montgonierie found him the senior mem- 
ber, and as such entitled to the executive ofiice until the king should send a 
successor. 

The fact that a Dutchman was once more governor was very pleasing to 
the large citizenry of Netherlander origin in New York, and although in earlier 
years he had been inimical to many of his compatriots, who had espoused the 



18G 



HISTORY OF XHIJ' YORK 



Leislerian side, the animosities and alignments of that period had largely dis- 
appeared, and he was a prominent and active memher of the Reformed Dntch 
Church. 

\'an Ham. taking otiice July i, jyj\i. had a peaceful administration of 
thirteen months, heing- thoroughly familiar with the needs of the province and 

encountering no partisan opposition. Dttr- 
ing this interregnum the French, disre- 
garding the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, 
built a fort at Crown Point, near the 
southern end of Lake Champlain. and \'an 
Dam. hearing of this hostile move, sent the 
news to the Assembly, to which he later 
sent a letter from Governor Belcher, of 
[Massachusetts, on the same subiect. 

The completion of a new Dutch 
church, while A'an Dam was the executive, 
was a notable event of the administration, 
and the occasion was commemorated by 
making a plate of the building and dedi- 
cating the plate to Governor \'an Dam, 
who was an ardent Reformed Church man. 
It was located on a large plot of ground on 
the east side of Nassau Street, extending 
from Cedar to Liberty Streets. 

X'aluable, from a historical standpoint, 
was a census of the inhaliitants of the province of Xew York, made by the 
sheriffs of the ten counties (New York. Albany. Queens, Suft'olk, W'estches- 
tor. Lister, Kings. Orange, Richmond and Dutchess), taken during the 
administration of \\an Dam. The total population of the province was 
50.280. of whom 43,058 were white and 7231 were black. Race suicide 
had not become a common social crime in those days, for there were 
lf^^)l6 of the whites and 2446 of the blacks who were under ten years 
of age: 10,243 white boys, 6673 white girls; 1402 black boys and 1044 
black girls. Of the older people there were, over ten years of age, 14.613 white 
males and 11.529 white females; and of blacks (nearly all slaves). 2fj32 males 
and 1853 females. In the City of New York the total population was S622 
(4556 males and 4066 females), of which 7045 (3771 males and 3274 
females) were white, and 1577 (785 males and 792 females) were black, 
chiefly slaves. Of the white population. 4876 (2628 males and 2250 females) 
were over ten years of age. and 2167 (1143 boys and 1024 girls) were children 
under ten years of age. Of the blacks. 1206 (599 males and 607 females) 




MIDDLE DUTCH CHURCH 

Nassau and Cedar Streets 



COLOXEL COSBY BECOMES GOJ'ERNOR 187 

were over ten years of age, and 371 (18O boys and 185 girls) were under ten 
years of age. These figures are deduced from an interesting table copied 
from an original contemporaneous document belonging to the late General J. 
Watts de Peyster, and published in General Wilson's Memorial History of the 
Citv of New- York. New York had the largest total population, having forty- 
nine more people than Albany County, but the latter had 255 more white popu- 
lation than New York, and Suffolk, also, is credited with twenty-nine more 
whites than New York. Suffolk also returns 715 Indian population, and is the 
only one of the counties in which the sheriff attempted to count the aborigines. 

On February 4, 1732, the Lords of Trade notified \^an Dam that His 
Majesty had appointed Colonel William Cosby to succeed the late Governor 
Montgomerie, and the new governor arrived in August, 1732, to begin what 
proved to be a short, but nevertheless a ttirbulent administration. The old 
fight for popular rights against the extreme assertion of royal prerogative, 
which had been entirely quelled by the good-humored non-assertiveness of 
Montgomerie and the wisdom of V^an Dam, was renewed with a vigor which 
kept it alive until it Inirned out in the fires of the Revolution. 

William Cosby, an Irishman, was born about 1695, had entered the army, 
in which he had attained the rank of colonel in the Roval Irish Brigade, and 
had served as governor of Minorca and the Leeward Islands. Having married 
Grace, the sister of the Earl of Halifax, his wife held the courtesy title of 
"Lady," and Colonel Cosby w^as one of the friends and proteges of the Duke 
of Newcastle, and was a man of influence in the corrupt court circle where 
practically e\'ery leading man of the go\'ernment "had an itching palm to sell 
and mart his ofiice for gold to undeservers." It was the golden age of bribery 
and corruption in Britain, and Cosby was fullv iml)ued with the spirit of that 
era. Lender that system a colonial appointment was looked upon as an oppor- 
tunity for amassing a fortune by fair means or foul, and Colonel Cosby had 
a keen eve for the main chance. 

W'ith him came to New York his wife, Lady Cosby, his son, and his two 
daughters. Arriving at ten o'clock in the evening, he was met by the soldiery 
of the fort and city, by the members of the Council and the city corporation, and 
many of the gentry and merchants. The next day he was escorted in state to 
the City Hall in Wall, at the head of Broad Street, on the site now occupied by 
the United States Subtreasury, and after he had read his commission and 
assumed his office he was escorted in like pomp to the governor's house, in 
the fort. 

Those in New York who had come to regard themselves as "people of 
quality," who were fond of gayety and brilliant functions, were elated that so 
fine a courtier, so closely allied to the English aristocracy and the ruling 
faction at the British court, had come to reign over them. Dinners and balls. 



188 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

which in lavisli hospitahty and splendor had never been surpassed, if 
equaled, in the colony, were frequent features of the social reign of 
Governor and "My Lady" Cosby. The governor's son, William, was pro- 
vided for with a lucrative post in the New Jersev government. The 
daughters were both attractive figures in social life, and the elder had 
been an acknowledged belle in the king's court, so popular that she had 
left many suitors behind. One of these was Lord Augustus Fitzroy, son of 
the Duke of Grafton and grandson of the first duke, who was a natural son of 
Charles IL He was so smitten with her charms that he quickly followed her 
to New York, arriving in October, and sued for her hand. But the governor, 
though evidently delighted w'ith the semiroyal suitor, whom he entertained 
royally, was careful. His Grace the Duke, at home, might not be favorable, for 
the Grafton dukedom was of so high a rank that a union even with so notable 
a family as that of Cosby might be regarded as a mesalliance. But he was 
duly olisefjuious to My Lord Augustus, who was a pleasant, cultured young 
Briton, and was feted by the governor and the corporation. He was given the 
freedom of the citv, the certificate of his freemanship being received by him 
from the "worshipful" hands of the mayor in a gold box. on which the arms of 
the citv were engraved, which honor he accepted in a graceful little speech. 

The governor remained unresponsive to the pleadings of the distin- 
guished lover, but "love laughs at locksmiths." In this case the two lovers 
were inside the fort walls, and a clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Campbell, out- 
side, who climbed over the wall without challenge, and married the pair 
without license of the authorities or consent of the bride's father. Rumor, 
which sometimes hits the mark, credited Lady Cosby with managing the 
whole affair, but the governor was as righteously indignant against the 
clergyman for performing an illicit, though perfectly legal marriage, and 
prosecuted him for it, but he was not given any punishment of importance, 
and Cosby was proud of the added importance given to his family by this 
connection. A son of this marriage afterward became Duke of Grafton, 
and ancestor of the succeeding dukes. 

The social splendors surrounding the gubernatorial court shone bril- 
liantly against a dark background of ignorance, wretchedness and slavery 
in the lower ranks of society. In the population of less than nine thou- 
sand there were, besides the fifteen hundred black slaves, several hundred 
whitr Ixindslaves. who were fre(|ucntly sold from tlic same auction block as 
tlie negroes and other merchandise. Thus an advertisement in the New 
^'ork Gazette of September ii, 1732, during the heydey of the Cosby fes- 
ti\ities, advertises as "just arrived from Great Britain, and to be sold on 
Ixiard the shij) Alice and Elizabeth. Captain Faire, commander, several 
likely AW'lsh and English servant-men, most of them tradesmen." It goes 



SOCIAL SPLENDORS AND WHITE SLAFERV 189 



on to say that these are to be seen at Air. Hazarcrs, in New York, where 
are also to be sold "several negro girls and a negro boy, and likewise good 
Cheshire cheese." These "Welsh and English" slaves were criminals, ban- 
ished from their native land for crimes, while negroes were stolen from 
Africa or bought from traders on the AVest Coast who had brought them 
from the interior of the Dark Continent. Under such conditions of slave 
and convict labor, the more industrious and intelligent class of workmen 
would not come to the colony, and that is the reason why the population 
of New York grew so much more slowly than the surrounding provinces. 
In New England, too, there was a more democratic spirit and a greater 
measure of self-government, for there the town meeting had been estab- 
lished in full power, while in New York the government was aristocratic, 
and the governor ruled with almost despotic power. Coarse manners, civic 
wrong and iniustice were the rule, while liquor was consumed in large 
quantities by people of all classes and Madeira wine and Jamaica rum were 
articles of common consumption and were served at all social gatherings. 
Pirates, African slavers and bad men of the sea from all nations made New 
York their rendezvous. 

Governor Cosby's Council consisted of Rip van Dam, the president; 
George Clarke, Francis Harrison, James Alexander, Cadwallader Colden, 
Abraham van Home, Archibald Kennedy, James DeLancey and Philip van 
Cortlandt, all of whom had served under Montgomerie and Van Dam; and 
two additional members, Daniel Horsmanden and Henry Lane were ap- 
pointed by Cosby. Before leaving England, Governor Cosby had for sev- 
eral months after his appointment exercised himself to prevent the pas- 
sage of a sugar bill which would have been very inimical to the colonial 
trade, and succeeded in defeating this bill in the House of Lords, and for 
this and other services he received £2400 before he left. 

After the Council was organized for business Cosby produced a royal 
order for an equal division of the salary, emoluments and perquisites of 
the office of governor, between Van Dam and Cosby, from the date of the 
latter's commission until he assumed the duties of the office, and at once 
made a demand on Van Dam that he should give him half of the amount, 
less than £2000, which he had received during his incumbency of the gov- 
ernorship. A^an Dam refused, except on the condition that Cosby should in 
return pay him half of the perquisites he had received in England. Van 
Dam's refusal was so evidently just and the demand for his salary was so 
evidently an act of oppression that the stand of the popular jiresident was 
backed by the approval of a large majority of the inhabitants. 

Cosby, whose cupidity was only exceeded by his fatuous obstinacy, 
determined to prosecute A'an Dam to recover the money he claimed, and 



190 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

to effect this he had recourse to the most unpopular moans he could have 
devised. He revived that triliunal, hated by the populace, the Court of 
Chancery. The legality of such a court had been denied by many of the 
ablest lawyers, and as the governor was, under the constitution of the 
court, also c.v officio its chancellor, it was regarded as an instrument of 
oppression. In the case of Van Dam, however, he could not sit as a judge 
in his own suit, so he appointed James DeLancey, Adolphus Philipse and 
Chief Justice Lewis Morris to sit as equitv judges in the trial of \'an 
Dam, in an Exchequer Court. Cosbv was sure of DeLancey and Philipse, 
but Alorris he knew nothing about, except that he was the head of the ju- 
diciary of New York and New Jersey. 

\'an Dam was intensely popular, especially with the Dutch citizens, 
and he had increased in favor with the ])eople, l)ecause for more than a vear 
before he had ruled the colony with justice and wisdom. Party spirit 
was aroused to a white heat by the new attack on the people's liberties, 
which thev felt to be implied in the prosecution of \"an Dam. 

The charge was the improper withholding of public moneys, and Van 
Dam was defended by James Smith and James Alexander, men who then 
and thereafter stood at the front of the New ^'ork Bar. They took a bold 
and defiant stand, objected to the jurisdiction of the court as an illegal 
tribunal, declaring that neither the governor, the Rioyal Council or the king 
himself had anv right to establish courts not auth<^rized by the Assembly 
of New York. Chief Justice ^ylorris, to the surprise and consternation of 
his colleagues, at once delivered an opinion in favor of this plea to the ju- 
risdiction, and although DeLancey and Philipse gave opposing opinions 
overruling the chief justice, the case went no further, no testimony on the 
merits was introduced and the Court of Exchef|uer went out of business. V"an 
Dam had won his fight, the public was elated and Cosby was in a rage. 

The beaten governor wrote to the Duke of Newcastle in a short time 
after the trial, asking for the removal of James Alexander, whom he de- 
clared to be a man of "very bad character," and asked that a Captain Dick 
l)e appointed in his place. Of course the strictures ujjon Alexander were 
pure inventions, but Cosby pursued all whom he could not control, with 
implacable hatred. He wrote in a most insulting manner to Chief Justice 
^b>rris, asking him for a copy of his opinion in the \ an Dam case, inti- 
mating that it was treasonable and that it had Iteen corruptly ])rocured. 
Morris had the o|)inion printed and sent the governor a reply to his letter, 
which was couched in the most dignified and eft'ective language, and a bold 
declaration of the independence of the judiciary. Lnable to make any an- 
swer to this, the governor appointed \-oung James DeLancey chief justice 
in ])lace of Morris; and DeLancev, besides assunnng the chief justiceship, 



COSBY DEPOSES CHIEF JUSTICE MORRIS I'M 



became the leader of the court party. With him were Chirke, only second 
in seniority in the Council to \'an Dam; Francis Harrison, who was a lawyer 
of distinction; and a majority of the Council. 

Cosby kept up the social whirl at the governor's mansion in the fort, 
and continued a correspondence with the court circle in London. Many of 
the wealthier people maintained their alliance with the Cosby ]xarty, and others, 
who liked to be counted as of the aristocracy, flocked to the balls and din- 
ners that were given by the governor, and listened with eagerness to the 
charming gossip there retailed, about My Lord This and My Lady That, 
and the latest London scandal, in which the names of dukes, marquises, 
earls and viscounts were freely used. 

The legislature, which had been called together after the governor's 
arrival, was the old Assembly of Montgomerie's time, and although he had 
received for his services in the sugar bill matter £2400 in London, he de- 
manded more. The Assembly, though the revenues were low and the 
province was in debt because of expenditures for the defense of the frontier, 
reluctanctly made a special grant of f 1000, besides fixing his salary at £1500. 
The legislature asked to be dismissed, but Cosby did not wish to risk an 
election, so in spite of the generosity (as salaries went in the colonies in 
those days) of these grants, and other allowances for expenses and per- 
quisites, Cosby sneered at the smallness of his income, and proceeded to 
increase his income by selling offices and special privileges, unless he was 
greatly slandered. The legislature was not jx-rmitted to meet, so Cosby 
and his Council had things their own way, and had the chief justice to 
back them up. 

There was a newspaper, Bradford's (iazette, but Bradford was also 
public printer and therefore a satellite of the governor, and his paper was 
closed to any complaint against the actions of the ruling party. Cosby 
was working in every way possible to discredit Van Dam and Alexander, 
hoping for permission from the Lords of Trade to dismiss them from the 
Council. So these men, with Morris and other brilliant and rising men — 
the Livingstons, Cadwallader Colden of the Council, and more, decided to 
establish a journal that should be free from official anchorage. For editor 
and printer they secured John Peter Zender, a German, who had come out 
to New York as a boy, on a free passage granted by Queen Anne. He had 
learned the printing art in Bradford's office. To him was entrusted the 
preparation and issue of The New ^'ork Weekly Journal, a small folio 
sheet printed from old and worn type, on poor i)aper. with indifferent jiress 
work and slovenly proof reading, the first number of which appeared No- 
vember 5, 1733. Except mechanically it was as good a paper as its con- 
temporary, the Gazette, and it had as large an advertising patronage. In 



V.>-; HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

its contributed articles it was ]:)rilliant and startling. Essavs. under the 
uoiii dc guerre of "Cato," and lesser literary productions, were supplied 
from a club of talented men who met weekly and compared notes on the 
forthcoming number of the paper. 

Through all tlie essays runs the one motif: the Lil)ertv i>f the Press. 
Trite as the theme is to us of the Twentieth Century, it had the bloom 
of novelty when, in \o\-ember, 1733, Zenger put forth the first number of 
his Journal. It is true that ninety-nine years before, England's noblest 
pen had produced the deathless "Areopagitica" on the same theme. But 
Milton's prose was scarcely known in the province of New York. The 
press had little libert}' in England or its colonies, and in New York or the 
other colonies there had been little printed comment on the shortcomings 
of those in authority. In these essays were, for the first time in America, 
candid discussions of the principles of lilierty. 

Discussions of the abstract question of the respect due to a governor 
(unnamed ) who has turned rogue, and done a thousand things for which a 
small rogue would deserve a halter; of wasteful luxury in court entertain- 
ments ; of s}-cophantic officials ; and of a thousand other things like those 
going on in New York, and manv wittv sallies directed at the court party 
and particularly at Francis Harrison, made the Journal extremely popular, 
not only at home, but also abroad through Connecticut to Boston, and south 
to Philadelphia and Charleston, in which latter city it inspired the estab- 
lishing of another journal to take \.\\) the same refrain of libertv and popular 
rights. 

Thus beyond its local l)earing, which was important, the little paper 
of John Peter Zender was a spark which raised the flame of desire for lib- 
erty that in a half century should drive out all royal governors, and all 
the liosts of sycophants and timeservers in their train. 

A letter found in the house of Tames Alexanfler. threatening ruin to 
him and all his family, created a sensation. x'\lexander and his friends, 
carefully examining the letter, concluded that it was in the handwriting 
of Francis Harrison, and the Journal made the news public. The matter 
was presented to the grand jury, which refused to indict on the evidence 
of a similarity of handwriting. Meanwhile Harrison had denied furiously 
the charge against him and had gone to the Journal office, threatening to 
whip the editor. 

Meanwhile the wrath of Cosby against the Journal and the literary 
coterie behind it grew darker and deeper, and had its reflection in the 
expressed "highest wish" to see Alexander and Smith both on a gallows at 
the fort gate. Cadwallader Colden. gentleman, scholar and litterateur, 
figured in the governor's correspondence with England as an "infamous 



MORRIS ELECTED TO THE .-ISSEMBLV I'l:! 

fellow, not to l)e trusted." AIr)rris, whd had been ousted from the judiciary 
by the governor, had retired to his estate of ]\Iorrisania, but in 1733, there 
being a vacancy in the Assembly from Westchester, he Itecame a candidate 
for the place. Against him the governor's party put up William Forster. 
Esq., formerly schoolmaster, but now, by the grace of Cosbv (and, common 
report had it, the sum of one hundred ])istoles to him in liand ])aid), clerk of 
the peace and justice of the Common Pleas for the Count\- of Westchester. 
Besides the insinuation about the hundred pistoles, he was said to be a Jacobite. 
The story of the election as told in Zenger's paper is full of life and figure: 
fifty voters watching all night at the polling ])lace at East Chester to guard 
against fraud by the governor's agents. Large cavalcades massing at New 
Rochelle in such numbers that after being entertained lavishlv at the houses 
of sympathetic partisans, many of them, for whom there was no sleeping 
room, bivouac in the street around a big bonfire. Joined at davbreak bv 
seventy more voters from the lower end of the county, a brisk ride takes 
them all to Westchester, where they move to the polling place, in order 
led by two trumpeters and two violinists, mounted: then In' four free- 
holders bearing banners inscribed "King George" and, on the reverse, 
"Liberty and Law." Then followed the candidate. Lewis Morris, and two 
color bearers, and following, three hundred of the principal freeholders of 
the county, the whole procession entering the town of East Chester at sun- 
rise. 

The counter jfrocession was headed Ijy the candidate, Forster, two 
freeholders bearing colors: James DeLancey, chief justice, and Frederick 
Philipse, second judge. Following were one hundred and seventy free- 
holders. Forster was greeted with cries of "Xo Pretender!" 

After about an hour's wait the liigh sherifi: appeared. The electors 
gathered to their groups. Morris had an undoubted majority, but the 
other side demanded a poll. A (Juaker ])resented himself, one of the largest 
jM-operty owners. The high sheritt refused to receive his vote unless he would 
take the usual oath, which he would not do. [Morris and his friends claimed 
he had a right to vote on affirmation, but the high sheritt, a Cosbv appointee, 
backed by DeLancey, refused to permit thirty-seven Quakers to vote: but all in 
vain, for Morris carried the poll by a large majority. A few days after, when 
Alorris entered New York, riding down from Morrisania to Xew York, it was 
made an occasion of general rejoicing. Met by a large number of the lead- 
ing citizens and merchants, greeted by salutes from every vessel in the har- 
bor, he was conducted in procession (large numbers of the populace follow- 
ing) until the Black Horse Tavern was reached, and there a banquet was 
spread, where the triumph of ]\Iorris and the things he stood for was cele- 
brated. 



1!I4 HISTORY 01- Xllir YORK 

The Assembly met in April, 1734, and took up the subject of impending- 
danger from France, which was then engaged, in combination with Spain 
and Sardinia, against the German emperor. England had sent a fleet to Lis- 
bon to protect the autonomy of Portugal against the ambitions of Spain. Busy 
in Europe, there was no reinforcement from the Mother Country of the 
British frontier in America, where the French were Inisy in intrigue with the 
Iroquois to secure their cooperation against the English. The garrison at 
Oswego was evidently in danger and the French frontier forts were Ijeing 
manned more strongly. With the English navy busy in European waters 
there was great danger of a sea attack upon New York itself. All the news 
from Europe was of increasing hostilities, and the Assembly, united for the 
common defense, made liberal grants for the defense of New York, Albany 
and Schenectad}-. The majority of the Assembly was controlled by Go\-er- 
nor Cosby in a vote to sustain the legality of the Court of Chancery, against 
which William Smith made a brilliant but futile address, but Morris was suc- 
cessful in securing the passage of a bill declaring- the affirmation of the 
Friends or (Quakers equivalent to an oath. Laws taxing slaveowners a 
shilling a head for slaves, and imposing duties on all ships entering the har- 
bor except those owned in New York, were enacted, and then the Assembly 
asked the governor to order its dissolution. Cosby refused, for he could 
count on controlling the present body to a considerable extent, while with the 
recent ex]ierience in Westchester in mind, he had great occasion to fear the 
people in the election of an entirely new Assembly. 

tie had a taste of the i)opular view of his administration when on 
Michaelmas Dav ( Se]item1)er 21;), 1734, the freeholders of the city met in 
their respective wards, as directed by the charter, and voted for aldermen and 
assistant aldermen for the seven wards of the city. Both parties had candi- 
dates in each ward: the tight was hot and heavy, though the forces were nu- 
merically uneven, for only one of the governor's adherents was elected. The 
sweeping \ictory was celebrated by the victors with glee, and by Zenger's 
journal with pertinent essays, flamlioyant songs and biting satires, while 
Cosby denied that he had been affected by the election, yet schemed for some 
means to revenge himself <in his adversaries. He had recourse to the judges 
he had made, and Chief Justice DeLancey, in his charge to the grand jury, 
denounced the New ^'ork Weekly Journal, with mucli bitterness, as a pro- 
moter of treason and commanded them to present an indictment against the 
editor, l)Ul they paid no attention to this recommendation. Cosby then had 
recourse to the Assembly, which met in October, re(|uesting that a committee 
should be a])pointed to confer with the jjroyincial officers on measures to pun- 
ish tlie editor and writers of the Journal and other "scurrilous" papers. But 
the -Vssembly realized how popular was the cry which the Journal had raised 



THIi JUVRXAL SI.XTEXCED To lU: BURXHP l'.*-". 

al)Out the Lil^ertv of the Press, a subject which had scarcely been discussed 
at all before Zenger's paper was launched, but which was now agitated in all 
the colonies. The Assenil)ly pigeonholed the governor's re(|uest. 

The governor tried the judiciary again, and DeLancey charged the jury 
to make inquiry as to the author, publisher and printer of "two scandalous 
songs" concerning the recent aldermanic election. He denounced these songs 
in vitriolic terms, and the grand jury took the matter up, finding no indict- 
ments against any individual, but bringing a presentment against the "two 
scandalous songs," which were forthwith sentenced to be "burned bv the 
hands of the common hangman." Cosby issued notice of a reward for the 
discovery of the author or authors of these lyric ei^'usions, and called his 
Council together to take up the subject. The obedient majority of the Council 
ordered that numbers 7, 47, 48 and 40 of the New York Weekly Journal, 
which they declared to be seditious and lil^elous, should share the fate of the 
stigmatized songs, to be "burned near the pillory by the hands of the com- 
mon hangman." To make it more severe they ordered the magistrates and 
aldermen to attend the burning, and Harrison, the recorder, waited u])on the 
City Council and tried to impress u|)on them their duty to participate in the 
proceedings. But the aldermen denied absolutely the right of the governor 
and Council to control the action of the aldermen or other city officials, and 
declined to take part in the function. The hangman refused to burn the 
papers and no one could be found to do so, the duty being finally performed 
by a negro slave of the sheriff in the ])resence of Recorder Harrison and two 
or three of his friends, together with some soldiers detailed to the function 
from the garrison. Nobody else aj^peared. The whole thing was a failure. 

Cosby and his advisers, blinded by passion, did not have discretion enough 
to quit. Bradley, the attorney-general, filed an information for libel against 
Zenger, and the Council ordered his arrest. CJn Sunday the editor was seized, 
hurried to the common jail, deprived of pen, ink and paper; allowed to see 
nobody, and it was many days before he was allowed to speak to his wife and 
friends, through a hole in the door. His incarceration wrought the populace 
up to fever heat, and the court was so evidently against the defendant that 
the arraignment and subsequent trial attracted hundreds of auditors. Some 
friends who wished to go bail for Zenger had him brought before DeLancev, 
early in December, but he placed the amount so high that Zenger would not 
ask his friends to give it. It was, he says in his "Brief Narrative," after- 
ward ])ul)lished, "ten times so much as it was in my power to counter secure." 
So he went back to jail. As he was held on information only, and ;is the 
January, 1735, grand jury refused to indict him, he should have been dis- 
charged, but Bradford filed a new information based upon matter alleged to 
be "false, scandalous and seditious" in numbers 13 and 27, of the Journal." 



1!:M; history of NEJV YORK 

Being arraigned on this new charge, Zenger's counsel, Smitli and Alexander, 
boldly attacked the competency of the judges and the conseciuent jurisdiction 
of the court, alleging- that Morris had been illegally removed from the chief 
justiceship hv Cosby, who had no right to take that step without the action of 
the Council; and that the appointments of DeLancey and Philipse were also 
void, because made to continue during the pleasure of the governor instead of 
"during good behavior." The offer of ]\Ir. Alexander, in court, on /Vpril 15, 
1735, to argue these points, worked DeLancey up to a white heat and after 
warning Smith and Alexander that they would repent of their boldness, ad- 
journed the court until the following day, when, as soon as the court met, he 
attacked the counsel, charging them with a desire to secure applause and pop- 
ularity by opposing this court as they had the Court of Exche(|uer, "but," 
said DeLancey, "you have brought it to the point that either we must go 
from the bench or vou from the bar." He then ordered them to be expelled 
from the New York Bar, and would not permit them to say a word in their 
own behalf. 

The cotirt partv was jubilant over this move: no other lawyer of the first 
class was left who would defend Zenger, but word was sent to Philadelphia to 
the aged lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, asking him to appear in the case. He was 
the most eminent man of his profession in the colonies. Zenger continued in 
the jail, and at last the trial day was set for August 4. 1735. John Cham- 
bers, a yoimg lawver, had been assigned by the court to defend the prisoner, 
who was to be tried bv a struck jury selected from an array of freeholders. 
In their selection the clerk attempted some irregularity, but Chamliers objected, 
and the attempt was so glaring that DeLancey was forced to correct the clerk. 
Then Bradley stated the charge against the prisoner, which he said consisted 
of "false, scandalous and seditious" ])assages in his jjaper. He read passages 
to the jiu'v from what was supposed to be an account, by a X'ew Yorker about 
to remove to Philadel])hia, of the sorry condition of the citizens of New ^'ork. 
whose libertv and property were in danger. It told how jtidges had been 
removed without cause, deeds and papers of great value destroyed, new courts 
erected and trial I)v jurv set aside, besides other charges of misgovernment. 
amounting to a biting satire upon Cosby's administration. Bradley argtted 
that nothing btit disorder could come from the ptiblication of comments like 
these, and that government must fall into contempt if such publications should 
be allowed. 

Then a sensation occurred. Andrew Llamilton, whose fame was famil- 
iar to New York but whose face was not. arose and saluting the court, an- 
nounced that he was interested in the defense of Mr. Zenger, then addressing 
Bradford, told him that he would save him the troul)le of calling witnesses 
bv admitting the ])ublication, by the defendant, of the matter which had been 



.IXDREir HAMILTOS FOR THE PRISOXRK V.r. 

read to the jury. Thereupon Bradley called for convictidn. hut Hamilton con- 
tended that it was necessary to prove the words libelous. Then followed a 
discussion hetween the court and the defendant's counsel. DeLancey declared 
the law to be that, the truth of a libel could not be pleaded in justification. 
Hamilton, however, held that not only could the trutli of the facts alleged as 
libelous be used as a defense, but that the jury were judges of both the law 
and the facts. DeLancey repeated his ruling and warned Hamilton that he 
was expected to use good manners, but the great lawyer disclaimed any in- 
tention to be discourteous. He asked lea\-e to introduce testimony to prove 
the statements alleged to be libelons, but was not permitted to do so. He 
addressed the jury with an eloquent appeal to say, from the evidence they had 
met in their daily lives, that the contents of the defendant's articles were not 
false, and he argued the cause of the indicted printer and the greater cause 
of a free press and a free people. He si)oke of the evils of unbridled author- 
ity, and he made more strong points in favor of a free America than had 
ever been heard in the colonies. For hours he held the iur\- and the crowd. 
Interruptions by the court, frequent and irritable, were lightly and skillfully 
parried, and he finished with a thrilling ])eroration. When he ended, Brad- 
ley rose and demanded the conviction, and DeLancey charged the jurv that 
the words, the publication of which had been admitted, were libelous, and in- 
structed the jury to convict the defendant. The jurv bravely disregarded 
the instruction and at once returned a verdict of "not guilty," and were wildly 
cheered by the great crowds inside and ontside the court room. The judges 
were astounded and dismayed, and well they might be, for the decision of that 
jury was the beginning of the Revolution, and Andrew Hamilton had that 
day earned the title later conferred upon him by Governor ]\Iorris — that of 
the "Day Star of the Revolution." 

The names of the members of that jurv deserve to be preserved on the 
same plane of merit with those of the later signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. They were: Thomas Hunt (foreman), Hermanns Rutgers, 
Stanley Holmes, Edward Man, John Bell, Samuel Weaver, Andries Alaerschalk, 
Egbert van Borsom, Benjamin Hildreth, Aliraham Keteltas, John Goelet and 
Hercules ^^'end(^ver, and the list includes family names still prominent in New 
York. 

From the time of his suit against \"an Dam; and his dismissal of Morris 
from the chief justiceship, Cosby had sent a continuotis series of complaints 
to the home authorities against these two, and against Alexander and Smith. 
They were villians, incendiaries, men of bad character, drunkards, and every- 
thing else he could think of, for his statements about them bore no relation 
to the truth. But the other side was also given to the home authorities 
through friends and correspondents of ^'"an Dam: and late in i-jt,j[ ^lovns 



198 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

went to England himself to state his side of the case and to present the charges 
of the people against Cosby. It included many oppressions, manv peculations, 
illegal grants, the selling of offices and other crimes ; of illegally voting in the 
Council, of destruction of records and other things. The ministry decided 
that the removal of Morris had been illegal and reproved Cosby for other in- 
discretions, and the other charges against the governor were still under con- 
sideration. 

Meanwhile a majority of the Council sided with Cosby. Van Dam, find- 
ing himself wholly inefifective, absented himself from the meetings and Clarke 
acted as president ; and Alexander, still a member, w^as never notified of the 
meetings. The meeting of the Assembly in October, 1735, was perfunctory. 
Nothing of importance was enacted; and although the governor refused to dis- 
solve the Assembly, he had lost his influence with it. 

Winter came on and the governor fell ill. He developed tuberculosis of 
the lungs, and although the physicians, from time to time, announced through 
the Gazette their hopes of his recovery, he became steadily weaker. Feeling 
his end near, Cosby called the Council to his bedchamber and ordered Van 
Dam's name to be stricken from its membership, so that Clarke, the gover- 
nor's unswerving supporter, might succeed him ; and a few days after thus 
satisfying his revenge, on May 7, 1736, he died. He was buried with the 
usual ceremony and a show of decent respect, but except during the obsequies, 
there were many who did not trv to conceal their joy at his death. The 
action with regard to \^an Dam was not generally known, and the people 
hoped to come to their own under his leadership. 

The Council, meeting, passed bv the claims of \^an Dam, then for the first 
time making known his secret removal, and selected George Clarke for the 
office of president. Alexander's being the onlv vote for \'an Dam, Clarke 
was sworn in, but \"an Dam claimed the office, appointed a mayor and other 
city officers, and went to the iovi, but was not admitted. He organized a 
force for resistance, while Clarke and his partv, in possession of the fort, 
were equally assertive on their side. For several months a bloody conflict in 
the streets seemed imminent. There was a meeting of the Assembly, but that 
body finding the disi)utants irreconcilable, adjoiUMied to meet again in the 
autumn. The situation was terminated when, in Octol)er, 1736. a ship arrived 
from England, bringing a commission for George Clarke as lieutenant gover- 
nor, whereupon \'an Dam and his adherents ceased resistance. 



CHAPTER T IF E N T Y 

GEORGE CLARKE AND GEORGE CLINTON 

AND THE CONTEST BETWEEN THE ASSEMBLY 

AND THE KING'S PREROGATIVE 

George Clarke, who was for se\-en years governor of New 'S'ork, was a 
native of England, of little education. He had for a short time practised as 
an attorney in Duhlin, but through friends at court had secured from Queen 
Anne, in 1703, appointment as secretary of the province of New York, in 
succession to Matthew Clarkson. He married Anne Hyde, a distant relative 
of the (|ueen and of Clarendon, and this connection added to his inHuence at 
the court. Buying a hundred acres from Walter Dongan, at Hemptead Plains, 
on Long Island, he established his country seat there, where he lived with his 
wife and children and Airs. Hyde, his mother-in-law, until he sold the place 
in 1738, and remoA-ed to New York. 

He had come to America to retrieve his fortunes, and he never forgot 
that object. His riches rapidly increased and his influence also. William 
Dunlap's History of New York says of him that "he had sagacitv enough 
to see that the aristocracy possessed the offices of profit, and were supporters 
of the authority derived from I'Lngland." hV)llowing this policv he sided with 
the successive royal governors, in every dispute with the popular party, and 
became a member of the Council, whose every act was trimmed to accord with 
the governor's wish. He had upheld every tyranny and every illegal act of 
Governor Cosby, and every intrigue against the people bv the court partv. 
A\'hen Cosby died and the dispute with \'an Dam arose, he wrote to his friends 
at court and thus secured the commission that ended the dispute. 

Clarke was by no means a brilliant or able man. He was hampered bv 
no iirinciples or ideals, and his sole ambition was to enrich himself and to 
strengthen his influence at court. To do this he was steadfast in asserting 
the royal prerogative, but he was more politic than Cosbv. and endeavored to 
curry favor with both parties. He was not socially pleasing as the late g<>v- 
ernor could be, and the gayety of the gubernatorial court was far from being 
as brilliant as in the days of his predecessor, but he was more of a practical 
politician. So he cajoled adherents of the popular party with intimations of 
favor and possible offices and in such ways secured many a vote which he 
would otherwise have lost. 

In spite of the plots and blandishments of the new governor the popular 
party grew in power. At the annual election on September 2(j, 1736, nearly 
all the aldermen elected were of the popular party, and the familiar names, 
Stuyvesant, Pintard, Roosevelt, Bayard, and Beekman appear in its member- 



HISTORY OF XBW YORK 



ship. The contest was spirited and acrinioninns, hnt the popular i)artv, with 
the aid of Zeng-er's \^^eekly Journal, was victorious all along- the line. Lewis 
Morris, returning victorious from England, was given a rousing reception bv 
the citizens. The Assembly, at its October meeting, recognized Clarke as lieu- 
tenant governor and published his commission. Tt passed an act to safeguard 
the revenue against misapplication by the lieutenant governor or Council; which 
so incensed Clarke that he dissolved it after it having been in existence for 
nine years, first being called together b\ Governor Biumet and continuing with- 
out change except as it had been necessary to elect to fill vacancies. The 
new election called by Clarke gave the people an opijortunitv to exjiress them- 
selves, and parl\- s])irit ran high. Bribes and promises were used in ])rofusion 
by the court party and every possible de\-ice of political tricker\' was tried, but 
the op])osition was successful in all the counties. James Alex.ander was elec- 
ted from the cit}' and Colonel Lewis Morris, |r., from Westchester, and onlv 
a few of the court i)arty were elected. 

Clarke, beaten at everv turn, had political sagacitv enough to rerdize 
that he could accom])lish nothing with the AssembK- In- an attitude of hos- 
tility. A bill was lirottght into the first session, held in June, 1737, liy Colo- 
nel Morris, to regulate elections; and others bv Alexander, for the jiromotion 
of commerce and manufactttres. At the Septeml)er session the Assemblv 
adopted an address to the lieutenant governor outlining a reform i)rogram. 
which incltided fre(|uent elections, deprecated the la\'ish grants of its ])rede- 
cessors, and the wastefulness and peculations of ])reviotts administrations, 
which were the cause of the low state of the ]irovincial ftmds; declared that it 
wotild grant no monev which was n(it jirotected from misapplication by the 
g'o\'ernor, nor for anv ])eriod longer than one \ear, and ho])ed that there \\'ould 
lie an end to the disregard and contcni])! which had been shown by former 
governors to ])revious assemblies. Clarke, to whom the independent spirit 
shown in the address was very re])Ugnant, nevertheless received it with good 
grace, and thanked the AssembK- for the address. The lieutenant governor 
a^ked the Assembl}- for ;i fixed rexenue for his entire term of office, but though 
they voted him the then liberal salarv of £i5So, they limited the taxes to one 
}-ear. This so angered Clarke that he summoned the Assemblv before him, and 
declaring that this limitation was an act of dislovaltv, he dissolved the house. 

The new Assembly, which met in J\Larch, 1731). was even less friendly 
to the lieutenant go\-ernor than its predecessor, its meml)ership being largelv 
the same in ])ersonnel as the one he had dissolved, with some additions to the 
])opular majority, for not onlv the membership, but the electors, also, had 
been incensed at the arbitrarv dissolution of the previous Assembly. So the 
new one cut down the governor's salarv to £1300, and although Clarke strongly 
urged a revenue in gross for the officials to use at discretion, the\- insisted on 



THE NEGRO PLOT OP 1J41 201 

an annual ap])ropriation for s])ecific i)urposes. War had Ijeen declared 
between England and Spain, zA.dniiral A'ernon had appeared off the coast with 
an Enolish fleet and captured Porto Bello. and France, which had been wait- 
ing- for such ()])portunit\-, took this occasion to declare as her settled ])olicy 
that she would not consent to any English settlement on the mainland of South 
An;erica, and dispatched two squadrons to that coast. Xew "S'ork, with 
war threatening', found its Assembly liberal in voting suj^plies for defense 
against Erance. While there was no lack of loyalty, the municipality took a 
sturdy stand against the im]iressnient of seamen in the harbor of Xew York. 
H. ]\r. S. Tartar appeared in the harbor and the captain having asked for 
men, the lieutenant governor and his Council ordered that thirty men lie im- 
pressed in New^ ^'ork City, but Paul Richard, the mayor, declared that he 
would permit no impressment within the li])erties of the city, and by firmness 
carried his point. 

The lieutenant governor's wife, Anne Hyde Clarke, who was much be- 
loved for her virtues and her charities, died in 1740 and was buried in the 
vaults of Trinity Church, where her motlier had been buried two years before 
by the side of Lady Cornbury. The Assembly meeting of that year was jiro- 
ductive of good legislation. The militia system of the province was remodeled, 
courts were set up for the trial of petty suits, and measures were taken for 
the promotion of the Indian trade. The Assembly still adhered to its doctrine 
of an annual proyision for the provincial government. John Cruger had been 
appointed mayor in Octolier, I73<). and served until 1744. Pie was of Eng- 
lish birth, came to Xew ^'ork in boyhood, and in i6y8 was employed as super- 
cargo of a slave shii). Later he engaged in business as a merchant in the 
Bristol trade, becoming very successful in commerce and having a handsome 
and elegantly ai)])ointed home in Broad Street. Pie was elected alderman of 
the Dock Ward in 1712 and served by successive elections until 1734. 

The Xegro Plot of 1741 was the most serious event, local to the city, 
occurring during the Clarke administration. Slavery, the worst l)lot upon 
American history, was never worse in its aspects than it was in the City ot 
New \'ork at that time. The negro slaves, who constituted one-fifth of the 
population, had for the most part been caught wild in Africa. The laws for 
these savages, who had no concejition of law% were ferocious in the extreme. 
The whipping post and torture were used for the punishment of tri\ial 
offenses. So when several fires occurred in the early part of that year it be- 
came rumored that the}' were a part of a negro plot. A robbery committed 
Fe1)ruary 28th, was traced to the house of a person of low character named 
Hughson, who harbored there negroes who drank, gambled and made the place 
the depository for goods they had stolen. Hughson had an indentured serv- 
ant named Mary Burton. Hughson and his wife and Mary were under arrest 



202 HISTORY OF \ EW YORK 

on account of the rol)l)cry, the latter as a witness. When some tires occurred, 
in March. Mary gave the authorities a story which seemed to chnch as facts 
the rumors of a negro conspiracy. In fact, she averred that the wliole thing 
had l)een arranged at the house of Hughson, who, with his wife, and another 
maidservant were particcps criminis. The plot was, to destroy all the white 
inhahitants exce]it a few who were in league with the negroes. Hughson 
was to be king, and Csesar, a negro, was to be governor. She added day 
l)y day to her story, im])licating more i)eople. Arthur Price, a servant held 
on a larceny charge, also gave testimony which seemed to corroborate the 
Berton woman, as did Peggy Salinburgh, a courtesan. The tales told by 
these informers increased in luridit\-, l)ut the town and the magistrates were 
wrought U]) by them. Mary I'urton, had at first said that Hughson, his 
wife and Peggy were the onh- white persons at the meetings of the conspir- 
ators, but she added the name of John Ury, a teacher, who being a noniur- 
ing clergyman of the Church of England, was suspected of Romanist ten- 
dencies. She declared that Mr. Ury was a Jesuit, and later "confessed" that 
Curry, a dancing master, was also in the plot. The jail was full and several 
apartments in the City Hall were also used for detention purposes. ]\Iary 
pjurton received the £ioo reward offered for proof of the plot. Twenty- 
six white persons were arrested, and of these, Hughson, his wife, the 
maid and John Ury were executed, the latter solemnlv declaring his alisolute 
innocence; and of the one Inmdred and sixty negroes arrested, thirteen were 
burned at the stake, eighteen hanged, seventv-one transported and the remain- 
der discharged. Mary continued her "confessions," which soon began to take 
in ])eople of unquestioned respectability. Although at the time, the best people 
in the community Hrml\- believed in the existence of a plot and the judges 
were doubtless sincere (Judge Horsmanden publishing in a ponderous ((uarto 
•m account of the case), there is little doubt that the whole of the evidence 
in the case was manufactured, and that the ])oor wretches who were executed 
were in fact the victims of ])0]nilar hvsteria. A dav of thanksgiving for de- 
li\'erance from the plot was appointed and dniv ol)served. 

When the Assembly met. in SejUember, 1740, it had refused a request of 
the lieutenant governor to vote monev for the ex]")edition against Spain, de- 
claring that England should pav for its own wars; and also tal)led a sugges- 
tion that they should rebuild or rei)air Trinit\- Church, of which Rev. Henry 
r>arclav was then the rector. In A])ril, 1741, Mr. Clarke oi)ened the session 
with a s])eech, in which he declared his belief that the colonists were bediming 
disloyal and desired to throw off their allegiance to the British crown. lie 
deprecated the unseemlv displays of independence which were being made, 
and urged upon them a dutiful obedience to the king and his representati\es and 
the need for |)ermanent appropriations instead of doling out the mone\- annualK'. 



GEORGE CLfXTOX BECOMES GOFERXOR 203 



This l)roiight a written reply whieh denied any spirit of disloyalty or 
desire of severance from the Rnglish crown, but it declared ag-ainst voting the 
nionev of the province to aid luigland in its wars, especially as the parent 
countrv had ])urdened the colony in many ways. Loyal the province was. hut 
it would raise its revenues and spend its money in its own way. 

The winter of 1740-1741 was unusually severe and known for many 
vears as "the hard winter." The Hudson was frozen from shore to shore. 
Changes of importance had come to New York politically. Lewis Mor- 
ris, the former chief justice of New York, had become governor of New 
jersey, and his name is still commemorated by the name of an important county 
of that State: but he was still interested in New York affairs, and his son, 
Cnlduel Alorris, was an influential leader in the Assembly and in the councils 
of the ]K)pular party. 

Lieutenant Governor Clarke was superseded in 1743 by the arrival of 
George Clinton, who had been appointed in 1741 as governor. Soon after his 
succes.sor's arrival, September 22. 1743, Clarke went to England, where, with 
a fortune of f 100.000, he bought a fine estate in Cheshire, on which he lived 
until his death, at a ripe old age. in 1763. He had used his oi)i)ortunities to 
secure valuable grants in exceptionally good locations and his descendants 
became stibstantial and honored citizens of New York. 

Commodore George Clinton was the youngest son of Francis, sixth Earl 
of Lincoln, and at the time of his appointment as governor of New ^'ork was 
uncle of the then earl. He was relative, by marriage, of the Duke of Newcas- 
tle, second in power in the W'alpole administration, which then ruled British 
afifairs. He had entered the navy, in which he attained distinction, reaching 
the rank of ca])tain in 1716. He was promoted to commodore in 1732 and 
appointed go\-ernor of Newfoundland, serving until 1737. when he was trans- 
ferred to the Mediterranean fleet. He was commissioned governor of 
New \'ork ALay 21. 1741. Init did not arrive in New York for more than two 
years afterward, assuming the duties of the office in September. 1743. Through 
tlie influence of the Duke of Newcastle he was promoted to the rank of rear- 
admiral of the Red Squadron, in Decemlier. 1743. ^^'ith Governor Clinton 
came his wife and several young cliildren. 

Clinton, who as a naval officer was something of a martinet and a man 
of dogged will, was chosen as one al)le to cope with the ttu^bulent and. from 
the standpoint of officialdom, none too loyal meml)ers of the New ^ ork Assem- 
bly, who were asserting their right to run things, and not only to demand of 
governors and crown officials strict accountal)ility for expenditures, but also 
to limit revenue grants to a single year. During the Clarke administration 
the lieittenant governor had l)een unalile to cope with the spirit of independ- 
ence, which had deepened vear by year after the Zenger trial. 



204 



HISTORY OF XIUV YORK 




OLD BROOKLYN FERRY HOUSE IN 1746 



Governor Clinton realized the fact that he was handicapped l)y lack of 
knowledge of New York affairs, so he looked ahout for some man whose 
record was inspiring, as an aid to his plan to establish more strongly the roval 
prerogative. Chief Justice DeLancey had ])een the chief supporter of Cosby 

and the leader of the court 
l)arty. He was at the head 
of the judiciary and was, 
withal, a man of much al)il- 
ity and great energy. So 
the chief justice became the 
trusted adviser and fidus 
. I chutes of the new governor. 
l)eLancc\- and others 
ad\"ised the new governor to 
dissolve the old and call a 
new Asseml)!y. This he did, 
with the result that the new 
l)(jdy was ccjmposed of the same individuals as the old one, with the 
excei:)tion <,( se\en clianges, and the election had been a very (piiet one. 
The Assembly began its session X^ovember 8, 1743, and Ijecause war 
threatened, was asked for re\-enue for the public defense, also f<ir the pur- 
pose of making the presents usually gi\en to the Six Xations upon the 
installation c>f a new governor, besides |)r(i\iding for the governor's civil 
list. The go\-ernor claimed that during the time which had inter\ened 
between the date of his commission and his departure from England he 
had sedubiusly labored for the benetit of the jirovince and the Assembly 
allowed him f 1000 as com])ensation for his time and ex])enses in that con- 
nection, in addition to his salar\- of £1500 as governor, £'>50 as fees, and 
£Soo for the lro(|uois. The other appropriations were sjiecitic salaries to 
certain officers named; and this, together with the careful limitation of all 
ap])ropriations to one vear, lirought back adverse comment from the British 
Board of Trade. 

Clinton insisted on strengthening the fortihcations in the Xorth, and in 
his visit to the Indians he claimed to ba\'e discovered that there was much 
corruption on the part of the Albanv Indian commissioners, who afterward 
joined with the Xew ^'ork ])oliticians in making the g-Qvernor's w;iv difticult. 
DeLancey, whose commission, first given bv Governor C(^sl)v, was ])v its terms 
revocable by the governor at will, ])ersua(led the governor to execute a new 
commission, walid during good beha\'ii)r, which was executed .September 14, 
1744. I'rom the time of the execution of this commission, DeLancev began to 
develop indiffVrence, which later became hostilitv to the governor and his plans. 



.S7A^ PETF.R JJ'ARRF.X MAKFS .1 CAPTVRf. 205 

After the declaration of war l)et\vecn the United States and France, New 
England, led hv Massachusetts, planned an expedition against the fortress of 
l.ouishurg, on the Island of Cape Breton. When the plan for the expedition 
was outlined hy Governor Shirley to the Massachusetts legislature, that body 
at first exhibited some reluctance because of the boldness of the enterprise, 1)ut 
finally adopted his suggestion and sent circular letters to the governors of all 
the provinces south t<> Pennsylvania, asking for aid in the cause. Pennsvl- 
vania \'Oted £4000 currency to purchase ]>rovisions. New Jersey furnished £2000 
towartl the expedition but declined to furnish any men, and the New^ York 
Assembly voted £3000 currency, which Governor Clinton supplemented with a 
goodly amount of provisions bought by private subscription, and ten eighteen- 
pound guns from the public magazine, and his patriotism was rewarded bv a 
resolution of thanks from the General Court of Massachusetts. Commodore 
Warren, who had been in command in the West Indies, took command of the 
attacking fleet, and secured the surrender of the fortress and town of Louis- 
burg and the island of Cape Breton, by the French, June 17, 1745, after a siege 
of forty-eight days. 

Commodore Warren captured the \"igilant, French man-of-war of 
sixty-four guns, with five hundred men and a large quantity of stores for 
the garrison, and this he brought to New York. The commodore was 
knighted as Sir Peter Warren, and besides his prominence in the navy, 
became a person of influence in relation to New \'ork aflrairs, in which he 
liecame interested in behalf of Chief Justice DeLancey, who was his brother- 
in-law. The Assembly, which was in constant antagonism to Governor Clin- 
ton, appointed Warren's private secretary as its agent in London, without 
any consultation with Clinton and with instruction to be guided by Sir Peter 
Warren. This action, together with all his other troubles, the governor laid 
to DeLancey, and he wrote letters to the hunie authorities bewailing the fatal 
error he had made in giving DeLancey a new commission which had prac- 
tically a life tenure, and asking the Board of Trade to recall the commission. 
At the same time Sir Peter was working with the same authorities for the 
ajipointment of his brother-in-law to the office of lieutenant governor of New 
York, in which he succeeded, the commission l)eing issued in 1747 and sent to 
Clinton, who withheld it for several years. 

Just what was the origin of the break between Clinton and DeLancey is 
not absolutely known. Smith, author of the earliest historv of New York 
and a son of the distinguished lawyer James Smith, says it grew out of a 
quarrel between the governor and the jurist when both were overheated with 
wine. DeLancey's version of the case has not been preserved, but Clinton 
ascribed it to the alleged fact that the chief justice was back of the effort of the 
Assembly to take the appointing power from the governor. 



:.'i)(; IIISTURY OF XJill' YORK 

When DeLancev ceased to W the close friend and confidant of Clinton, 
the governor promoted to that relation Cadwallader Colden, who was espe- 
ciall}- oltnoxious to DeLancey, to Judge Daniel Horsmanden, former Mayor 
Paul Richard, and the other political intimates of DeLancev. Thus there had 
come about this remarkable transformation: DeLancev, who had been the 
brains of the court party under CosI)y and the head of the hostile court 
organized to convict Peter Zenger, had now allied himself with the popular 
party, which tried to place restrictions on the governor, while Cadwallader 
Colden, who had been one of the shining lights of the popular party and a 
constant contributor to Zenger's Journal, now occupied the identical relation 
of closest ad\iser to Clinton, which DeLancey had formerly held toward 
Cosby. 

Sir Peter Warren owned extensive estates in New ^'ork, which were 
under the management of his nephew, William Johnson, afterward famotts 
in Indian administration. He was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 171 5, 
was educated for mercantile pursuits, and on coming to iVmerica went to the 
Mohawk Valley, abotit twenty-five miles from the j^resent town of Schenec- 
tady, settling on a tract of land there and devoting himself to the improvement 
and colonization of his uncle's lands, and at the same time engaging in trade 
with the Indians of the Six Nations. Me attained close friendship and great 
influence with them, and acquired thorough familiarity with their languag'e 
and customs. Go\ernor Clinton, who distrusted the Dutch Indian commis- 
sioners at Albany, ap])ointed him colonel of the Six Nations, in 1744, and \.wo 
vears later, upon the resignation of Colonel Schuyler, he was appointed com- 
missary of New \'ork for Indian affairs. It does not appear that in the 
appointment of the ne])hew of the distinguished Admiral Sir Peter Warren to 
these important ]X)sitions the governor had any idea of securing his influence 
at the English court, or in fact any other object than to secure the best pos- 
sil)le administration (.)f Indian affairs. .\t an\- rate. Sir Peter continued to 
be the friend at court of Chief Justice DeLancev, and Governor Clinton relied 
upon Johnson im])licitlv as an ad\'iser in his relations with the Indians. The 
Dtttch commissioners at .Vlbany, who had always been the intermediaries of 
transactions between the Indians and the government of New ^'ork, resented 
this alliance and strengthened the Asseniblv by their sufiport, in the contest 
between the governor and the legislative bodv. Johnson continued his work 
with the Indians and at one time during Clinton's administration was able to 
effect the settlement of a difficulty between the Indians and the colonists. 

The Assembly, from session to session, asserted and reasserted its princi- 
ple in regard to annual and specific a]ipro])riations, although year by year 
Clinton urged that body to grant a revenue for the king's government for 
at least five years. To these recjuests the Assembly sent a negative reply, one 



CIJXTOX .IT ir.lR WITH PELAXCIIV •-'"^ 



of these responses stating-: "From recent experience we are fully convinced 
that the method of an annual support is most wholesome and salutary, and are 
confirmed in the opinion that the faithful representatives of the i)eople will 
never depart from it." 

Clinton's reports to the home authorities were hurdened with complaints 
ahout Chief Justice Del.ancey, with requests that his connuission as lieutenant 
g-overnor should be withdrawn, and he conferred upon Cadwallader Colden. 
The governor wished to go to Mngland on leave of absence, but was unwill- 
ing to go and leave DeLancey in charge. Clinton had secured a majority of 
the Council bv suspending Daniel Horsmanden, Paul Richard anrl Stephen 
Bavard, and only DeLancey and Philip Livingston of the hostile faction were 
now in the Council. Among the new members supporting the governor were 
Tames Alexander, John Chambers, William Johnson, and Edward Holland, 
the latter being mayor of Xew ^'ork. Adolphus Philipse having died, John 
Chambers was appointed second justice of the supreme court. Bradley, the 
attorney-general who had prosecuted Zenger, died in August, 1751, and Clin- 
ton tried to secure the place for William Smith, appointing him to the office 
ad interim and recommending him to the home authorities, who, however, 
appointed to the ])lace William Kempe, who arrived November 4, 1752. 

A few weeks later Clinton received from the Lords of Trade a letter rep- 
rimanding him for the factious tone of his letters, and telling him that he 
must abandon the idea of Colden as his successor, and himself remain in New 
York until relieved. In June, 1753. an Indian congress met in New ^'ork 
City, at which a]j])eared the Indian chiefs who had prevented the lroi|uois from 
alliance with the h^rench and saved New York from becoming part of I-'rench 
Canada : and these Indians consulted with the Council, which showed them 
the city, and promised them presents. 

Soon afterward news came that Sir Danvers ( )sborn had been apiiointed 
governor, and in October the new governor arrived. Clinton delivered to De- 
Lancey his commission as lieutenant governor, and afterward was at his 
country seat at Flushing, L. I., making his preparations for leaving the coun- 
try. He went back to England in November, became a member of Parlia- 
ment, was advanced in rank to admiral of the fleet in 1757, and then was 
appointed governor of Greenwich Hospital, in which office he continued until 
he died, July 10, 1761. 

During the administration of Clinton, New York developed in business, 
having a large commerce with the other colonies as well as with Europe. The 
population in 1749 was 13,200, of whom over 2000 were slaves. Dey Street 
was opened in 1750 and Beekman Street in 1752. The water stipply was in- 
creased by the digging of two new wells, one on John Street, near Broadway, 
and the other by the Spring Garden, near the Drivers' Inn, which occupied 



■J (IS 



1 11 STORY Of AVflC YORK 



the ])resent site of the Astor House. The first Alerchants" Mxchange was 
erected at the foot of Broad Street in 1752. 

The Presb\terian church in Wall Street was rel)uilt in 1747, a Moravian 
church was l)uilt in Fair Street, now Fulton Street, in 175 1, and in 1752 St. 
George's chapel was erected by Trinity Church at the corner of Clift and 
Beekman Streets. 

John Peter Zenger died in 1746, and his paper was continued bv his wife 
and son. William Bradford, the first printer and newspaper pro])rietor of 
Xew York, died in 1752, and was buried in Trinity churchyard. 

Clinton's administration was an unsuccessful one, for the reason that he 
was temperamentally unfitted for the duties he had to fulfill. Fie lacked self- 
reliance, trusting first DeLancey, then Colden; and he had to contend with 
factious opposition where he had been used to autocratic rule. He was not 
free from avarice, and took every possible opportunity to add to his posses- 
sions, but he was probably not corrupt as some of his enemies claimed. He 
failed to make a success of his government because he held out for a back- 
ward step in the direction of the assertion of the king's prerogative. His 
obstructionist zeal increased the determination of the jjeoj^le, and made the 
Assembly more and more assertive of the principles of popular government. 




ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL IN BEEKMAN STREET 
Eructdi 111 175J 



CHAPTER T jr E N T Y - N E 

SIR DANVERS OSBORN, JAMES DeLANCEY 

SIR CHARLES HARDY, CADWALLADER GOLDEN 

PERIOD OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

Sir Danvers Osborn, third baronet, was born at the family seat of Chick- 
sands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, November 17, 1715. His father was 
eldest son of the second baronet and had married Sarah Byng, daughter of 
Admiral Sir George Byng, who in 1721 was created Viscount Torrington, and 
sister of the unfortunate Admiral John Byng, who in 1757 was shot for "error 
in judgment in retreating before the French at Minorca," but whose exe- 
cution has been denounced by many historians. "The Honorable Sarah 
Osborn," as the mother of Sir Danvers Osborn was entitled, was a woman of 
superior attainments. Her husband died soon after the son was born, and 
when the latter was five years old his paternal grandfather died and the 
little boy succeeded to the title. His mother had the management of the 
estates of the baronetcy during his long minority. When he was twenty- 
five years old he married Lady Mary Montagu, sister of the Earl of Halifax, 
who bore him two sons, and died a day or two after the birth of the second. 

"His grief over her death seemed inconsolable and he led a restless and 
wandering life," according to letters of his mother, which under the title of 
"Political and Social Letters of a Lady of the Eighteenth Century," edited 
by her descendant, Miss Emily F. D. Osborn, were published in 1891. Ac- 
cording to the same authority he was elected to Parliament as a countv mem- 
Ijer from Bedford; raised a troop of men and led them in person during the 
rebellion of the Young Pretender in 1745, and in 1750 went to Nova Scotia 
for six months on a visit to the governor. Lord Cornwallis. He had times 
of brooding reflection, which seemed to afl:"ect him dee])ly, and seemed to find 
time hang heavily on his hands. Finally through the influence of his brothei-- 
in-law, Lord Halifax, then president of the Board of Trade and Plantation^, 
he was appointed governor of New York. It was hoped that new scenes 
and active duties would restore his spirits and give his mind (>ccu])ations that 
would divert him from his melancholy. A])])ointed in July, he sailed from 
Portsmouth, August 22, 1753, in H.ALS. Arundel, and arrived in New York 
harbor, October 6, 1753, and landed the next day, which was Sunday. Gov- 
ernor Clinton was at Flushing, but came in the next day and had a confer- 
ence with the new governor, at the official residence at the fort. Both 
attended a public dinner given by prominent citizens that evening, and as the 
governor's mansion was undergoing rei)airs. Sir Danvers was entertained at 
the house of Mr. Joseph Murray, who was a member of the Council, and 



■.'](( HISTORV OF Miir YORK 



whose wife was a cousin of the late Lady Osborn. She was a daughter of 
the late Governor Cosby, whose mother was a sister of the second Earl of 
Halifax. 

Governor Clinton made a formal call on Sir Danvers, at Air. Murray's, 
on Tuesdav the <jth, and the freedom of the city was presented to him on the 
same day, in a gold box. On Wednesday, October loth, the inauguration of 
the new governor took ])lace with imposing ceremonies. There was an im- 
posing procession to the City Hall, where the commission of the new governor 
was read to the multitude. The new governor, during the i)rocession, was 
the recipient of ])opular ])landits, while derisive shouts and words of disap- 
proval were given to Governor Clinton. The latter made no comment on the 
rudeness of his assailants, but Sir Danvers said he expected he himself would 
be similarlv derided before he had long been in office. The next day he was 
])resented with an address from the corporation, in which confidence was 
expressed that "^'our excellency will be as averse from countenancing as 
we from brooking anv infringements of our inestimable liberties, civil 
and religious." 

Sir Danvers did not approve of this language or the sentiment it 
ex])ressed, and so expressed himself to some of those about him, but refrained 
from anv open rebuke at that time. His instructions were, however, very 
sjiecitic that his endeavors should be directed to repress the \-erv spirit of in- 
de]iendence which w-as exhibited in this j^assage. He explained to a member 
of the Council what his instructions were and asked how they would be 
recei\-ed, and was lold that the Assembly would certainlv not vield on the 
issue of annual revenue and specific ap])ropriations, whereat he seemed very 
mttch disturbed and exclaimed: "What, then, am I sent here for?" 

The night liefore he had, at the inauguration dinner, asked to be excused 
because of indisiiosition, and on this Thursday, at Air. Alurrav's, he dined 
with his host and again comiilained that he felt ])oorly. Air. Alurray pro- 
posed a drive or horseback ride, but Sir Danvers said no, and .seemed to be 
aft'ected with a profound melancholy. Dr. Alagraw, said to be the best physi- 
cian in town, was simimoned, but the new governor declined any medical serv- 
ice and went to his bedroom. The next morning, Friday, October 12, 1753. 
the bodv of Osborn was found suspendetl from Air. Alurray's g-arden fence. 
Careful and detailed investigation revealed the fact that the baronet had had 
manv spells of melancholv such as preceded his death, and that this was by 
no means the first time he had attempted suicide. His funeral took place 
October 13th, from Trinity Church, the rector. Rev. Henry Barclay, offi- 
ciating. 

The death of Sir Danvers Osborn brought Lieutenant Governor James 
DeLancey into active government of the colony. His first act after hastily 



DliLAXCliV IX THli ROLIi OP GOJliRXOh' 511 

sunini(inin<;- tiic (.'ouncil into session and reading to them and the officer of the 
guard his commission, was to appoint a committee to investigate into the cause 
of Governor Osborn's death, consisting of James Alexander, oldest member of 
the Council ])resent ; John Chambers, second justice of the Supreme Court, and 
Mayor Holland; a wise move, because there were not wanting, at first, evil 
persons who would have called the death a case of assassination, a murder; 
while the investigations of this committee revealed the facts as liefore nar- 
rated. 

Lieutenant Governor DeLancey was in a peculiar position. As the active 
and powerful opponent of Governor Clinton he had been the cham]Mon of the 
theories which had so worked into the legislative mind, as represented in the 
Assembly, as to become organic; foremost of which was the idea of annual 
grants and specific appropriations. This theory had been adhered to through 
the ten years of Governor Clinton's rule, and for about eight years of that time 
Clinton had, not without cause, regarded DeLancey as the strongest factor in 
the opposition which ran so counter to the royal demands for a permanent 
revenue without definite appropriations. Now DeLancey had become a roval 
governor, and the instructions given to Sir Danvers Osliorn were bindine 
upon him. These instructions were as stringentlv royalist in their theorv as 
to grants and appropriations and the maintenance of the king's prerogative as 
any which had previously incited the Assemblv to defiance. 

There had been a strange reversal of political alignments in Xew York 
from the coming of Governor Cosby, in 1732, to the accession to gubernatorial 
power of DeLancey, in 1753. When Cosby came, DeLancey, a }oung man 
of twenty-nine years, was an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He was 
a native New Yorker, son of a French Huguenot, a graduate of Cambridge 
University and admitted to the English Bar. From his return to his native 
city, in 1725, he had been active in politics, and under Cosby he was the 
strongest supporter of the governor's authority and the king's prerogative. 
He was appointed chief justice at the age of thirty, in place of Lewis Mor- 
ris, of Morrisania, who was unlawfully dismissed by Cosby, but who after- 
ward became governor of New Jersey. He it was who had been the presiding 
judge at the Zenger trial, and whose ruling that the truth could not be proved 
as a defense to libel had been riddled by the learned Andrew Hamilton. Dur- 
ing Clarke's administration he had shown a tendency to modify his opinions, 
and yet he had at first been relied upon as the adviser and most powerful 
friend of Clinton, who charged him with a sudden change of front, dating 
from his receiving from that governor's hands a new commission running 
during his good behavior, in place of that which he had received from Cosby, 
revocable at the governor's pleasure. This was probably an exaggeration, for 
while personal influences may have had a good deal to do with the modification 



•.'I-.' HISTORY OF XEir YORK 

and revision of liis political opinions, such changes are by no means a rarity 
in the history of statesmanship. Lord Alacaulay, in 1S39, spoke truly of Mr. 
Gladstone as a "youns; man of unblemished character, and a distinguished 
parliamentarian, the rising hope of the stern and unbending Tories," and 
vet that same great man, with character always unblemished, became the 
greatest of all Liberal leaders. Our own ])olitical history has presented many 
such changes, some of which were, doubtless, the result of personal ambitions, 
while manv others were no less surelv produced as the result of changing 
conditions and the evolution of conviction as affected thereby. 

DeLancey's change of front had been no greater than that of several 
other prominent New Yorkers of his time. James Alexander, William Smith 
and Cadwallader Golden, early essayists of Zenger's Journal, and champions 
of the liberty of the press and of popular rights, had all become members of 
Glinton's Gouncil maioritv and hostile to the bold and indejjendent attitude of 
the Assembly. Golden, now senior member of the Gouncil, who had been espe- 
cially obnoxious to Gosby, had become the spokesman for Glinton, and the 
writer of articles in supjiort of his side in the controversies with DeLancey 
and the legislature, while Daniel Horsmanden, who had been appointed by 
Gosby, was the spokesman and pamphleteer to whose pen the advocacy of the 
popular side of current (|uesti(>ns had been confided in these later years. The 
per.sonal marshaling of forces had continued much the same as to individuals, 
but the forces had changed sides. 

DeLancey, in his dealings with the Assembly, had the advantage of 
knowing his ground, and of personal acquaintance and influence with the 
membershi]). The Assembly expected him as governor to present to them 
the royal demands, and he did so, acquainting the Assembly with the purport 
of Osborn's instructions. He was not disappointed when the Assembly told 
him that the principle of annual grants and specific appropriations would be 
adhered to. In comnnmicating this stand to the authorities in London, De- 
Lancey stated that it would be useless to dissolve the Assembly on that ground, 
for the principle thus re])resented reflected public opinion in the colony, and 
a dissolution on that ground would insure the reelection of the same men. 
He reported also tlial he had been successful in securing from the Assembly 
a decision not to meddle with the executive part of tlie government which, he 
says, "T had convinced them was an encroachment on His ALijesty's preroga- 
tive, the executive power being solelv in the crown." 

The apjiroach of war ])etween the I'rench and Lnglish in America being 
foreshadowed, the Board of Trade and F'lantations recommended the holding 
of an intercolonial convention to "confirm and strengthen the ancient friend- 
shi]) of the Five Xations," and consider plans for a permanent union among 
the colonies. This convention, which met at Albanv, June H), 1754, was pre- 



THE FOUXDIXG OF K/XG'S COLLEGE 



2V 



sided over by Governor DeLancey, and was participated in by commissioners 
from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland and New York. Connecticut had three delegates, Rhode 
Island and ^laryland two each, and the nther colonies four each. After con- 
ferences with the Indians, embellished with the usual exchange of ornate ora- 
tions, and arrangements for the particijiation of the Indian tribes in the war, 
a plan of intercolonial union was presented by Benjamin Franklin, a com- 
missioner from Pennsylvania, who had been placed at the head of a committee 
charged with that sul)ject. It i)rovided for a grand council of the colonies 
with a president general, to manage Indian al^airs, authorize new settlements, 
nominate all civil officers, impose taxes, enlist and pay troops, and construct 
forts, all of its acts to be valid unless vetoed by the crown within three years. 
This was adopted by the convention, but afterward being submitted for ratifi- 
cation was unanimously rejected by the crown and royal governors, l)ecause it 
gave too much power to the colonies, and I)y the colonial legislatures, l^ecause 
it gave too much power to the crown. William Johnson, who had become 
the leading authority and executive in connection with Indian m;atters, was the 
most influential of the New ^'ork delesfates to the Albanv convention. 




KING'S COLLEGE, 1755 



One of the earliest happenings in the city after DeLancey became actively 
lieutenant governor was the founding of King's College. The matter had 
been canvassed for several years, the Assembly having, in 1746. authorized 
public lotteries for the establishment of a college in the province of New \'ork 
These lotteries had, by 185 1, brought proceeds amounting to £3443 i8s and 
this sum was turned over to a board of trustees, of whom seven of the ten 
were members of the Church of Eng-land. The influence of these led to an 



214 HISTORY OF XEIF YORK 

apjilicaticin fur a royal charter, which created much opposition in Xew York, 
where the sentiment of a large majority was in favor of a strictly American 
institution. Rev. Henry Barclay, who, after having been a missionary among 
the ]\I()hawks, had become especially active in the promotion of the college, had 
induced his vestry to grant to the institution a part of the farm belonging to 
the church, which had previously been successively known as "Annetje Jans' 
Bouwerie," and later, in honor of her second husband, Domine Bogardus, the 
■'Domine's Bouwerie," and then the King's Farm, before its cession to Trinity 
parish. Smith, the contemporary historian, tells us that the tract set apart 
for the college was located "in the stiburbs of the capital," which has a hu- 
morous sound now, when it is described, in modern terms, as practically iden- 
tical with the blocks now boimded by Church Street, College Place, Barclay 
and Murray Streets. Dr. Samuel Johnson, rector of the Church of England 
parish at Stamford, Conn., was called into service as first president, in the 
autimin of 1753, though the king's charter for the institution was not issued 
until 1754, under the title of King's College. The grant of lands from Trin- 
ity parish was on condition that its president's should always be members of 
the Church of England, and that the church liturgy should be read in the col- 
lege mornings and evenings. Under the royal charter the management of the 
college was vested in the xA-rchbishop of Canterbury, the governor of the ])rov- 
ince and other crown officers, ex officio, the rector of Trinity Church and the 
ministers of the Dutch Reformed Churches in Xew York, and twentv-four 
g'entlemen of New York City. The erection of the first college building at 
what is now the junction of West Broadway and MiuTay Street was not begun 
until 175'). The institution, first as King's College and afterward as Colum- 
bia College and University, has continued to be the greatest as well as the 
oldest of the instittitions of the higher learning, in the metropolis of America. 

In connection with the beginnings of this college there was established 
a spirit of hostility between the Livingstons, long one of the most powerful 
of the families of Xew Yovk. and the e(|ually powerful family of the DeLan- 
ceys. The Livingstons, then represented 1)\' four brothers, were Presbvterians, 
and all four were graduates of ^'ale College. Thev, with ])eople of the other 
non-Episco])al denominations, objected strenuotisly to the proposed charter, be- 
cause it gave preponderating control of the college to the Church of England. 
DeLancey was personally of the same view and had so expressed himself, 
though not so emphaticallv as the Livingstons, before it came to him to act 
upon the matter officially. When the charter came to him as governor, he had, 
however, interposed no official objection, and for this failure incurred the hos- 
tility of the Livingstons. 

Edward Holland was mayor of X^ew ^'ork from 1747 to 1756. Althcmgh 
a resident of Xew ^'ork Citv, he had been elected a member of the Assembly 



SIR CHARLES HARDY BECOMRS GOl'ERXOR --M: 



from Schenectady. There was plenty of precedent for the vahdity of such 
an election, hut he was an adherent of Governor Clinton and, therefore, the 
Assembly made his nonresidence a pretext for declaring liini disqualified to 
represent Schenectady and rejecting him from membership. This placed him 
in line for preferment at the hands of Governor Clinton, who, in 1747, ap- 
pointed him mayor of the city and a meml)er of the Royal Council. A census 
made during his administration, in 1749, showed the population to number 
13,294, white and black. Mayor Holland seems to have been tactful, for he 
continued in office as mayor and councilor until his death, serving under De- 
Lancev and Hardy after Clinton's term closed. 

DeLancev, being a native and permanent resident, did not fill the reciuire- 
ments for a governor of New York, such posts being regarded in London as 
opportunities for the enrichment of some royal or ministerial favorite who 
needed the money. So, although DeLancey was governing the province with 
much ability and little friction, the King's Council, wath His Majesty present, 
executed an order, January 29, 1755, appointing Charles Hardy, a captain in 
the Royal Navy, to be captain general and governor in chief of His Majesty's 
province of New York. Before he left England, in July, 1755, he had been 
knighted by the king, and it was as Sir Charles Hardy that he arrived in front 
of New York in H.M.S. Sphynx, September 2, 1755. He remained on board 
until next day, but being visited on the shi]), on the evening of his arrival, by 
Lieutenant Governor DeLancey, he expressed his delight that one so efficient 
and experienced would lie associated with his government, because he, with 
remarkable modesty, thought there would be many duties connected with the 
governorship for w^iich he was not fitted and many questions luight arise, about 
the merits of which he could know nothing. The landing of the new gover- 
nor and his formal reception took place the next day. 

During his occupancv of the active duties of the governorship DeLancey 
had not relinc|uished the chief justiceship. Liimediately after the inaugura- 
tion of Sir Charles Hardy several of those opposed to DeLancey Ijrought to 
Sir Charles a protest against the holding by the lieutenant governor of the 
office of chief justice, claiming that he should ])e restricted to either one or the 
other of these offices. The ([uestion was submitted to the Lords of Trade, in 
London, and by them to the attorney-general, who upheld the title of DeLancey 
to both offices, which indeed he had continued to exercise, pending the decision, 
by the express desire of Sir Charles. That gentleman, although he had been 
governor of Newfoundland in 1844. was free to acknowledge his deficiencies 
and limitations, especially in connection with matters of law, of which, he said, 
he knew nothing, so that in addition to the functions of chief justice he turned 
over to DeLancey those of chancellor, greatly delighted that he had one so com- 
petent to take them ofT his hands. In fact, so great and undeviating was the 



■,'1(; HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

reliance of Sir Charles upon DeLancey, that the latter dominated the provin- 
cial situation about as fully after, as before the governor general's arri\al. 

Sir Charles, however, was by no means superfluous, for the French and 
Indian war, which was then in full progress, gave him scope for his thor- 
oughly trained military abilities. That war, which had at first been centered 
principally at and near Fort Duquesne, established by the French at the con- 
fluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, including the disas- 
ter of Braddock, with his regular and \"irginia troops, had extended along the 
entire frontier, including that of the province of New York. William John- 
son had been commissioned as a major general of colonial forces and placed in 
command of Indian atfairs in the province, but the most important part of the 
war, so far as Xew York was concerned, was still in the future. With the 
great opportunities in view in the line of his profession. Sir Charles tired of his 
civil place, and asked the home government to release him from the governor- 
ship and give him active duty in the navy. His request was granted and on 
June 3, 1757, he placed the government once more in the hands of Lieutenant 
Go\'ern(ir DeLancey. Sir Charles was promoted to rear admiral of the White, 
took part in the final capture of Louisburg and was later promoted to vice 
admiral. When he retired from active service, in 1771. he was given the 
sinecure post of governor of Greenwich Hospital, which he retained until his 
death, in 1780. 

DeLancey continued in the exercise of the duties of the governorship 
until his death, August 4. 1760. He had been for years a sufiferer from asthma, 
and on the day before he died had been to Staten Island in conference -with 
the governor of New Jersey. He returned at night in an open boat and on 
reaching Xew York ro(le out to his country house, a mansion on the Bowery 
Road at a location between the jiresent Grand and Rivinglon Streets. The 
ex])osure brought on a severe asthmatic attack and the next morning he was 
found dead in his liljrary. He was only fifty-seven years of age, but he had 
I)een one of the leaders of thought and action in the jirovince for three decades. 

To him succeeded Dr. Cadwallader Colden, who was the jiresident and 
oldest member of the Provincial Council, and then seventy-two years of age. 
He had succeeded DeLancey as adviser in chief of Governor Clinton, and that 
governor had tried to secure for him the commission of lieutenant governor 
instead of DeLancey, but the latter, tlirough the powerful influence of Sir 
Peter Warren, had secured the ])rize. Toward the latter part of Clinton's 
administration Dr. Colden had not been in entire sympathy with the governor, 
because of the violence of his futile eitorts to force the Assembly into obedi- 
ence to his behests. 

Colden ruled Xew York as president of the Council for a year and then 
received his commission as lieutenant governor of Xew York, but three months 



GEXERAL ROBERT MOXCKTOX IS GOrERXOR 217 

later he surrendered the control of affairs to General Robert Monckton, who 
was the new governor general, appointed by the king, ]\Iarch 20, 1761, and 
arrived in New York on H.M.S. Alcide, October 20th, following. 

Meanwhile the French and Indian War had proceeded to the ;id\antage 
of the French until 175H, in which year they achieved their last inii)ortant vic- 
tory of that war in their great defeat of the British at Ticonderoga. The earl 
of Loudoun, who, in 1756, had come out as commander in chief of the arnn- 
throughout pjritish North America, had made himself obnoxious to New 
Yorkers bv his arrogant demeanor, and after an unsuccessful two years in 
that position, Pitt, returning to power, supplanted him, in I75>>, with Lord 
Amherst, who proved a much abler commander, who prosecuted the campaign 
against the enemy with great vigor. Louisburg was captured in July, Fort 
Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, in August, and Fort Duquesne in November, 
1758, and in the summer of 1759. Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Fort Niagara 
fell before the British onslaught, and the campaign practically ended by the 
defeat of Montcalm at Quebec, September 13, 1759, by the forces of General 
Wolfe and Montcalm's surrender, followed by the control of Canada by the 
English in the succeeding year. 

Major General William Johnson, who had charge of the interests of New 
York on the frontier, took an active and important ])art in the struggle. He 
conducted the expedition against Crown Point, defeating and capturing Baron 
Dieskau at Lake George, and it was his personal prestige and influence with 
the Six Nations that kept them from aiding France in this struggle. For this 
service he was made a baronet, received the thanks of Parliament aufl was 
given a grant of £5000. He was present at the battles of Ticonderoga and 
Fort Niagara, assuming command at the latter, after the death of General 
Prideaux, cutting the French army to pieces and C()mi)elling the surrender of 
the fort. He afterward led the Lidians in an expediti(Mi to Canada, and was 
])resent at the surrender of ^Montreal. 

The war was of considerable benetit to the business interests of New 
York, thanks to the foresight and enterprise of Lieutenant Governor DeLan- 
cey. Just after Braddock's defeat, in 1755, DeLancey wrote to the autlmrities 
in London, setting forth the great advantages of New York as the ideal loca- 
tion for the establishing of a general magazine of arms and military stores 
for the supply of the armies operating in various sections of the country. 
His effective portrayal of the advantages of the city was api)roved by the Lords 
of Trade and as a consequence a greatly augmented trade was built up in arms 
and in farm products and, for much of the time, in supplies for the troops 
who had winter quarters in the cit\-. 

It was a gala day on Wednesday, November 26, 1760, when Afajor Gen- 
eral Amherst was presented with the freedom of the city, in a gold box, and a 



-.' 1 s 



HISTORY OF XFjr VORK 



very eulog'istic address from tlie corporation, in honor of liis services in the 
reduction of Canada. 

After the death of Mayor Holland, in 1756, John Crug-er ( son of the John 
Cruo-er who had held the office from 1739 to 1744) was a])pointed to the 
office l)y Governor Hardy, continuing in that office until 1765. The office 
made him, ex officio, a member of the Provincial Council. He was a man of 
much administrative ability and he was always a champion of the ])opu]ar 
cause against the oppression of royal prerogative and parliamentarv preten- 
sion, and was full of zeal for his native citv. When in the winter of 1756- 
1757 the Earl of Loudoun brought a thoitsand regular troops to be quartered 
in Xew ^'ork, the barracks in the fort were fitted up for the men Init there 
was no room for the officers. The law made it the dutv of the citizens to 
provide quarters for them, but contemplated that thev should be reimbursed, 
but Loudoun, with abusive and profane language, insisted upon free (juarters. 
Mayor Cruger tried to reason with him, but he was unreasonable and seemed 
to think that provincials were inferior beings, so the mayor started a sub- 
scription, which he himself headed, to pav for the lodgings of such officers 
as were lodged in houses whose owners could not afford to quarter them 
gratis. 




FRONT VIEW OF BURNS' COFFEE HOUSE 
Broadway, opposite the Bowling Green. 1760 



CHAPTER T jr E N T Y - T jr 



GOLDEN AND THE STAMP TROUBLES 

GENERAL MONGKTON AND SIR HENRY MOORE 

THE SONS OF LIBERTY 

During the period from the departure of Sir Charles Hardy, June 3, 
1757, the colony had been governed by Lieutenant Governors DeLaiicey and 
President Colden, but the higher title of Sir Charles did not lapse until he 
resigned it. in 1761, and General Robert Monckton was appointed governor 
and captain general at the same time that a commission was made out for 
Dr. Cadwallader Colden as lieutenant governor. General Monckton, who 
was a son of \'iscount Galway, had a gallant record as a soldier, beginning 
his militarv career with the armies in Flanders and being transferred to the 
American Station in 1753. He commanded the posts at Halifax and Annap- 
olis Roval, and became lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, in 1756. He com- 
manded the Royal Americans in Loudoun's Army, was engaged in the siege of 
Louisburg. and afterward was second in command in Wolfe's glorious cam- 
])aign ending in the capture of Quebec, in which he was severely wounded; 
and he was promoted colonel for gallantry there, and afterward promoted to 
major general. He was a favorite with the colonial troops and had many 
strong friends and admirers among the people; and several of the leading 
families in New York enjoyed his intimate acquaintance. 

Arriving in Xew York in October, 1761. he was sworn in as goverudr 
on the 26th. amid scenes of great enthusiasm ; and he received a welcoming 
address from the corporation, and the freedom of the city, in a gold box. With 
his commission General Monckton had brought with him leave of absence 
from the province in order that he might take command of an expedition 
being fitted out for the cajiture of M'lrtinique from the French. He also 
brought with him the appointment of Ilenjamin Pratt to the office of chief 
justice and also io the vacant seat in the Provincial Council. Archibald 
Kennedy, who was collector of customs as well as a member of the Council, 
was permitted to resign from the latter connection because of his age. 

Monckton presented his leave of absence November 15th, and Colden 
filled the duties until he returned victorious from the capture of Martinique, 
June 12, 1762. For a year he administered the affairs of the province with 
much acceptability. Chief Justice Pratt dying, he promoted Daniel Horsman- 
den to the office, and completed the P)ench by the appointment of Thomas 
Jones for second. William Smith, the elder, for third, and Robert R. Living- 
ston for the fourth judge. General Monckton' s health became impaired and 
on June 28th. he departed for England, leaving the seals of office with Dr. 



•2-.'(i HISTORY OF XniJ- YORK 

Colden and his private affairs in the hands of John Watts, who was an old 
and intimate friend of the general. 

By this time not only the hostilities in America, but the Seven Years 
\\\ar in Europe had been concluded by the Treaty of Paris, of 1763, bv which 
France ceded Canada, and Sjiain the bdoridas to Great Britain, and Spain 
received Louisiana from France, thus bringing to an end the rule of France in 
all parts of North America except for a n(iminal sovereignty when Spain 
relinquished Louisiana to France in iSoo, the latter country scarcely having 
taken possession when it was purchased from it ])y the United States, in 1S03. 

There was great rejoicing among the jjeople of the colonies over the 
treatv which made America all English, from the uninhabitable ice of the Arctic 
Circle to the palms of the Florida Keys, and yet this joy was not unmixed with 
dread. A new king had come to the throne in 1760, the third of the Hano- 
verian Georges, a man whose little mind was all stublxirness. He had little 
educatidu, and had small aptitude for learning. The one lesson which had 
sunk in was the oft-repeated admonition of his mother: "George, lie king;" and 
king he had determined to be. He had moreo\er figured out that the way to 
be king was to make all things subservient to his will, and to kee]) power as 
far away from the peo])le as possible. To that end he became a partisan in 
politics, a Torv of the Tories. Pitt, idol of the people in America and 
England, was driven from ]K)wer: Bute who, as Green says, "took office 
simply as the agent of the king's will,'" became first minister, and, again to 
quote Green: "The royal revenue was employed to buy seats and to Imy 
votes. Day by d:i\- the young sovereign scrutinized the voting list of the two 
houses, and distributed rewards and punishments as members v(^ted according 
to his will or no. Promotion in the civil service, preferment in the church, 
rank in the army, was reser\-ed for 'the king's friends." Pensions and ci:)urt 
places were used to influence debates. Briliery was employed on a scale never 
before known. L'ndcr linte"s ministrv an office was opened at the Treasury 
for the purchase of members and £25,000 are said to have been ])aid in a sin- 
gle day." 

Under these measures of corrui)tion the tone of Parliament was soon 
greatlv changed, and the influence of Pitt was greatly minimized. Pitt 
opposed the Treaty of Paris, because great as were the accessions of territory 
from France in America, man\' of the concjuests made by British arms in the 
Seven Years War were given up, notably jMartinique, which Monckton had 
ca])tured, to France, and Cuba and the Philippines to Spain. War out of the 
way, George set his heart on the regulation of America. The Lords of Trade 
were burdened with the bewailments of royal governors who could not govern, 
because refractorv assemblies were talking about liberty, were making annual 
ajipropriations only and dictating how they should be spent, and agitators 



lUKir.-llX PROPOSIIS TO T.IX THE COLOMHS 'lil 



were talking about "the consent of the o-overned" as an excuse for evading 
the navigation laws, opposing the sugar tax, and otherwise acting in a demo- 
cratical and incendiary manner. It was almost unanimously the opinion in 
England, that as the late war, which had increased the public debt to the then 
enormous total of £140,000,000, was partly incurred in the defense of the 
American colonies, the colonies should hear a share of the new burden. 

This statement of obligation was not seriously combated in America, 
and had Pitt been in power he would probably have l^een able to tind some 
means whereby the colonies would have taxed themselves for a reasonable 
share of the payment of the national debt. But George and Bute were more 
anxious to emphasize the absolute dependence of the colonies upon the mother 
coimtry than they were to secure revenue, much as they desired the latter, and 
to em])hasize their view Charles Townshend was appointed president of the 
Board of Trade. He declared in favor of a rigorous execution of the navi- 
gation laws, by which a monopoly of American trade was secured to the 
mother country; and favored the raising of a revenue within the colonies for 
the discharge of the debt, and of measures for impressing upon the colonies 
their dependence upon Britain. New York was especially affected by the 
l>olicy of Townshend. The prohibitory duties which had hitherto been laid 
with the view to prevent direct trade between the colonies and the French and 
Spanish West Indies, had been constantly evaded by systematic smuggling, but 
now, while the duties were somewhat reduced, the lower taxes were exacted 
with great rigor and a strong naval force was kept near the American coast, 
l)y the admiralty, charged with the suppression of American trade with for- 
eign countries. Further measures of stringent government and direct parlia- 
mentary taxation were outlined, and that these would be resisted was evi- 
dently expected, because although by elimination of French sovereignty from 
America, by the Treatv of Paris, the colonies had been left with no enemy ex- 
ce])t the Indians, a force of ten thousand men was quartered on the people. 

Lieutenant Governor Colden called the Assembly together September 5, 
1764, opening the session with a speech of the usual general character, felici- 
tations on peace with the Indians, and recommendations to discharge the pub- 
lic debt and to renew the expired act granting a bounty on hemp. This 
brought out a reply, reported bv Philip Livingston, which began with strong 
expressions of loyalty to the crown, and expressing a hope that "His Majesty 
who is and w'hose ancestors have long been the guardian of British liberty, 
will so protect our rights as to prevent our falling into the abject state of 
being forever after incapable of doing what can merit his distinction or ap- 
probation. Such must be the state of that wretched people who (being taxed 
liy a power subordinate to none and in a great measure unac(|uainted with 
their circumstances) can call nothing their own." The address went on to 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



speak of ■■alarming infcirniation from home." and adding a hope that "Your 
Honour will join us in an endeavor to secure that great badge of English 
liberty of being taxed only with our own consent to which we conceive all His 
Majesty's subjects at home and abroad equally entitled: and also in pointing 
out to the ministry the many mischiefs arising from the act commonly called 
the Sugar Act to us and to Great Britain." It also promised compliance with 
the lieutenant governor's recommendations as to the hemp bounty and the pub- 
lic debt. 

Golden was much stirred by this address, to which he replied with a criti- 
cism of its propriety; l)ut in writing to the Lords of Trade he declared the 

address to be '■undutiful and inde- 
cent." He had, he said,, tried with- 
out success to have it modified, but 
advising" with the Gouncil. he had 
concluded not to dissol\-e the Assem- 
blv as it was. it not being probable 
that one of better temper could be 
procured by calling an election. The 
Assembly sent a petiti(in to the king, 
protesting against the ])roposal to 
impose parliamentarv taxes on the 
colonies. 

The British ministry jilanned to 
get revenue from the colonies by 
means of an internal stamp tax. the plan of which is said to have originated 
with Bute's secretarv, Jenkinson. afterward the first Lord Liver])ool. Lord 
Grenville. who succeeded Bute as head of the ministrv, in the autunni of 1763. 
had given notice, in March. 1764, of an intention to introduce such an act. and 
it was this to which the address of the .\ssemblv referred as "■alarming infor- 
mations from home." The act as proposed was passed, and signed ]\Iarch 22. 
1765. It was entitled, '■An Act for Granting' and Stipplying Certain Stamp 
Duties and Other Duties, in the British Golonies and Plantations in America, 
towards I'urther Defraving the Mxpences of Defending. Protecting and Secur- 
ing the same." It prescribed ( i ) that stamped paper be used for legal and 
official documents, dijjlomas and certificates; (2) that stamps be placed on 
playing cards, dice, books (excepting those used in the schools), newspapers, 
pamphlets, calendars, almanacs, and various other articles; and (3) that 
jury trials be denied to oftenders at the discretion of the authorized 
prosecuting officers. It was to become effective November i, 1765. 
Soon after its passage Grenville went out of office, and the ^Marquis of Rock- 
ingham formed another of the .short-lived ministries of that eventful era. 




OLD LUTHERAN CHURCH IN FRANKFORT STREET 

lirecteil in 17(j7 



THE STAMP ACT ROUSES A STORM 



News of the actual passage of the Stamp Act reached America early 
in Alav. 1765, and roused a fury of intense opposition in the colonies, on 
the ground, that as the colonists were not represented in Parliament, 
that body had no right to tax them without their formal consent; and 
also on the less important hut still \ital ground, that the duties would 
he exceedingly burdensome and would cause the withdrawal from circula- 
tion, of the little specie there was in the various colonies. When the Stamp 
Act had been proposed, in 17O4, there had been formed in the various 
cf)lonies loose secret organizations for concerted resistence to the passage 
or execution of the act. In the discussion of the Stam)) Act, before its 
passage, in February, 1765, Colonel Isaac Barre, a member of Parliament, 
who had been with Wolfe as lieutenant colonel, and was wounded at 
Quebec, in i75<>, strenuously opposed the act, lauded the Americans and inci- 
dentally applied to them the name of "Sons of Liberty," and for }'ears 
afterward was one of the staunchest supporters of the American cause. 
After the passage of the act. the societies which had been formed adopted 
P>arre"s phrase as the title of their org-anizations, and took the lead in 
oi)])osition to the enforccnicni of the obnoxious statute. Committees of 
correspondence were formed, and each colony was kei)t in loncli with the 
sentiment in the others. 

When the news of the Stamp Act came, the New York Assend)l\- was 
adjourned, but the X'irginia House of Burgesses was in session, antl on 
A])ril _'i)th passed strong resolutions formally denying the right of the 
liritish Parliament to meddle with internal taxation and demanding the 
repeal of the act. Massachusetts adopted the denial and proposed a con- 
gress of delegates from ench of the provincial assemblies to provide for 
united action. Xew York could not, at the time, speak through its 
Assembly, but its voice was equall}- emi)hatic. The New ^'ork ( iazette 
and Weekly Post Boy was the organ of the advanced patriots, among 
whom its editor, John Holt, was one of the most ardent. Colden, writing 
to Monckton, then absent from his government, complaining of it as a 
"licentious, abusive, weekly printed paper." It contained from week to 
week dissertations on liberty, signed "Sentinel," and rhvmes of patriotic 
fervor. William Livingston. William Smith (the younger. New York's 
first historian) and John Morin Scott, three friends, all lawyers, and 
graduates of Yale, who had for several years been associated as members 
of the Whig Club which met weekly at The King's Arms tavern, were 
regarded by Colden as dangerous leaders of the protest against the Stani]) 
Act. The most active of these three was John Morin Scott, who, under 
the signature of "Freeman" published, in June, three articles in which he 
set forth in the most cogent manner the argument of the unconstitu- 



•->■.' 4 



HISTORY OF XIUV YORK 



tiniiality of the Stani]) Act and declared that if tlie welfare of Great 
Britain "necessarily requires a sacrifice of the most valuable natural 
rights of the colonies: their right of making their own laws and dis- 
posing of their ])roperty by representation of their own choosing — if such 
is reallv the case between Great Britain and her colonies, then the con- 
nection between them ought to cease ; and sooner or later it must cease." 
This was one of the earliest pronouncements of independence as the 
ultimatum — the inevitable result of taxation without representation. Not 
all the printed assaults on the act came in this thoughtful and philosophic 
guise. Pamphlets, lampoons and squibs were distributed broadcast; 
copies of the Stamp Act were sold on the streets with a title page, "The 
Follv of England and the Ruin of America." In all of the cities those who 




BRICK CHURCH IN BEEKMAN STREET. 1768 



had acce])ted appointments as distributors of stamps were made to feel 
the censure of the populace. In Boston, Newport, New Haven and Nor- 
wich effigies labeled with the names and titles of the distributors were 
hanged and burned. The Sons of Liberty made themselves felt, and 
brought such intimidation and terror to the agents that they resigned, 
some of them before the stam])S arrived. This was the case with lames 
AIcEvers, who had accepted the oflice for New York and given bonds, but 
who resigned August 30th, as a conse(|uence of personal threats as well as 
of the news from Boston and elsewhere. There were riots in Boston, in 
which se\eral buildings were wrecked, and on September jd. Lieutenant 
(iovernor Golden asked (ieneral Gage, in command of the troops at New 
"N'ork, to furnish a force for the protection of the government property, 
and on September 3d notified Captain Kennedy, commanding H.M.S. Ken- 



FROM PETER HASE.yK LITER'S IROX JVORKS 



nedv, in Xcw \'iirk liarlxir. to watch for incrnning ships antl to protect what- 
ever vessel hrous;"ht the stamps. 

Mr. Hood, whc) had been appointed stamp master for Maryland, was 
driven out of Annapolis, and, coming to New York, took lodgings at The 
King's Arms tavern, but hearing from the local Sons of Liberty that 
his resignation would be acceptable, he asked Colden for protection and was 
given quarters in Fort George. Many publications of an underground 
character appeared on the street. One entitled the Constittitional Courant, 
advocating imion, and especially bold in tone, was printed in New Jersey 
and circulated on the streets of New York. Lawrence Sweeny, who dis- 
tributed the sheet, being asked where he got it, replied that he procured it 
from Peter Hasenkliver's Iron Works in East Jersey. This joke was 
passed around, and the next day the Courant came out with a date line 
from "Peter Hasenkliver's Iron Works." Its headline bore the device of a 
snake cut up into segments, representing, respectively. New England, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, \^irginia. North Carolina, 
South Carolina, and Georgia, with the legend "Unite or Die," which had 
been used eleven years before by Franklin, to urge cooperation of the col- 
onies to re])el the French invasion. 

During all this time. General Monckton, the governor general, 
remained in London. His opinion, like that of his friend. Sir Isaac Barre, 
was against the government's plan of taxation for America, and he 
felt so strongly on the subject that afterward, when the Revolution 
was in progress, he declined a C(>mmand offered him, because he 
would not fight the comrades who had fought under him in Canada. So 
Colden's letters to him in the summer of 1765 led him to resign the 
governorship of New York, and Sir Henry Moore was appointed to 
succeed him. 

Active preparation for the congress proposed by Massachusetts, to con- 
sider the situation, was in progress, New A'ork being designated as the place 
of meeting. Meanwhile the stamps began to arrive in various ])laces, amid 
menacing opposition to their being landed, and for a time they were kept on 
lioard the shi])s bringing them, guarded by men-of-war. Early in October the 
<lelegates arri\ed in the city, and the Stam]j Act Congress asembled on 
October 7th, in the City Hall. Delegates were there from Massachusetts 
Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the government of the counties of Kent, New- 
castle and Suffolk u\>nn Delaware, Maryland and South Carolina. Only 
six were duly authorized committees appointed by the legislatures, as had 
been designated in the call for the convention. The Georgia Assembly had 
been enjoined by the governor from sending a committee ; and the Assam- 



•3->(5 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

blies of \'ii\qinia and North Carolina had been ])rorogued 1)y their gover- 
nors. New Hampshire sent word tliat it could not send a committee. The 
New York Assembly had not been in session, but the members of the 
Committee of Correspondence, chosen at its last session, were accepted as 
delegates to the convention, making an es])ecially strong' delegation, includ- 
ing Robert R. Livingston, Philip Livingston, William Bayard and Leonard 
Lispenard. Among the members from other colonies were several states- 
men who attained distinction. Boston sent James Otis: Connecticut sent 
William Samuel Johnson, jurist and educator; while from Pennsylvania 
came John Dickinson, "penman of the Revolution"'; from Delaware came 
Thomas McKean, jurist, and signer nf the Declaration of Independence; 
from South Carolina, Christopher Gadsden, later a general in the Revolu- 
tion, and [ohn Rutledg^e, afterward governor of his state. The president. 
General Timothy Ruggles, had served in the French and Indkan War. The 
convention a])])iiinted a committee to jirepare a declaration and met again 
iin ( )ctober i<)th, and following days, adjourning" rtnally on ( )ctober j8th. 
The "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" was agreed on after some 
careful deliberation and slight amendment. It is an able, fearless and 
dignihed ]ia])er, and whether written by John Cruger (who that year went 
ciut of office as mavor of New York), or by John Dickinson, of Pennsyl- 
vania, as has been variously claimed, was distinctly creditable to the 
writer. This was forwarded with a formal address to the king, and peti- 
tions to each house of Parliament. General Ruggles, the president, would 
not sign the document, as "against his conscience"; nor would ()gden, of 
New Jersey, but all the others subscribed their names. "This Congress," 
says John Richard Green, in his History of the English People, "was the 
beginning of the American Union." 

Prominent in the agitation of that period were Isaac Sears and John 
Lamb, who were the local leaders in the Sons of Liberty, the latter 
ha\ing charge of much of the correspondence with similar organizations in 
other cities. He was a native of New York, thirty years old, and prior to 
\j()0 had worked with his father, who was a skilled optician. After that 
(late he was in ihe li(|Uor trade. Isaac Sears was born in llarwich. Massa- 
cluisetts, in \~2<). but had come to New ^'ork as a voung man, had com- 
manded a ])rivateer, and from 1758 to 1861 had cruised against the French. 
In the latter year he lost his vessel by shipwreck, and then engaged in 
the European and West Indian trade. In the earl}- part of the disputes 
between the colonists and the British goxernment lie became a leader of 
the most radical element, and especially of tlie Sons of Libert\-, who were 
busy day by day in working up an active oi»i)osition to the landing and dis- 
tribution of the stamps. 



McHll'.KS RHSICXS THE STAMP AGRXCY 



s 



In the other colonics the receiving of stam]js was resisted, and the 
stamp agents constrained to resign. In New York, ]\IcEvers had resigned 
the stamp agency, and there was no one authorized to distribute them. 
The stamps arrived here later than in any of the other colonies, coming 
in on October 23d, while the Stamp Act Congress was still in session. 
They were brought in the shi]) Edward, forty-five days out fri)m Fal- 
mouth, where they had been stowed in different parts of the ship, in ten 
packages. Tt was claimed by the captain that they had been thus stowed 
awav without his knowledge, and it is certain that none of the passengers 
aboard knew anvthing of their presence on the shi]). Tn accordance with 
the arrangement with Lieutenant Governor Colden, the ship was boarded 
at Sandy Hook by a guard from the frigate Coventry, which, in command 
of Captain Kennedy convoyed the Edward into the harbor, bringing to 
anchor under the guns of the fort. The river front anil wharves were 
filled with an excited throng; all the vessels in the harbor lowered their 
colors in token of mourning and humiliation over the arrival of the hated 
stamjis. The next morning manuscript placards were found affixed to the 
doors of all public buildings and at all street corners. They were all alike, 
and read: "Pro Patria. The first Man that either distributes or make use 
of Stampt Paper, let him take Care of his House, Person & Effects. \'ox 
Populi. We dare." 

Of the seven members of the Council who were in town at the time, only 
three, Judges Horsmanden and Siuith and John Reade, appeared at a meet- 
ing speciallv called bv Colden at this juncture. They declined to advise the 
lieutenant governor in the absence of a full l)oard, upon the ground that if 
they acted to detain the ship thev would become liable to suit, by any ]3erson 
having goods on board. Finally it was decided to unload the vessel until the 
stamps were reached, and an eft'ort was made to hire a sloop for that purpose, 
but no master of vessels would hire them for the service. The governor then 
requested the captains of the king's ships to undertake the -work, and they 
agreed to do so, and began to remove the cargo, but bv the time seven pack- 
ages of the stamps were reached there were signs of an approaching storm 
and they did not deem it safe to break the cargo further. Another element 
of worry was the absence of anv writing or bill of lading. The captain of 
the Edward stated that when he left Falmouth there was a report that the 
new governor. Sir Henry Moore, was about to embark on ?I.M.S. Minerva, 
from Portsmouth, whereupon Colden decided to postpone opening the packages 
until his arrival. The seven packages were brought to land by H.M.S. Gar- 
land, and brought to the fort without anv show of opposition. 

The fort contained a garrison of one hundred men besides their officers. 
Major James, of the artillery, who was in command, had gi\-en great offense 



25S HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 

to tlie people by his manners. He had threatened that if there was anv up- 
rising he would drive the participants out of town with two dozen men. and 
as to stamps, he would cram them down the people's throats with the point of 
his sword. Hearing of this speech, the Sons of Liberty sent a replv stating 
that they would storm the fort and burn the stamps. On October 31st, 
rumors flew thick and fast. The lieutenant governor sent w(ird to the maior 
that he had heard rumors that a riot was impending on that or the next day, 
one of the details planned for it being a design "to bury Major James alive." 

On that morning a meeting was called bv notice in the Gazette, addressed 
to the "gentlemen merchants" of New ^'ork, at the City Arms Tavern, at 
Thames Street and Broadway, to meet at four o'clock that afternoon. The 
meeting was a very large one and enthusiastic in its purpose, to take such 
measures as would be best to avert what all felt to be the outrage involved 
in the Stamp Act. Resolutions were unanimously adopted and subscril)ed by 
two hundred merchants ( i ) to accompanv all orders to Great Britain for goods 
or merchandise of any kind with instructions that they be not shipped unless 
the Stamp Act be repealed; ( 2 ) to countermand all outstanding orders unless 
upon the same condition ; ( 3 ) not to vend any goods sent on commission and 
shipped after January i, except upon the same condition; and finally, not to buy 
from Great Britain any goods, wares or merchandise after Januarv i, 1766, 
unless the Stamp Act were repealed. N^ew York thus led in the great and 
effective movement which proved ti) ha America's greatest commercial attack 
upon Great Britain. Philadelphia, on Xovember 7th, and Boston on Decem- 
ber 3d, took similar steps, and orders amounting to over £700,000 sterling were 
countermanded. It caused considerable privations at home, but it was the be- 
ginning of general manufacturing in the colonies. Homespun became popular 
wear, and city people drank sassafras tea instead of the imported article. 
Many manufactures started then, became ])ernianent, and the nonimportation 
agreements, which at first proved embarrassing to trade, tiu^ned out to lie of 
the utmost benefit to the colonies. 

The Gazette of that day was a notable number, as it contained in addi- 
tion to the call for the nonimportation meeting a "Funereal Lamentation on 
the Death of Liberty, who finally expires on the thirty-first of October in the 
Year of Om- Lord MDCCLX\^, and of our Slaverv L " and the number was 
printed with black headlines and footlines. The next day, November ist, was 
the date upon which the Stamp Act was to become effective, and it was the 
expectation that there would be disturbances, although Golden had deferred 
the' issuing of the stamps pending the arrival of the new governor. Tn the 
morning the citv magistrates notified the lieutenant governor of the expected 
uprising and a request was sent to Captain Kennedy to send all the marines 
from the king's ships in the harbor as a reinforcement of the forces at the fort. 



SOME HAXGIXGS IX EFFIGY 229 



The mol) materialized as expected, collecting in the fields near the Com- 
mons, where a movable gallows was erected, to which was dangling an effigy 
of Lieutenant Governor Colden, with various satirical inscriptions. By his 
side hung the De\-il with a boot in his hand, the latter being the emblem then 
and afterward used in derision of Lord Bute, who was regarded as the demon 
of the international drama then being enacted. After the crowd had become 
quite large, it was augmented by another large assemblage, who had a figure 
made of paper, also representing the lieutenant governor in "gray hairs," a 
term often appearing in lampoons upon Colden during this period. This effigy, 
sitting in a chair, was carried in parade of the principal streets, attended by 
men carrying about six hundred lights. INLarching through the meadow, this 
partv went southward to \\s.\\ Street, cheering as they passed the house of Mc- 
E\ers, who had renounced the stamp agency. At the City Hall the mayor, John 
Cruger, had called together the aldermen, consisting of Nicholas and Cornelius 
Roosevelt, Whitehead Hicks, George Brencoten, Francis Filkin, Dirck Brinck- 
erhofif, and John Bogert, Jr. These worthy magistrates attempted to halt the 
procession, and succeeded in overturning the effigy, but it was straightened up 
again and the city fathers were warned by the leader of the mob to stand 
aside. Westward to Broadway went the greatly augmented procession and 
south on that thoroughfare to the fort, at its foot. The governor's house was 
inside the walls, but his coach house was outside. This they broke open, 
taking the governor's chariot and installing the effigy within, one of the men 
perched upon the driver's seat while others pulled the chariot over various 
streets back toward the fields. On their way they met the other jiarty and 
stopped while a proclamation was made forbidding the throwing of stones, 
the breaking of windows or injury to any person. The two parties amalga- 
mated into one and went down to the fort, bearing the gallows on its frame 
illuminated Iw many lanterns. Though they knew the guns of the fort were 
loaded and soldiers manned the ramparts, they knocked loudly at the gate with 
their staves and demanded admission, and they called to the sentinel to tell 
Colden or James to give orders to fire. Some of the cooler heads prevented 
an attempt to force the gates and final!}- the multitude went to Bowling Green, 
built a large bonfire around the gallows. Devil, effigies and governor's coach, 
until thev were all consumed in the conflagration. Most of the two thousand 
participants went home when this was completed, but some of the more reck- 
less went out to A'auxhall, a beautiful mansion on the shore of the Xorth 
River, at the foot of ^^'arren Street, which had l)een a summer resort, but had 
more recently been bought by Major James and beautified for his own use. 
This they broke open and sacked, destroving fine furniture, books and clothing, 
and finding a supply of wines and licjuors, the mob drank freely of these and 
destroyed the remainder. Thev made a fire outside and thre\\- in ever^-thing 



230 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

that would burn, lirokc all the doors, windows and sash, and went oft' with 
many trophies and military insignia, including the colors of the artillery regi- 
ment which Major James commanded. 

On the next day, November 2d, T.ieutenant Governor Golden received 
many threats of death if he did not deliver up the stamps. He made a dec- 
laration that he would not distribute the stamps, but would deliver them to 
Sir Henry Moore on his arrival. Only a few were satisfied with this, and, 
except a rest on Sunday, the agitation continued, the people declaring that the 
stamps must be remo\-ed from the fort or the\' would be taken out bv force. 
( In Tuesday the Gitv Gouncil appointed a committee which waited uprm the 
governor, with the request that the stamps be delivered to the city authorities 
and be stored in the Gity Hall. Golden finallv agreed to this, and the stamps 
were turned oxhy and receipted for by John Gruger, the mayor. A great 
concourse witnessed the transfer and when they saw the obnoxious stamps 
safely in the custody of their own officers they dispersed in quiet. 

Golden summoned the Assembly to meet on November 12th. and on that 
day twelve memliers appeared and adjourned until the next dav. That 
turned out to be a gala day, because Su' Henr\- Moore, the new governor gen- 
eral, arrived on the Minerva, and was received with great rejoicing. His 
commission was read and he was waited on bv the officials — provincial and 
municipal, by the members of the Assembly, and the leading inhabitants. On 
the 14th the municipality presented the governor with an address, and the 
freedom of the city, in a gold box engraved with the citv's arms. Other hon- 
ors were conferred upon him, and the Sons of Libertv sent him a deputation 
with an address, which he received with much graciousness of manner. 

-V large meeting was held at Burns" Gitv .Arms Tavern on the 25th, in 
which a committee was appointed to wait on the Assembly and present 
res<)luti(ins defining their view^s in relation to the stamp question. The 
governor, on December _:;d, informed the Asseml^ly of the act of Parlia- 
ment requiring that the expense of providing the king's troops in America 
should be paid by the respective colonies. To this the Assembly replied, 
on the 15th, that the king's troops, when quartered in the king's barracks, 
were supi)lied without charge to the colonies, and that the l:)arracks in 
the city had sufficient accommodations for the troops, and that when it 
became necessary to supply quarters and necessaries on the march, the 
Assembly would take up the matter after the expenses had lieen incurred. 
On December iSth the Assembly made a declaration of their rights and 
liberties, claimed the sole right of taxation for the colony, and declared 
that the lately imposed duties were "grievous, burthensome and impos- 
sible to be paid," and that in consequence of them the trade of the port of 
New York with the foreign islands of the West Indies had so diminished 



.S7/^ HEXRV MOORE LETS THE STAMPS SLEEP 231 



as to greatly reduce the ability of tlie merchants to purchase the manu- 
factures of Great Britain. The old act "ranting- to the king the duties on 
imports was continued in force and the Assembly then adjourned on 
December ^^d to meet March 4, ijfVx 

Trade fell off during that winter. The course of the go\-ernor. Sir 
Henrv Moore, was ;ulmirable. He had declared his jjurpose !<> "let the 
stamps sleep until he could hear from home," and additional stamps 
which had come with him on the Minerva were turned over to the munici- 
])alit\' and "slept" beside the others in the City Hall. Cut while the gov- 
ernor gained the confidence of the people, they did not relax their vigi- 
lance, for while the Stamp Act was in abeyance it was still on the statute 
book. Its rejjeal was the one desideratum of the colonists. Party lines, 
which had been everywhere accentuated in religion and politics for many 
years, were obliterated in the practicallv unanimous execration of this act 
of Parliament. Only Colden and one or two others, crown ai)])ointees, had 
any desire to see the act made operative. Sir William Johnson was, how- 
ever, a strong partisan of the royal and parliamentary authority to do as it 
would to the colonies, and denounced the Xew Yorkers as aiming at build- 
ing u]) a democratical system, being possessed with a spirit of libertinism 
and independence — ])retended patriots who were really enemies of the 
British Constitution. 

Late in November Peter DeLancey, who had been in London, arrived 
in the harbor. He had been commissioned inspector of stamps for America. 
but when he found what the feeling on the matter was, he made prompt 
renunciation of the office, which he published in Holt's Gazette. Hood, 
expelled stamp agent for ^laryland, who had taken refuge in the fort, had 
later settled at hdushing, and there he was visited 1)}" a delegation of the 
Sons of Libert}-, at whose emphatic ])ersuasion he was induced, on Novem- 
ber 28th, to make renunciation of the place. Securing these renunciations 
was a part of the system which h\ correspondence had established a work- 
ing intercolonial organization, and the societies in Boston, Philadelphia, 
Charleston and other cities interchanged, with the utmost speed afforded 
by the then known means of communication, accounts of each other's methods 
and doings. This org-anization was the most active and eff'ective of the forces 
which led u]) to colonial union. 

There were several personal conflicts between soldiers of the fort and 
the citizens. The wrecking of the \'auxliall mansion of ]\lajor James was 
charged b}- the meml)ers of the Royal Artillery (of which he w-as com- 
mander) to the Sons of Liberty. Some of these same artillerists were 
guarding- the place when the sacking party appeared, and had been driven 
off' bv the rioters. Several encounters occiu'red between members of the 



HISTORY OP \FJ]- YORK 



artillery and of the Sons of Liberty, one of the latter being stabbed with a 
bayonet, on December i. The Stamp Act agitation was fanned into a new 
flame by the statement of Captain Kennedy, commanding the man-of-war, 
thai it was his duty to seize vessels whose clearance ])a])ers were not 
authenticated by stamps. Because nf this announcement one vessel 
returned to the harbor, and excitement ran high. There being a report 
that Kenned}' had taken his action on the advice of Sir Henry ]\Ioore, the 
governor called the merchants of the city into constiltation at the fort, 
on the exening of December i()th, to in(|uirc of them who had circulated 
the false report. The next night a great ])rocession marched through the 
streets with effigies of Lord (irenville and other unpo])ular members of 
Parliament, which the}' carried to the Common and burned. Several other 
demonstrations were made: and one, organized to burn Captain Kenned}'"s 
residence at Xo. i Broadway, was preveiited li\' the efforts of the n'ia}'or. 
Xotices were posted about the cit}' threatening the property and persons of 
captains of men-of-war who should detain or hinder any vessel sailing with 
unstamped clearances: and a niob which met on the last day of the year 
with the intent to l)urn < ieneral (lage in effigy was with difficulty dis- 
persed. The grievance against liim was that a survey of Xew \'ork City 
and its surrouiidings, for militar\' ])ur])oses, was ])eing made under his 
aus|)ices. 

The Sons of Libert}', which had been heretoiore ostensiblv a secret 
organization, though man}' of its members were known, came out in the 
open, in ;i ])ublic meeting at a ])lace of entertainment kept b}' William 
Howard on the Trinity h'arni, o])posite the ("onnnon, which afterward 
became the heachpiarters of the organization, and among the resolutions 
adopted was one of unanimous opposition to the Stamp Act, and announ- 
cing their intention to ])unish those who either carried on their business on 
stam])e(l pa])er, or refused to carr}- it on independent!}' of the odious act. 
'idiat e\ening the British brig Poll}-, which had left London in October, 
;irri\'ed, and the news was s])read that slie had len ])ackages of stamps in 
her cargo. The next night an armed force \isited the brig, which was 
l}'ing at Cruger's Dock, comjielled those in charge to surrender the keys 
and pro\'ide lights for a complete search, .and finding the stamps, took 
ihem on a large boat uj) i^ast Ri\er to the shi])}'ards, where they burned 
them in tar b;in-els, after which the men (lis]>ei"se(l in ])erfect order. 

At the foi'inighth' meeting of the Sons of Libert}', on February 2d, 
a committee was ap])oinle(l to corres])on(l witli the Sons of Liliertv in the 
other colonies, including Messrs. Lamb, Sears, Robinson, Wiley .and Alott. 
Hax'ing he;ir<l from l^ngkand on the stani]') m<atter, (ioxernor Moore called 
the Council together and informed that IxkIv (_)f His Majest\''s orders to 



SOXS 01- LIBRRTY GET BUSY 



])Ut the act in force, Init the Council deckired ag-ainst the possiljihly of 
doing" so under prevailing conditions. The Sons of Liberty had declared 
their purpose to hght to the death, if necessary, rather than see the Stamp 
Act put in force. 

The New ^'ork mercantile tirm of Pintard cv \\'illiams sent out some 
Mediterranean passes (which were ])asses required under the treaty 
l)etween Great Britain and the Bey i»f Algiers, for the right of passage 
through the Straits of (Gibraltar) on American stamped paper, and news of 
the fact was sent l)y express, from the Sons of Liberty of Philadelphia to 
the committee in Xew York. The organization was called together and, 
Iieaded hv Sears, Lamb and Allicocke. marched to the houses of Messrs. 
Pintard and Williams and made a demonstration. Xext day the two mer- 
chants were seized and carried to the Common, where ])reparations were 
niade to ]iut them in the idllory, but through the intercession of some 
clergymen they were let off on confession and pledge to ottend no more, 
making the statement first on the Common, afterward from their own 
doorsteps, and finally on oath published in Holt's Gazette. 

In England the news from the colonies was variously received. In 
official circles there was much displeasure with the officials of the colony 
for not enforcing the act. Secretary' Conway reprimanded Colden, and 
told him of His IMajesty's displeasure at him for having postponed the 
enforcement of the act until the arrival of Sir Henry ]Moore, and Captain 
Kennedy was relieved from command of H. ^1. S. Coventry, because he 
had refused to receive the stami)S. Among the things which had lieen sub- 
mitted to the home authorities was the (juestion of a])peals from jury 
trials, but the government had decided that there was no appeal, as a 
jury's verdict was final. This greatly pleased the Sons of Liberty, because 
it would not have been i^ossible to convict them by a jury for any act done 
in furtherance of the fight against parliamentarv usurpation. 

X'arious demonstrations were made against official persons obnoxious 
to the Sons of Liberty, Colden being again burned in effigy, on ^Lirch 3d, 
and the military and naval authorities were also objects of the resentment 
of the organization. The nonim])ortation agreement was in force, and 
homespun was the popular wear, even the gcnernor ap])earing in clothes 
of that faliric, for the purpose of encouragement of American manufac- 
tures. This and his refusal to issue a press-warrant to General Gage 
when he could not charter vessels to transfer arms and powder from the 
fort to the king's shi])S, because it was "a time of ])eace," were among the 
many acts that made Sir Henry Moore popular even in this era of re\-olt. 

Fierce as was the sentiment of New York against the Stamp Act, the 
city was loyal to the person of the king-. The New York Gazette coupled 



■r,i HISTOR]' Of XHJJ' )'ORK 

lii}ahy to the monarch with advocac_\- of the pO]nihir cause, in the motto at 
its head: "The United \'oice of all His Alajesty's Free and Loyal Suhjects 
in America: Liherty and Prosperit\- and Xo Stamps." The resentment of 
the people was against the Parliament, and more ]:)articularly ag'ainst Gren- 
ville, the Marquis of Bute, and the other exponents of taxation without rep- 
resentation. Un the other hand Pitt was the idol i»f the ])atriots, and a 
pojndar proposal of the Sons of Liberty was to erect a statue of that 
statesman on Bowlino,- Green. A'arinus rumors came in re^-ard to the 
Stamp Act, includinq- some premature rejxirts of its repeal, but it was 
finally repealed, the king signing it with great reluctance, on March 17, 
1766, in Westminster. London went wild with delight at the news, for 
the merchants of that citv had been crip]>led l)y the nonimportati(jn 
agreement, and merrymaking became general when P>ow Rells chimed in 
concert with the joy of the ])eople. The news was brought to America, 
very a])proi)riately, b\' a brig belonging to Mr. John Hancock, of Boston, 
the gentleman who became famous in American history as perhajis the 
boldest of American penmen. The brig sailed from Li\'er])ool, and when 
it arrived in Boston the news was ])romptly transmitted by express to 
New York, arrixing on May _'0, \J()(). Bonfires on the Common, and gen- 
eral illumination, a royal salute fr(ini the guns, and a dinner of the Sons of 
Liberty at the hostelry of William Howard, in the fields, in which toasts 
were drank in honor of Pitt, "the Guardian of .\merica," were among the 
features of the celebration. 

(rreat as was the rejoicing over the removal of this chief bone of con- 
tention, the spirit of |)atriotism and oi)iiosition which had been aroused 
b>' the attenijits to enforce the Stamp Act had gone far be\-ond the point 
wdiere repeal of the act would put the sentiments <»f the i)eo])le back to the 
])oint of |)erfect ac(piiescence in British rule. The act had been repealed, 
but the assum])tions underl\ing the act had not been recanted. The act of 
repeal was accomiianied by an act declaring that the king and Parliament 
had "the right to bind the colonies and His Majest\'s subjects in them in 
all cases whatsoever." The New York cimimittee of the Sons o\ Libertv was 
in favor of continuing the nonimportation agreement, until the duties upon 
l)a])er, painters' c<il<')rs, glass and tea should be removed. 



CHAPTER T JF E N T Y - T H R E E 

BRITISH BLOWS AT AMERICAN LIBERTY 

AND TRADE-THE GROWING MILITARY BURDEN 

DEATH OF SIR HENRY MOORE 

There was great rejoicing- in New \'ork on the king's birthday, June 
5, 1766. At davHght the liells of all the city churches chimed their sweetest, 
and soon all citizens were up and about, and from the highest to the lowest, 
put on their best attire to make the most of the holiday which should show 
the personal lovaltv c^f the people of New ^'ork to George 111. Two large 
oxen were roasted whole on the Common, where the commoner folk had a 
general rejoicing, feasting, and drinking of toasts to the health of the king. 
For this occasion there had been provided twenty-five barrels of beer, a hogs- 
head of rum from which to concoct punch, and other provisions of drink and 
food. A gun, fired at noon, sunmioned the provincial and municipal officials 
and the leading gentlemen of the city to the fort, to drink the king's health. 
There was also an elaborate dinner i)rovided bv a committee of leading citi- 
zens, at which three hundred and fort\' ])lates were laid and forty-one toasts 
were drank. Guns boomed, colors were displayed, and l)onfires and general 
illuminations kept the loyal demonstrations going until late at night. A 
"Liberty Tree" (or pole) was set up on the north side of the Common 
at a location between what is now Warren and Chambers Streets, east of 
Broadway. 

The Assemblv, meeting in June at the call of Governor Sir Henry Moore, 
presented an address full of loyal expressions about the king. The members 
from the city were John Cruger, Phili]) Livingston, Leonard Lispenard and 
William Bavard, and William Nicoll was speaker. A meeting called to meet 
at the ^Merchants' Cofifee House, on June 23, 1766, prepared a i)etition asking 
for a brass statue of Pitt, and James DeLancey, William Watson, John Thur- 
man, Jr., Isaac Low, Henrv White and John Harris Cruger were appointed 
as a committee to present the petition. The Assembly decided to 
authorize a statue in brass, of ]\L-. Pitt, and also an equestrian statue of 
the king. 

Next to the Stamp Act the most serious cause of ill feeling of the colonists 
toward the home government was its policy of f|uartering soldiers upon the 
people. There had been a great increase in the number of soldiers, and at 
each session of the Assemblv the governor had. in pursuance of orders from 
home, presented the (|uestion for desired legislative action, but the Assembly 
had persistentlv refused to authorize the billeting of troops upon the people. 
All they would do was to supply barracks \\\i\\ furniture, for troops marching 



HISTORY OF XlllV YORK 



tliroug'h the province. There were frequent colhsions l)etween soldiers and 
citizens in the last half of 1766. and the soldiers, especially when drinking, 
were in no way hesitant about displaying their ill feeling for civilians. Four 
officers of the regular troops at the fort created a disturbance on the night of 
July 2 1 St. They had been drinking- heavily at one of the taverns on Broad- 
wav, near the Common, and on leaving', started to amtise themselves bv break- 
ing the city lamps in the vicinity of King's College. A tavern-keeper making 
protest, thev drove him into his tavern, prodding him with their sword-points 
as he ran, and then, accompanied 1")y two orderlies, made their way down 
Broadwav, smashing each city lamp they came to, imtil ihirtv-foiu' were l)roken, 
and then coming across four of the city watch, engaged in a fight with 
them, wounding two, but one of the officers was arrested and lodged in the 
watchhou'-e. The three officers who escaped summoned a dozen or more sol- 
diers from the fort, who, armed with muskets and fixed bayonets, returned 
toward the City ?Iall, wounded several of the watch on the way, and reaching 
their destination, released the imprisoned officer. As the latter, wlni was 
known, ancl rme of the other three, \-entured out of the fort the next day, 

they were arrested and taken 
liefore the mavor and alder- 
men and held to heavy l)ail 
fur trial l)y the Supreme 
Ciiurt. 

Hie Lil^erty Pole, which 
liad been erected on the Com- 
mon, was ctit down bv officers 
and soldiers from the fort, be- 
longing to the Twenty-eighth 
Regiment, on the night of 
August loth, and soon the 
people to the numl^er of three 
thousand gathered, headed by Isaac Sears, to demand an explanation of the 
outrage. In the altercation that ensued, the mnh -threw brickbats at the sol- 
diers, who warded oiT closer attack with Ixiyonets and sent a messenger to 
General Gage. The general's aide-de-camp, rushing to see what was the mat- 
ter, was mob1:)ed en route and compelled to use his sword to save himself from 
harm. The cutting down of the Libert}- Pole. em])lem of the popular cause, 
was regarded as an outrage, and on the 12th instant, a new one, dedicated to 
"King George. Pitt and Liberty." was erected on the same spot. There was 
nmch feeling against the soldierv. and the more so as on trial it was proved 
that the soldiers were the aggressors in the trouble of the lotii of August. 
.Several aft'ravs occtn"red. of a minor '^ort. lietween soldiers and citizens, and 




GOVERNMENT HOUSE, "WHITEHALL" 

Erected ill 1786 on the site of old fort facing Cowling Green, 
where the Custom House now stands 



THE ASSEMBLY lUiCLIXE.S FURTHER EXPENSE 237 

tlie inilitarv were iM-actically Ixncotted. (jeneral Gage assigned the regular 
tr()(.)i)s to their several districts so that the force at New York was redticed 
to eight\- artillerymen. The second Lihert\- Pole was cut down on September 
23(1, at night, but by whom was never known, and the next day a new one 
was set up. 

John Cruger. who had been mayor of the city from 1756, resigned the 
office September 2<;, 1766. He was a singularly able and judicious executive, 
who honored his office and was held in general esteem. Whitehead Hicks 
was appointed by Governor Moore as his successor. 

Trouble with soldiers continued, chiefly assaults on citizens at night, due 
to intoxication. The magistrates issued an order that no citizen should sell 
liquors to soldiers between sunset and sunrise, and a tavern-keeper was fined 
and imprisoned for violating the ordinance a few days later. The Assembly, 
called into session by Governor Sir Henry Moore, met on November loth, 
and on November i8th he transmitted instructions which he had received 
from England. William Pitt had been made lord privy seal with the title of 
Earl of Chatham, and Lord Shelburne had been appointed secretary of the 
Southern Department, in which the British American colonies were included. 
The instructions were from England and one paragraph in it declared the 
duty of His Majesty's subjects in America to give due and cheerful obedience 
to the acts of Parliament, and added: "It cannot be doubted that His Majesty's 
Province of New York, after the lenity so recently extended to America, will 
not fail to carry into execution the act of Parliament, passed last session, for 
quartering His Majesty's troops, in the full extent and meaning of the act, 
without referring to the usage of other parts of His Majesty's dominions, 
where the legislature has thought fit to prescribe different regulations." In 
replying to the go\-ernor's address conveying these instructions, the Assembly, 
on December 15th, declined to incur for the colony the expense of quartering 
the regiments marching through their territory. The reply also cited the 
fact that the provision which the Assemljly had made at the previous session 
for f|uartering two battalions and a company of artillery, was lavish when 
compared with what had been done in that direction for neighbor colonies, 
and that they considered it a sufficient evidence of their loyalty. The tone 
of the address was respectful, but its substance was a determination not to 
quarter any large force of soldiers. Governor Moore, unlike several of his 
predecessors, did not threaten or bluster when he received this address, merely 
declaring his regret at their attitude and that he would convev to the secre- 
tary of state for the Southern Department a statement of their sentiments on 
the subject. He prorogued the Assembly, four days later, to March 15, 1767. 

It was, indeed, a very poor time to talk about increased appropriations 
for quartering troops, even in barracks, and still worse those on the march. 



niSTouy OF xpav york 



There was a feeling of exas])erati()n against the soldiers, who had, either of 
their own motion or under inspiration, developed confirmed hostility to the 
citizenry. Tn addition to this personall}- obnoxious attitude, the times were 
hard and there was a great depression of trade in the colonies. 

The first anniversary o\ the repeal of the Stamp Act was celebrated on 
^\'ednesday, March i(S, i/f)/. with general rejoicing, and a large number of 
the leading people dined at The King's Arms and drank twenty-three toasts, 
chiefly in honor of America's friends in the British House of Commons. The 
next night there was a general illumination, but that same night the third 
Libert}- Pole, on which were inscribed the names of the king, Pitt and Liberty, 
was cut down. The citizens charged the act to soldiers, but as they had no 
proof they contented themselves with setting up, on the same ])lace on the 
Common, a larger and stouter mast than anv of its ])redecessors, protecting 
this one with iron to a considerable height above ground. Attempts were 
made, witbciut result, to cut or dig it down, and on the Jist there was an 
attempt, also futile, to destroy it with gun])owder. A watch was then set, and 
several attemi)ts by soldiers to destroy Liberty Pole No. 4 were frustrated, the 
soldiers firing several shots on one occasion. The government and citv author- 
ities took the matter up, and the soldier outbreaks were discontinued for a time. 

Agents of American merchants in London, and Xew Yorkers visiting 
there for business or pleasure, were writing letters advising" their principals 
or friends that things looked gloomv for the American colonies, as there 
was an evident intention to adoi)t measures of retaliation for the acts of 
the Xew ^'ork Assembly in limiting su])])lies for the troops stationed in or 
|)assing through the colon}'. Pitt, now b^arl of Chatham, was ill in the 
country, so ill that he could neither lead nor advise. Without Pitt the 
.\merican colonies were practicallv friendless, so far as an}' effect of his 
atlvocac}' or aid in the l\-irliament was concerned. 

When the Assend)ly met, on May 26, IJ^^J, in the City Hall, the 
governor's address oi^ening the session was, as always, cotu'teous, but was 
more insistent than usual as to the necessit}' for further supply, and 
against the i)lacing of limitations of the number of troops to be cared 
for. The house rejdied In' an appropriation which gave £3000 for tr(_iops, 
which was the minimum sum mentioned in the IWlleling .Act, and did not 
]nit in the usual limitation to two regiments. So. although the actual sum 
voted was £^oo less than in the \ear jirevious, the chief cause of complaint 
from the nnnistrv w:is remo\eil. The .\ssembly adjourned June 6th, after 
joining with the citizens in an unu^ualh' ceremonious ol)servance of 
the king's birthday. 

Meanwhile things were being enacted in the Parliament of (ireat 
llritain which were destined to put new fire into the lilierty-loving i)atriots 



TOU'NSHl-:.\n WOULD COERCE .YEll' YORK •.':!!» 

of New ^'ork. L'ntortunately, the Earl nf Chatliani was disabled by illness 
from attendiiiL;' to ]niblic affairs, or even advising' with his associates. 
It was a I'itt ministry without Pitt. In forming- it the Earl of 
Chatham had been comi^elled to select from incongruous elements, and, to 
use the words of Cireen: "The ministr}- which his guidance had alone held 
together at once fell into confusion. The Earl's ])lans were suft'ered to 
drop. His colleagues lost all cohesion, and each acted as he willed. 
Townshend, a brilliant but shallow rhetorician, whom Pitt had been 
(lri\en reluctantly to make his chancellor of the Exche(|uer, after anger- 
ing the House of Connnons by projiosals for an increase of the land tax. 
strove to win back po]ndarity among the s(|uires by undertaking to raise 
a revenue from America. That a member of a ministry which bore Pitt's 
name should have proposed to reopen the (|uestion of colonial taxation 
within a year of the repeal of the Stamj) Acts was strange enough to the 
colonists; and they were yet more astonished when, on its neglect 
to make provision for compensating those who had sulifered from the 
recent outbreak in due conformity to an act of the British Parliament, the 
Assembly of New ^(lrk was susiiended, and when Townshend redeemed 
his pledge by laying duties on various objects brought into American 
l)orts. P)Ut these measures were the result of levity and disorganization 
rather than of any pur]K)se to reo]ien the (piarrel. Pitt's colleagues had as 
yet no design to reverse his policy. The one aim of the ministry which 
bore his name, and which during his retirement looked to the Duke of 
(irafton as its actual head, was simjdy to exist." 

This i^aragraph refers to the legislation introduced bv Townshend on 
May 13, 1767, of which date Bancroft says that "a more eventful day for 
England had not dawned in that century." On that day the order went 
out denying admission to the House of Commons to every agent of the 
colonies and every American merchant. Townshend called attention to the 
action of the New ^'ork Assembly in the previous December, limiting 
the api)ropriations for i|uarters for the king's troops to two regiments 
oidy, and to those articles ])ro\i(led in other i)arts of the king's dominions, 
and moved that until New York comjdied with the Billeting Act, the gov- 
ernor should be instructed to within ild liis assent to an}- other legislation 
of the Assembl\-. 

Besides this sj^ecia! resoluti<in against New ^'ork, laws were directed 
along lines of regulation of all the colonies, duties were established on 
direct in-iportations of wine, oil and fruit from Spain and Portugal, on 
imports of paper, painter's colors, glass, lead and tea, and a board of com- 
missioners was to be stationed in America to comjiel the payment of these 
duties. The duties so collected were to become part of the king's revenue 



•.'HI HISTORY Of XEJr YORK 

for the pa}"inent df the civil list, and fixed salaries were to be paid all gov- 
eriKirs and chief justices in the colonics. This lej^islation was vigorously 
fought by the few friends of America in the House of Commons, foremost 
t^f whom was the brilliant Burke, Imt the two measures were agreed 
to May 2h. i/(^~. and the news <>i their passage reached America in 
Julv. 

As the Assembly had already complied with the terms of the Billeting 
Act, the Townshend resolution which was based upon the contingency of 
noncom])liance became nugatory, if'so facto. But the ])olicv it indicated 
alarmed the colonies. It meant coercion, and the violation of the principle 
which was rapidly gaining lodgment in American patriotism, that "gov- 
ernments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." 
Boston, stirred up by the new tax laws, met at Faneuil Hall, in October, 
and resolved to ])revent importations as much as possible, especially of the 
articles included in the new Townshend tariff. 

The Assembly again met November i/th, taking up several matters, 
one of which was to pay arrears of salary to Lieutenant Governor Colden. 
That official had been in retirement at his country seat since Governor 
Moore's arrival, and had attended only one meeting of the Council. With 
the February following the close of that session, the life of the Assembly, 
limited by law to seven years, expired. So it was dissolved and a new election 
was ordered. It was hotly contested, and Philip Livingston, James 
DeLancey, Jacob AA'alton and James Jauncey were elected from the city, 
John INIorin Scott receiving the largest vote among the candidates of the 
o])l)osition. 

The third anniversary of the repeal of the Stam]) Act was celebrated 
March iX, 176S, and largeh- attended dinners at two of the leading taverns 
included the chief merchants among their guests. On April 8th, an im])or- 
tant meeting was held, at Fraunces' Tavern, corner of Broad and Dock 
(now Pearl) Streets, at which twenty-four merchants, engaged in foreign 
commerce, organized the Xew Adrk Chamber of Commerce, the first 
officers of which were John Cruger (former mayor), president; Hugh 
Wallace, vice president; and Flias Desbrosses, treasurer. The evening 
before that, there had been another meeting at which it had lieen decided 
to prepare an agreement, operative if the merchants of Boston and Phila- 
delphia should, before June ist, following, adopt similar resolutions, pro- 
viding that the signers would not sell on their own account or on 
commission, nor bu\" nor sell for any |)erson whatever any mer- 
chandise (excei)t a few articles named) which should be shipjied from 
Great Britain after the first day of the following October, until the act of 
Parliament (Townshend tariff) shouUl be repealed. A connnittee of mer- 



A XOXJMPOR'r.lTJOX AC.RliRMEXT 



241 



chants apj)! tinted to circnlate this a,G,'recmcnl Inund very few who would 
not sig'n it. 

Townshcnd, author of the miscliiexons les^islation. died suddenly, on 
September 4, i7()7: the Earl of Chatham continued to lie incapacitated by 
illness, and a new election was held in ijltS. The Earl of Hillsborough was 
appointed secretary of state for America, and had denounced the attitude 
of the Massachusetts House of Representati\'es in issuins;' a circular letter 
calling' for a union of the colonies to obtain redress of grievances. All 
advices from England spoke of coercive i)lans to be enforced by armies 
and tieets. Strengthening this rumor was the assumption bv ( ieneral 
Gage, commander in chief at Xew \'ork, of itrecedence over Sir Henry 




FKAUNCES' TAVERN 
llililt 1727 

Moore, the governor, which assmTi])tion was, however, emphatically over- 
ruled by Lord Hillsborough, wdio disclaimed anv intention on the part of 
His Maiestv to introduce "a military government into his ]irovinces in 
America uj^on the ruins of the civil ])ower."' \'et he jiersisted in wrong- 
headed opposition to the exercise of the right of jictition, and in orders to 
the colonial governors to dismiss legislatures which showed hostility t(_) the 
British customs plans. The assemblies all passed resolutions hostile to the 
Townshend tariff, and were prorogued bv the governors. The merchants 
of Boston first, New^ York afterward, and later Philadelphia, as well as 
other smaller ports, agreed to import no dut\' goods, with a few excep- 
tions, from January i, 1769, to January i, 1770, and everywhere the agree- 
ment was signed with practical unanimity. ( )n October 3d the people of 
Boston inaugurated their agreement to drink no more tea. Tuiglish troops 
poured into Boston and camiied on the Common, and later were billeted 



■-'IV HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

in the hdiiies and warehouses of that city. The o'overnor of Massachu- 
setts, Sir Francis Bernard, dechned to ccjuvoke the Assembly, and so the 
colony continued under niilitar\- rule. 

Tile Sons of Li])ert\- in Xew \'ork, who had been disbanded durinc,- the 
lull of excitement which had followed the repeal of the Stamp Act, had been 
reort^Tinizecl and oreatly strengthened, and on Xoveniber 14th paraded the 
streets and liurned effigies of Sir Francis Bernard and of Greenleaf, sheriff of 
Boston, in front of the Merchants' Coffee House. The Assembly, meeting" soon 
afterward, discussed various questions, its most notable act being the adoption. 
Decern] )er 31, 1768. of resolutions declaring for the principle of an exact 
e(|ualit\- of rights among all His Majesty's suljjects in all parts of the empire; 
the right of jietition, the right of an internal legislature and the undoubted 
right of correspondence Ix'tween the colonies tn secure united action for the 
defense of their rights, liberties, interests and i)rivileges ; and a committee of 
corresi)ondence was organized in accordance with this resolution. As these 
bold resolutions were identically the ones which Ford Hillsborough's circular 
had prohiliited. Sir Henrv Moore, greatlv inclined, as he always was, to a 
l)eaceful course, summoned the Assembly, on Januar\- 4tli. and declared that 
these resolutions had put it out of his power to continue it longer in office; 
so, while expressing the kindliest feelings for the members, he dissolved the 
Assembly. A new election, which occurred in January, returned the old mem- 
bers, with the exception of Philip Fivingston. who was replaced by John 
Cruger. Fivingston was. however, elected from Fi\-ingston AFinor in Feb- 
ruary, and Roliert Fivingston for Dutcliess Countw The Assembly to wliich 
these well-known men were elected, the Twenty- fourth, was the last of the 
colonial assemblies, liistoricallv known as the Fong .AssemliF', which had its 
last sitting Ajiril 3. 1775. I)Ut was ke])t alix'e \)\ adjournment until February 
I. r77r). It met and organized A])ril 4, 1761), electing John Cruger s])eaker. 
Tlie go\ernor's address objected to the m.anner of ai)pointment of an agent 
of Xe\\- \'ork jirovince in l'"ngland, as being detrimental to colonial interests; 
and asked for a grant to meet arrearages on account of the troops and their 
(|uarters. In their repl\- the\- i)romised compliance with his recommendations 
as to the king's tniojis, l)Ut declined to alter the metliod of ap])ointing their 
agent in Fondon. 

The ( 'hamber of Commerce, which had ])re\iouslv met at Fraunces' Tav- 
ern ("The (Jueen's Head"), mi)\etl into large new (|uarters o\'er the Roval 
Fxchange. on the (»])]iosite corner of F>road and I )(ick (now Pearl) Streets, 
linlding their first nmnthb meeting at that ])lace im May 2. 1769. when John 
Cruger. president {^{ that bodv and .also s])eaker of the Assembly. ])resented 
1(1 them a \'ote of tlianks \)\ the Assembly, to the merchants of the city and 
colony "tor tlieir repeated disinterested, public-spirited and patriotic conduct 



niLlTH OF SIR HENRY MOORE 



243 



ill declining" the importation or receiving of goods from Great Britain until 
such acts c)i Parliament as the 'General Assembly' had declared to be unconsti- 
tutional and subversive of the rights and liberties of the colony be 
rei)ealed."' 

Xew ^'iirk adhered to its nonimportation agreement with great fidelity, 
but there were breaches reported from Philadelphia, and one New York mer- 
chant was caugJTt receiving imported goods via the latter city. Conflicting 
re|)iirts were received from London as to the possibilitv of the repeal of the 
oljnoxious duties so much desired bv the mercliants of New York, and even 
mure by the commercial communitv in London. 

Sir Henry Moore, dtiring all the troubles of the four vears since his 
arrival as governor of the colony, had acted in a perfectly friendly manner 
toward those of every shade of political opinion. Bound by the duties of his 
])osition as a royal governor, to the most emphatic assertion of the royal pre- 
rogative, and com])elled to recommend to the hottse such policies as were con- 
tained in his instructions from London, he nevertheless performed these duties 
in such a manner that the Assembly, when unable to comply, treated him 
officially aiul personally with the utmost respect. His suspension of the oper- 
ation of the Stamp Act as long as he could, had given him a place in popular 
favor which had become more sectire with each year of his service. He was 
a dignifietl, urbane and righteous governor, and his death, in Fort George, Sep- 
tember II, 1769, after a brief illness, brought great distress to the people of 
the city and colony. 

During Governor Moore's administration there were nimierous improve- 
ments in the city, and three churches were erected: St. Paul's Church, in 
1765, the Brick Presbyterian Church, opposite the Common, and the North 
Dutch Church, on Fulton Street. 




TAMMANY HALL, 1789 

Nassau Stret-t. Cmner Si>ruce Street 

First reniiaiient \\'igv\am 



CHAPTER T ir E N T Y - F U R 

SONS OF LIBERTY AND BRITISH SOLDIERS 

THE BATTLE OF GOLDEN HILL 
NONIMPORTATION AND LATER TROUBLES 

Sir Henry ^loore was dead, and his remains were interred nnder the 
chancel of Trinity Cliurch. CadwaUader Colden was again in authority 
over New York i)r(i\ince as lieutenant governor, coming in from Flushing 
as soon as he heard of the governor's death; and on September 13, 1769, he 
tO(.»k the prescribed (:)aths as lieutenant go\ernor and commander in chief. 
He issued a call for the Assembly to meet on November 21st. Before that, 
the Sons of Li])erly. celebrating, on November ist, the anniversary of the 
nonimportation agreement, passed resolutions recommending that the 
Assembly, when it met, should follow the example of the assemblies of 
South Carolina and j\Iassachusetts, refusing all supplies for the king's 
troo])s until the obnoxious laws should be repealed. But when Colden 
addressed the Assembly and asked for the annual grant re(|uired by the 
Billeting Act, his request met with ])ronii)t compliance. 

This course was very displeasing to the ])eo])le of the city, and particu- 
larly to the Sons of Liberty. A i)rinted "Address to the Ik'trayed Inhabi- 
tants of the City and Colony of New \'ork," signed ".\ Son (if Liberty," 
appeared, and a co]»y which fell into the hands of the ma}'or. Whitehead 
Hicks, was delivered by that official to John Cruger, the speaker of the 
Assembly. It was a bitter arraignment of the Assembly for its action in 
voting, at Colden's recjuest, for the supplies for the king's troops: arraigned 
it as a Ix'traver of the cause of liberty, and cited in contrast, the patriotic 
action of the assemblies of Massachusetts and South Carolina. There 
was also another paper of similar import jiut in circulation, with the sig- 
nature "Legion." Both invited the Assembly to meet the ])eople at a 
meeting to be held in the fields, Decend:)er i8th. These anonymous 
papers were presented to the house as being infamous and scandalous 
libels, and b>' vote of the Assembly the lieuten;nit go\ernor issued a ]M-ocla- 
mation oil'ering a reward of fioo for the discm'erv of tlie author of the 
first, and of £50 for the author of the second of these circulars. 

The meeting in the fields was attended by about fourteen hundred 
men. and the action of the Assembly was vigorously discussed. On 
motion of lohn Land) a committee of eight was a])pointed to wait upon 
the city's delegation to the Assemlily and ])resent the sentiments of the 
meeting. The committee, as named, was composed of Jacobus van Zandt, 
John Lamb. Isaac Sears, Samuel Broome, lames yan A'aurk, Erasmus 



SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS IN CONFLICT 245 

Williams, Caspar Wistar, Thomas Franklin, Jr., John Thurman and 
Alexander ]McDous,all, all of whom served in the presentation of the reso- 
lutions, except Thurman, who declined membership on the committee. 
On the 25th the Assembly ordered John Lamb to appear before the bar 
of the house to answer for libel, the impression being that as he was the 
mover of the resolution he had some connection with the printed libels 
that had moved the Assembly to wrath. But the other members of the 
committee ptiblished a card stating that they were as responsible as was 
JNIr. Lamb, and when that gentleman a])i)eared in answer to the summons 
and disclaimed au}- connection I^etween the i)rinted liliels and his action at 
the meeting, he was discharged. 

The mutual dislike of soldiers and citizens which had been engendered 
at the time of the Stamp Act troubles had in no wise diminished. The 
u])per barracks, located in the Common, was near the Liberty Pole, and the 
soldiers stationed at that barracks, had in it a constant reminder that in 
spite of their former conflicts, the Sons of Liberty had succeeded in main- 
taining the obnoxious emblem. The Sixteenth Regiment men, who occti- 
])ied the barracks, were known to entertain hostile designs against the 
pole. On the night of January 13th, a party of them, foiled in an attempt 
to ctit it down or blow it up, concluded to attack De La ]\Iontagne's Tavern, 
just opposite, and they broke seventy-six panes of glass in his windows and 
attacked the tavern-keeper in one <>f the passages in the tavern. They 
made nightly attempts against the pole after that, and on January i6th 
succeeded in cutting it down, then sawed it into pieces and piled them up 
before the tavern door. A meeting which had been called to the Liberty 
Pole to consider the otitbreaks of the soldiers, met on the Common, on 
January 17th, aliotit 2000 citizens attending, and resolved that any soldier 
found at night armed, or if unarmed, acting in an insulting manner, should 
be treated as an enemy to the public peace. 

The next day a placard, scurrilously abusive of the Sons of Liberty 
and defiant of citizens generally, signed, "The Sixteenth Regiment of 
Foot," and three soldiers were caught by Isaac Sears and Walter Ouacken- 
bos in the act of posting them. Each grabbed one of them, then the third 
soldier rushed tipon Sears in the endeavor to free his comrade, but Sears, 
with a handy missile and accurate throw, hit him in the face and made 
him run away. The two citizens, when on the way to the mayor's office 
with their captives, were rushed upon by twenty more soldiers with 
swords and bayonets, but many citizens had come up and helped the citi- 
zens to defend themselves. As it was the neighborhood of the Fly 
Market, the citizens were, many of them, able to secure sticks or staves and 
to ward ofl:' the soldiers' attacks. Mayor Hicks appeared, ordering the 



246 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

soldiers to their barracks, and they niii\ed on as far as Golden Hill, the 
spot being on what is n^w John Street, between William and Cliff Streets, 
where they made a stand and turned on the citizens who had followed them. 
The soldiers used their bayonets and wounded several of the citizens, but 
as the crowd increased and surrounded the soldiers, the citizens wounded 
some and disarmed man}" of them. A fresh part}' of soldiers came uj) from 
the barracks and were preparing- to make a concerted attack when some 
officers appeared and ordered all the soldiers to their barracks, whereupon 
hostilities ceased for that day. ( )ne of those on the citizens" side, a sailor, 
who was wounded, died of his wounds. As this antedated the Boston 
Massacre by nearly two months, the "Fiattle of Golden Hill"' has been 
designated by man}' writers as the first battle fought, and the unnamed 
sailor's as the first life lost, in the American Revolution. 

The hostilities were resumed the day following, January i()th, one of 
a party of soldiers thrusting his bayonet through the cloak and dress of a 
woman who was returning from market. The news of this outrage 
brought the people together and many of them gathered in knots on 
the street corners to discuss the situation. The sailors, who always sided 
with the citizens in their conflicts with the soldiers, were especially ])er- 
turbed because of a desire to revenge the death of their brother, who had 
been killed by the soldiers. A group of these got into an altercation with 
a party of soldiers from the barracks and soon got to blows, and in the 
cmentc an old sailor was run through the bod}' by a bayonet. The sailors 
were wrought to fury and the fight became hotter. The mayor came to 
the scene and ordered the soldiers to disperse, but they defied him, and 
when he started a messenger to the barracks to summon an officer, the 
soldiers barred the way with drawn swords, so that the messenger could 
not proceed. A party of Libert v Bovs coming u|) at this time to aid the 
sailors, dispersed the soldiers. For a few liours all was (|uiel, ])ui in the 
afternoon a group of citizens iii front of the new jail, on the Gommon, 
was accosted by a party of soldiers, who endeavored to disarm them of 
their canes. The citizens turned on them, and being soon reinforced by 
a party of the Sons of Liberty, were enabled to dri\'e the soldiers liack to 
their barracks, disarming several. ( )ne of the soldiers was badly wounded 
in the shoulder, and another, who was recognized as one of the ring- 
leaders in the conflict of the i)re\-ious chn'. was arrested and im])risoned to 
await trial. 

The Sons of Liberty had, through a comiiuttee. asked the City Gouncil for 
permission to rear another Libertv Pole on the spot where the other four had 
successively stood, but the recjuest was denied bv a majority vote. Lamb and 
some friends, in anticipation of the refusal, bought a stri];) of ground elexen by 



THE CASE OF JAMES McDOUGALL 2i7 

one hundred feet, on i)rivate property, near the former site, and on tliis 
erected, Feliruarv 6, 1770, the fifth Liberty Pole, a mast of g-reater leng-th 
than anv of the others, forty-six feet high, with a topmast twenty-two 
feet higli, surmounted Iiv a gih vane on which was tlie word "Liljerty." The 
pole was cased for two-thirds of its height with iron hoops and bars and sunk 
twelve feet into the ground. 

The news from London was ftdl of excitement al)otit the case of John 
\\'ilkes. a member of Parliament for Middlesex, who was convicted in 
1763 of having issued, in Xo. 45 of his paper, the North P>riton. what was 
declared to be a "false, scandalous and seditious libel." He had been con- 
victed by the Court of King's Bench and sent to prison under a sentence for 
twenty-two months, and at the instance of the ministry, he was expelled from 
the house, and his constituents so resented this treatment that, though in 
prison, they immediately reelected him. Another vote of expulsion resulted 
in another reelection and another vote of expulsion. For a fourth time he 
was returned, by a vote of 1143 to 2q6; but the house seated his opponent, on 
the ground that as Wilkes was an outlaw the votes against him were void. 
This raised the question of rights of parliamentary constituencies, and made 
Wilkes a popular hero, and he was elected an alderman of London, and later 
sheriiT of Middlesex, and in 1774, lord mayor of London, in 1770 he was 
the popular hero of London, the embodiment in the view of the people of their 
aspirations for larger rights, and the cham])ion of the freedom of the ])ress and 
of the people. The number of the North Briton in which the alleged libel 
occurred — "Nimiber Forty-five" — became, temporarily, a battle cry of freedom 
for the English-speaking world, and the Sons of Liberty in New \'ork took up 
the cry. 

It came into plav in connection with the case of James McDougall. who 
was arrested on the charge of being the author of the printed ])apers signed 
'"A Son of Liberty" and "Legion." and which had been declared "infamous 
and scandalous libels." McDougall had been arrested on the admission of 
James Parker, the ])rinter. who had been interrogated b_\' the lieutenant gover- 
nor and Council, that he was the author. Taken before the chief justice, he 
refused to give bail, and was incarcerated in the new jail on the Common. 
The Sons of Liberty took him up as their hero — "the American Wilkes." Great 
crowds gathered at the jail, and when some of them were a-^ke*! for their names. 
they shouted "Forty-five." 

The Sons of Liberty formed the radical wing of the patriotic party. 
A.nother section, composed for the greater part of the wealthier and more ex- 
clusive i)eople. called themselves "Friends of Liberty and Trade." When the 
Sons of Liljerty. who had made De La Montague's tavern their head(|uarters. 
went to the ])roprietor to secure it for their annual celel)ration of the rejieal oi 



248 



HISTORY OF XHJr YORK 










< ^ 

Q - 
O -5 



3' "^^ 



•^ 



THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHARTERED 249 

the Stamp Act, thev were told that it had alread}- been let for that da_\- to 
the other organization. The Sons of Liberty then bought property described 
as "the corner house on the Broadway, near Liberty Pole, lately kept by Ed- 
ward Smith." Thev changed the name to "Hampden Hall," whicli ])ecame 
the headquarters of the Sons of Liberty. On March 19th, the anniversary 
of the repeal of the Stamp Act was celebrated at Hampden Hall with great 
enthusiasm. Wilkes and McDougall were toasted, forty-fi\'e toasts were 
drunk and the entire company went in procession to the jail and gave forty- 
five cheers for ]\IcDougall. As some soldiers were frustrated in an attem]it 
on the night of March 24th to unship the tojMnast and vane from the new Lib- 
ertv Pole, a guard was set upon the pole until after the departure of the Six- 
teenth Regiment for Pensacola, on INLay ^d. 

News came from London that under the initiative of Lord North the 
obnoxious taxes had been removed from every article except tea, and the non- 
importation agreement was, at the suggestion of Philadelphia merchants, 
modified as to all other articles. There was a considerable interchange of 
argument in regard to this policy, and Fioston held out for a continuance of 
the nonimportation policy to its fullest extent, but the statistics showed that 
during the existence of the agreement, while the imports of New York had 
decreased five-sixths, those of Philadelphia and Boston had only decreased one- 
half, while Canada, Carolina and Georgia, and even Maryland and Virginia, 
had increased their importations. Mr. Bancroft has well said that as X'ew 
York alone had been perfectly true to its engagements, "it was impatient of a 
system of renunciation which was so unetiually kept ; and the belief was com- 
mon that if the others had adhered to it as strictly, all the grievances would 
have been redressed." 

On March 13, 1770, Lieutenant Governor Colden granted a charter to the 
New York Cham1:)er of Commerce. The statues ordered In- the Assembly 
from London of George III and Lord Chatham, arrived in the summer of 
1770. The equestrian statue of George HI was set up on its pedestal on the 
Bowling Green, opposite Fort George, on August i6th, the anniversary of the 
birthday of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and was the occasion of much cere- 
mony. It was made of lead, heavilv gilded. On September 7th, at the intersec- 
tion of A\'all and Cross (now William) Street, where a pedestal had been set 
u]) for its reception, the statue of Pitt was set up. Both statues had been 
made by Joseph \\'ilton, a famous London sculptor, and were regarded as ex- 
cellent examples of the art of sculpture. 

After the news of the death of Sir Henry ]\Ioore had reached England 
the Earl of Dunmore had been appointed governor in his place, but he had so 
delayed his departure that Lieutenant Governor Colden had administered the 
government f()r thirteen months before his arrival. He reached New York in 



HISTORY OF Xllir VORK 



M..M.S. Tweed, October iS, 1770, and he was q-iven a rousint;" recejition. 
Dinners and other functions were given in his honor, the city was ilhiminated, 
the Sons of Liberty made a great bonfire on the Common and drew the largest 
outdoor asseml)Iag'e which had to tliat time met in Xew York Citv. 

Dunmore's commission, as those of the other governor generals had done, 
contained a provision authorizing him to take "a moiety of the perc|uisites 
and emoluments of the government of Xew York from the date of his com- 
mission to the time of his arrival." There had been a similar clause in the 
commission of Sir Henry Aloore, but he had made no demand under it, and of 
General ?kIonckton, but he had finally waived it, and, in fact, the division had 
not been insisted on since the days of the \'an Dam-Cosliy litigation. Colden 
was not likely to give up anything like fiftv per cent, of his vear's income 
without a fight, and the consequence was litigation in which he was finally sus- 
tained, the decision ])eing, that as a salarv is com])ensation for labor per- 
formed the king had no right to act with it as if it was a bounty at his dis- 
l)osal, because "the king can do nothing contrary to law." The dispute was 
carried no further, the earl did not carrv the matter to London, and Colden 
had no occasion to do so. 

The Assembly met December 11, 1770, and in his address to that body 
the Earl of Dunmore spoke with satisfaction of the ending of the nonimpor- 
tation agreement and the renewing of "that mutual intercourse between the 
mother country and her colonies which it is so much the interest of both to 
preserve uninterru]ite(l." Pie called attention of the Assembly to the i)roba- 
bility of war between Great Britain and Spain, and urged the consideration of 
the defenses of X'ew ^'ork against foreign attack. Instruction came from the 
Earl of I lillsl)or()ugh to the governors in America, to the effect that Parlia- 
ment had ordered an increase of the armv l)v an additional light company to 
everv battalion and of twentv men to everv companv : and he was emphatic in 
lu-ging immediate attention to the recruiting of these additional soldiers. The 
crdl for recruits appealed to the religious as well as political zeal of many of 
the i)eople, for S])ain was especiallv detested bv the Protestants, and the first 
to volunteer their services as soldiers was a bodv of (ierman Protestants, who 
olTered themselves in Januarv, 1771. 

The Assembly passed a grant of fjooo for the troops quartered for the 
year, but declined to appropriate any monev for arrearages, though they 
granted f 1000 for general repairs pending further advices as to the probability 
f)f war with Spain. Thev voted an a]ii)ro])riation to |)a\' the governor's vearly 
salary of £2000, but the Earl of Dunmore sent in a message that the king 
having provided the salarv out of his treasurv, he was not permitted to receive 
an\- from the .\ssemblv. This idea of paving the governors from the king's 
treasury was a ]xirl of the [jlan to justifv the collection of duties in America. 



CAPTAIN McDOUGALL GOES TO JAIL 251 

On December 13. 1770, Ca])t;iin James AlcDouj^all, who had recently l^een 
let out of jail on bail by the Supreme Court, in connection with the libel charges 
against him, was summoned to the bar of the Assembly and he was there in- 
terrogated as to whether he was the autlior of the paper entitled, "Address 
to the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York." He 
declined to answer, for the reason, first, that the Assembly had already de- 
clared the i)a]ier to be libelous and he could not be comj)elled to incriminate 
himself; and, second, he was at that time under prosecution in the Supreme 
Court of the colony. He was declared in contempt of the house, and declin- 
ing to ask pardon, was committed to the common jail, where he remained 
after the adjournment of the house until April 17, 1771, when, on motion of 
John Morin Scott, his attorney, he was ordered to be released upon his own 
recognizance. A vindication of the stand he took before the Assembly, which 
McDougall sent from the jail, was published on December 22d, in Holt's 
Gazette, and the people generally were in sympathy with his stand. The 
Sons of Liberty, at their celebration of the anniversary of the repeal of the 
Stamp Act, on March 18, 1771, included among their toasts one to "the Lib- 
erty of the Press" in honor of McDougall, and another entitled, "No ansvyer to 
interrogatories when tending to accuse the person interrogated," was also in 
sympathy with the man then still in jail. McDougall, after his release, con- 
tinued to be actiye in the patriot cause. He became colonel of the First New 
^'ork Regiment, in 1775, brigadier general in 1776, and major general in 1777, 
in the Continental Army: fought at the battles of Long Lsland, White Plains, 
Germantown and others; was elected to the Continental Congress in 1781 and 
17S4, and was a member of the New York Senate at the time of his death, in 
1786. 

As early as December, 1770, the Earl of Dunmore had receiyed from Eng- 
land a notice that the king had promoted him to the goyernment of Virginia, 
in succession to Lord Botetourt, who had died, a mark of royal favor which 
greatly ])leased the earl, as the Virginian post was considered the most impor- 
tant and desirable in the colonies. To the office of governor of New York 
the king appointed William Tryon, then governor of North Carolina, whose 
wife, who had been a Aliss Wake, was a near relative of the Earl of Hills- 
borough, first commissioner of trade and plantations. He was born in Ire- 
land about 1725, commissioned captain in the army in 175 1 and lieutenant 
colonel in 1758; appointed lieutenant governor of North Carolina in 1764, and 
upon the death of Governor Arthur Dobbs was commissioned governor of 
that colony. Through the tact of his ambitious wife he succeeded in securing 
from the North Carolina Assembly £15,000 to build a governor's house at 
Newbern, which was recognized as being the handsomest building in Amer- 
ica. This was chief of the extravagances which caused "The Regulators," an 



HISTORY OF XIIW YORK 



organization formed for tax and other reforms in X'orth Carolina, in 1768, 
to start an uprising- in 1770. In May, 1771, Governor Tryon, at the head of 
a larg-e Loyahst force, met two thousand Regulators, of whom less than half 
were armed, at Alamance Creek, defeating them after two hours of fierce 
fighting. Seventy Loyalists were killed and wounded, nine Regulators were 
killed and many wounded, one was hanged on the spot and fifteen were taken 
prisoners, of whom six were tried and executed. The selection of Governor 
Tryon as go\'ernor of New York was a reward for his vigor in suppressing 
the Regulators. ( )n Mondav. Jtilv Sth, he arrived in Xew York with his wife 
and daughter, after a fast passage of five days from Xewbern, North Caro- 
lina, in the sloop Sukey, and was recei\'e(l with appropriate salutes, honors 
and ceremonies, the Earl of Dunmore going Id the sloop to meet him and 
accompanying him from the landing at Whitehall stairs to the fort, escorted 
by the Provincial Council and the local dignitaries. 

Lord Dunmore left for Virginia, Sej^tember Sth, with the accompaniment 
of salutes from the battery guns and many tokens of public esteem. He seems 
to have pleased evervbodv in New York save Lieutenant Governor Colden. In 
a tr\'ing time he had ruled the province without friction and with singular 
discretion, llis course in A'irginia was much different and his administration 
\-erv ttnpoi)ular, but his short term as governor of New York developed noth- 
ing to antagonize anv partv. The New York Assemblv. which did not meet 
until Januarv 7, 177-, in replving to the address of the new governor and 
expressing satisfaction at his appointment, also alluded to his predecessor as 
having "iustlv merited our affection and applause." 

In his address to the Assembly, Governor Tryon. in the absence of any 
special instructions from the king, confined his recommendations to the ordi- 
nary su])i)lv and sujjport bills, a thorough repair of the city's fortifications and 
defenses and the framing of a jiroper militia system. The Assembly, appro- 
priating £2000 for the governor's salary, received from him a si)ecial mes- 
sage, with a copy of the king's instructions, providing that neither the gover- 
nor, president of the council, nor commander in chief could receive from the 
Assemlily any gift or present \\liatever. The Society of the New York Hos- 
])ital, organized in 1771, was commended to the consideration of the Assentbly 
bv Go\'ernor Tryon. 

The two societies celebrated, on 2\Iarch 18, 1772, another anniversarv of 
the repeal of tlie Stam]i Act. the conserxative Friends of Liberty and Trade, 
at De La Abintagne's, and the more radical Sons of Liberty, in Hampden Hall, 
as tisu.'d. The Assembly, as Tryon had recommended, had ])assed an act estab- 
lishing a militia, and soon nine companies, aggregating seven hundred men, of 
which three were artillery, were raised, officered by "gentlemen of the first 
f.amilies and distinction," who at their own expense clothed, armed and accou- 



THE CASE OF PHILIP LIVIXCSTOX 253 



tred their companies. In Jnne the force had increased to twenty-six reg-iments 
and eleven troops of hght horse in the province, one regiment and one troop 
being in Xew York County. ( )liver DeLancey, brother of the late Lieutenant 
Governor DeLancev. was c(ilonel in chief of the Southern District. He was 
one of the most prominent citizens of Xew \'ork, and his daughter Susanna, 
according to the newspapers (if the da\-, had married Sir William Draper, 
Knight of the Bath, in Trinity Church, im Cctol^er 13, 1770. 

One of the controversies which had created some acrimonv at this period, 
was the Livingston dispute, referring to the claim of Judge Philij) Li\ingstiin, 
of the Supreme Court, of a right to sit in the Assembly as a representative of 
Livingston Manor, the great familv estate on the Hudson. He had served 
without question for four vears after his appointment to the Bench bv General 
INIonckton, and in 1768 had been the s])eaker of the Assemljh-, but the follow- 
ing year was denied admission, based on two grounds: first, that he was a resi- 
dent of New York and not of Livingston ^lanor; and second, that he was 
ineligible because of his judicial position. Therefore, while elected five times 
in three years, he had been kept out. While these seem in our day to be good 
grounds for refusing to admit him to the Assembh', they were not valid either 
bv law or custom when first raised against Livingston, and laws afterward 
made In- the Assemblv purposelv to exclude him were vetoed by the king. The 
objection to Livingston seems to have been more denominational than partisan, 
as Livingston was foremost among the Presbyterian laymen of that da}-, and 
as such, obnoxious to the high churchmen, who were usually fa\'ored in all offi- 
cial matters, and who wished to be alone eligible to office, as Episcopalians 
were in North Carolina, and some other colonies. The appeal made by Liv- 
ingston to the home authorities, in 177^, met with no response, and he was not 
returned in 1773. The Assembly meeting, from January 5th to March S, 1773, 
was chiefly given to appropriations and routine matters, and the first half of 
the year passed in an excejitionally peaceful manner in New York. 

Public oi)inion was perturbed by the news from X'irginia and New Eng- 
land. During several years past Massachusetts had been under more austere 
and autocratic govern<5rs than had New York. Sir Francis Bernard, from 
1760 to 1769, and Thomas Hutchinson, from 1769, had represented unwaver- 
ing hostility to the popular cause. Conflicts between the soldiery and citizens 
had been freciuent. The Boston Massacre, as the bloody emeute on King- 
Street, March 2, 1770. between soldiers and citizens had come to be called, 
was a fiercer and more sanguinary onslaught than that on Golden Hill in 
New York City a few weeks before. Samuel Adams and others of the pa- 
triots had practicall}- dropped the idea of lo\-alt}- to the crown which denied the 
colony its lilierties, although x-\dams still, in his speeches, spoke of the ministers 
rather than the king, and had devised a plan of a committee of correspond- 



HISTORY OF XRIV YORK 



ence to arouse and consolidate the patriots of the various colonies. In the 
spring of 1773. young Dabney Carr rose in the House of Burgesses in \'ir- 
ginia and argued in favor of the appointment of committees of correspond- 
ence, such as had been established in Xew England, for the preservation of 
their rights and liberties and providing to systematize the plan by the designa- 
tion of councils in each State, who shotild meet at some central place with the 
others, to unifv their plans: and the \'irginia house appointed a committee 
charged with the duty "to watch Britain, and communicate with the other colo- 
nies." Lord Dunmore dissolved the house, but the committee had been ap- 
])()inted and the Xew England assemblies appointed similar committees. Xew 
York could not now do so, as the Assembl}' had already been prorogued. 




RHINELANDER'S SUGAR HOUSE, 1763 
L'sed as a Prison during the Revolution 



CHAPTER T IF E N T Y - F I r E 

TEA AND THE TROUBLE IT BREWED 

BOSTON CLOSED AND THE REVOLUTION OPENED 

CONTINENTAL AND PROVINCIAL CONGRESSES 

The £^raiUing- of a charter to the East India Company, authorizing- it 
to export tea, duty free, to America, and to sell it through commissioners 
of its own a]ipointment, in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and other 
American ports, was the signal for a revival of the resentments which had 
been before aroused by the Stamp Act, for, as will be remembered, the 
second or modified nonimportation agreement of the merchants had been 
singly and specifically directed against tea. The compan\- was thus 
endeavoring to accomplish through its own commissioners what it could 
not compass through the regular trade. A series of letters, headed 
"Alarm," and signed "Hampden," as well as other articles, directed against 
the ]:ro])osed shipment, with warnings to East India commissioners that 
lhe_\' were on a par with stampmasters and would not lie tolerated by the 
freemen of America, appeared in Holt's Journal. 

A notable circular was issued. November 29, 1773, in handbill form, 
announcing the formation of an association known as the Sons of Lilierty 
of New York, asking signatures ])romising faithful com])]iance with 
certain resolutions declaring that all who aided or abetted in the intro- 
duction of tea into the colon}': or in the landing or carting of tea from 
any ship or vessel: or should hire anv premises for the storag^e of tea: or 
contribute to the sale or j^iurchase of tea — while that commoditv should be 
subject, by a British act of Parliament, to the ])aynient of a duty for the 
purpose of raising a revenue in America — should be deemed enemies to the 
liberties of America, without reference to whether the duties should be 
l)aid in Great Britain or America. And the resolutions further declared 
that whoever should transgress these resolutions the signer would not deal 
with or em]doy. or have any connection with. On the reverse side of the 
circular was an appeal from the "Friends of Liberty and Trade" (the more 
conservative organization) inviting signatures to the agreement of the asso- 
ciation, and advising harmony and a union of all classes, in a C[uiet but 
determined resistance. 

The document was signed by people of all ranks and stations, and a 
meeting called for December 17th. at the City Hall, was largely attended in 
spite of a blustering storm. Previous to this the merchants, Henry White 
(member of the Council), Aliraham Lott and ]Mr. Benjamin, who had 
received commissions from the East India Company for the sale of tea in 



9-^(i HISTORY OF X liW YORK 

the ciilony, had l>een waited on by a Cdiiiniittee, and liad decided to resign 
their commissions and decHne to receive or sell the tea. At the City Hall 
meeting John LamI) presented communications from the committees of 
correspondence of Boston and Philadelphia declaring the determination of 
those communities to prevent the landing of the tea, and as Xew York 
as yet had no similar committee of its Assembly, one of fifteen members was 
chosen on the s])ot and named the Xew York Committee. Mayor Hicks, 
accompanied by the recorder, entered the meeting and announced a mes- 
sage from the governor in regard to what sh(Tuld be done with the tea when 
it should arri\'e (the connnissioners having resigned). It read: "The gov- 
ernor declares that the Tea will lie put in the fort at noonday ; and engages 
his honour that it shall continue there until the Council shall advise it to 
be deli\-ered out, or till the king's order or the ])roprietor"s order is known : 
and then the Tea will be deli\'ered out at noon-dav." The mayor thereupon 
asked the meeting if such an arrangement would be satisfactory, and was 
answered with loud cries of "Xo!"' John Lamb then read the act of Par- 
liament, which ]K"ovided that the duties should be paid upon landing, and 
then asked if those jiresent believed, under this circumstance, that the tea 
slioiild be landed, and recei\'ed a vociferous and almost unanimous nega- 
tive answer. Then, after jiassing a resolution approving the stand taken 
by IJoston and Philadeli)hia, the meeting adionrned to convene again on the 
arrival of the tea shi|). 

A report reached Xew York the same da\- tliat the tea ship for the ])ort 
of Charleston, South Carolina, had arrixed. but had not been permitted by 
tile citizens to land its cargo. This turned out to be an erroneous state- 
ment. The tea was, in fact landed, but was stored in damji cellars where it 
was guarded and was allowed to rot, so that it was never marketed. On 
the night of the same dav as the Anti-Tea Meeting in Xew York, the 
"Boston Tea Party," which was the most thrilling episode of the entire 
tea agitation, occurred. The Philadelphia tea ship "Polly" arrived on Christ- 
mas Day, but was returned to Pngland with its cargo the following da}'. It 
was several months later before the X'ew \'ork tea shi]i arrived. 

On the night of iJecember 20, 1773, an accidental hre destroyed the 
Province House in the fort, and it burned so ra])idl\" that in two hours it 
was entirelv consumed. The inmates had difficulty in escaping, the gov- 
ernor and his wife making their exit from a door leading to the ramparts. 
Miss Tryon, jumping from the second-storv window, fortun;itel_\' landed 
in a deep snow]);ink and was unhurt, but a maidservant ])erished in the 
flames. Practically all the personal effects of the governor ;ind his wife 
were consumed, but the great seal of the province was found in the ruins, 
two days later, uninjured. If the hre had occurred in dry weather it would 



THE ASSEMBLY OF 



'4 



doubtless have destroyed many more houses, but as it occurred just after 
a lieavy snowstorm, when every roof was covered thick with snow, it was 
confined to the Province House. 

The (General Assembly met January 6, 1774. Jud,<;"e Li\in,L;ston, who 
had a^ain been returned for Livingston Alanor, was again refused admis- 
sion, and on a new poll Peter R. Livingston was elected and admitted to 




DEPARTURE OF THE "POLLY' 



a seat. The governor's address had chiefly to do with the boundary lines 
between the province and Quebec, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 
and said that he had been ordered to England in connection with the Xew 
Hampshire grants. He also called attention of the Assendjly to the fire 
which destroyed the Province House. Besides the usual exjjense and supply 
bills the x\ssembly voted £5000 as an allowance to the governor for his 
losses in the fire. It would have been lost by a tie vote if the speaker, 
John Cruger, had not given the casting vote for the bill. A bill was also 
passed providing for the raising of £12,000 by lottery or lotteries, toward 
buildmg a province house and secretary's ofiice, but it was never built. 



HISTORY OF XI-JV YORK 



Governor Trvon prorogued the Asseinl)!)-. nn ]\Jarch Kjth, and sailed for 
England in the ]\lercury jxicket. on April 7, 1774. 

The departtire of Governor Tryon called back Lieutenant Governor 
Golden from his country house at Flushing- to take up again, in his eighty- 
sixth Year, the reins of proA'incial goverinnent. Before Governor Tryon"s 
departure news had arrived, on March 10th, from St. Eustatius via Philadel- 
phia, to the effect that the ship Xancy. Captain Lockyer. having- been 
blown off the coast bv contrary winds, had put into Antigtta. So the vigi- 
lance of the Sons of Libertv committee was redotil^led. and was rewarded, 
on April i8th, by news that the vessel was in the outer harjjor. The pilot 
did not deem it safe to take the vessel into the harbor, btit the committee of 
the Sons of Liberty called on the captain and advised him that he could 
safelv come up on condition that he should not enter his vessel at the 
Custom House. Coming ashore he was received with kindness, visiting 
his consignees, who refused to receive his cargo. He made his arrange- 
ments to leave without itnloading. and a handbill invited the citizens to see 
him oft', on Mav 2()th. stating that the bells would l)e rung half an hour 
before he should lea\e ]NLu-ray's wharf. By private advices the Sons of 
Libertv were led to watch also for the ship London, Captain Chambers. 
When the \-esseI arrived at the Hook, the captain denied to the pilot that 
he had anv tea on board, but the Sons of Liberty, then a power not to be 
despised, called the captain and the owner before them, and the captain 
admitted that he had eig-hteen cases of tea on board, of \\hich he was sole 
owner. .V dei)utation from the Sons of Liberty \isited the ship in the 
evening, broke open the cases and em])tied their contents into the river. 
The next dav Captain Lockyer was escorted from the Coft'ee House to the 
end of Murrav's Wharf, followed by cheering crowds, and put upon the 
l)ilot boat. 'Jlie committee of obser\ation at Sand}- Hook rejjorted that the 
Xancv had departed not only with the tea. Captain Lock\er and her crew, 
bttt also with Captain Chambers, who had thtis i)Ut himself at a safe distance 
from punishment at the hands of unfriendly citizens. All these proceed- 
ing-s about the tea went on without the lieutenant governor knowing any- 
thing al)out them until they were all over. 

Xews which came from England told of the reception there of the 
news of the Boston Tea Party, of the intense excitement in London, and 
the passage through both houses of Parliament of the Boston Port Bill, 
which ]u-ovided for the closing of the port of Bostoit, on June ist, to all 
connnerce. lo remain closed during the king's pleasure, and in addition, for 
the indemnification of the East Lidia Company tor the loss of its tea, the 
value being ])laced at about £8000. This news came by the ship Samson, 
from London, which arrived ?\Iay 12. 1774. By the same ship also came 



THE COMMITTEE OF EIFTV-OXE 259 

achices that (iciieral < lat^e had been appointed civil g'overnur of Massa- 
chusetts; that fdiir nmrt' regiments of soldiers were embarked, and that a 
considerable fleet had been ordered into American waters. 

A meetino- of merchants was called to meet at Fraunces" Tavern, on 
^Nlondav, May i6th, and when they leathered it was found that the tavern 
'lid not afl:'ord sufticient room, so removal was made to the Excliange Build- 
in,!:^', just ojiposite. Isaac Low was chosen chairman of the meeting;', and 
it was i)ro])osed to elect a committee of correspondence. Isaac Sears, for 
the Sons of Lil)ert\-, oft'ered a list of twenty-five; but the merchants 
ofl'ered a list of fifty. There was a close contest, but the merchants won. 
Un both lists the names were for the most part those of merchants, and 
when they were compared it was found that not more than two of the 
Sons of Liberty ticket were omittetl from the larg'er list. The meeting" 
adjourned to meet on Thursday, tire 19th, at the Merchants' Coffee House. 
At that meeting the name of Francis Lewis was added to the committee, 
which thus took its name of Committee of Fifty-one. [Meanwhile Paul 
Revere, ])ostri(ler for tlie 15oston Committee, had brought in news of a 
meeting held at Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on the 13th, at which resolu- 
tions were passed urging the colonies to stop all importations from and 
exportations to Great Britain and the West Indies until the Boston Port 
Bill shotild be repealed. 

The i)roceedings of the committee are preserved in the New York His- 
torical Society collections, and it will be interesting- to transcribe the 
names of the members, many of whom became distinguished in the subse- 
(|uent histor}- of the city, and most of them representative of families still 
prominent in Xew York. They were John Alsop, William Bavard, The- 
ophylact Bache, Peter \'. B. Livingston, Philip Livingston, Isaac Sears, 
Da\i(l Johnston, Charles McEvers, Charles Nicoll, Alexander McDougall, 
L'apiain Thomas Randall, John Moore, Isaac Low, Leonard Lispenard, 
jacol)us van Zandt, James Duane, Edward Laight, Thomas Pearsall, 
Elias Desbrosses, \\'illiam Walton, "Tiichard Yates, John DeLancey, Miles tTT-* 
Sherbrooke, John Thurman, John Broome, John Jay, Benjamin Booth, 
Joseph Hallett, Charles Shaw, Alexander Wallace, James Jauncey, Gabriel 
W . Ludlow, Nicholas Hoffman, Abraham Walton, Gerardus Duyckinck, 
Peter \an Schaack, Henry Remsen, Hamilton Young, George Bowne, 
Peter T. Curtenius, Peter Goelet, Abraham Brasher, Abraham P. Lott, 
l)a\id van Home, (lerardus W. Beekman, Abraham Duryee, Joseph Ball, 
W illiam AlcAdani, Richard Sharpe, Thomas Marston, Francis Lewis. The 
connnittee organized with Isaac Low as chairman and John Alsop, deputy 
cliairman. The committee at once broached the proposal for a congress, with 
delegates chosen from each colonv, and in answer to the circular of the 



2(;i) HISTORY OF XEIJ' YORK 

Boston meeting, urging- C()m|)lete nonintercoiirse with Britain, preferred 
to leave that and all intercolonial matters to the Congress when convened. 
On Jtme 17th, the Massachusetts Assembly appointed five delegates to 
meet the delegates of other colonies at Philadelphia. September ist, and 
for this action General Gage dissolved the Asseml)ly. 

On receipt of the news, the Committee of Correspondence decided that 
as the New York Assembly was not in session they would choose five to 
go as delegates to Philadelphia, being the same number as were selected at 
Boston. Several nominations were made, and five selected: Philip Living- 
ston. John Alsop, Isaac Low, Ltnies Duane, and John Jay, three merchants 
and the two last lawyers. The selection not being unanimous, and several 
being dissatisfied, it was ordered that a call be issued to the inhabitants to 
meet at the City Hall at noon on Wednesday, July 7th. to concur in these 
nominations, or choose others. On the 5th, another call was issued for a 
meeting in the Fields on the following day, and a great gathering appeared. 
Alexander McDotigall was called to the chair, and resolutions were adopted 
recommending" nonintercourse with Great Britain, and instructing the deputies 
to the Congress to agree for the city ui)on a nonimportation agreement ; a sttb- 
scription voted in aid of the suffering inhal)itants of Boston, and the City Com- 
mittee of Correspondence directed to carrv out this resolution. 

The committee objected to this attempt to instruct delegates before 
they were chosen, and the clash of views led to the withdrawal of Messrs. 
Lewis, Hallett. McDougall. Peter V. Livingston. Isaac Sears. Thomas 
Randall, Abraham P. Lott, Leonard Lispenard. John Broome, Abraham 
Brasher and Jacobus van Zandt, from the Committee of Fifty-one. The 
meeting at the Cit}' Hall was not harmonious, and handbills were circu- 
lated which tended to increase the d ssension, one signed "Son of Liberty," 
deprecating discord between the merchants and the mechanic class. Sen- 
sibly the Connuittee of Correspondence made overtures to the Mechanics' 
As.sociation for a joint meeting, and it was arranged that a regular 
election at the usual polling places be held for delegates, with the result 
that on the 28th there was a unanimotis vote for the five delegates. 

The Congress met in Philadelphia, Se])tember 5th, ])ut forth a Declar- 
ation of Rights, and passed a Nonexportation Act to take eft'ect Septem- 
ber 15th, and a Nonimportation Act to be in force after December ist, 
following. They recommended the election of a committee in every city, 
count}' and town of each of the colonies, and ordered the election of dele- 
gates to meet May 14, 1775. The idea of tmion was now in full possession. 
After the Congress, the Committee of Correspondence, after a conference 
with the Mechanics, ordered a poll to be hekl in the City Hall, on Novem- 
ber 22d, for the election of sixty persons as a Committee of Observation. 



XEirS COMES FROM LEXIXGTOX 261 

The election was unanimous in its choice, and the list of its members is 
about half made up of members of the original Committee of Fifty-one, 
and the other half of new names, including, among others, two Roose- 
velts ( Isaac and Nicholas) and Lindlev ^Murray, the famous grammarian. 
This committee in New York, and similar ones in all the colonies, took up 
their duties with zeal, the Nonimportation Act was rigidly enforced. 

On Ttinuarv lo, 1775. the General .Vssembly met at the call of Lieutenant 
Governor Golden, at whose suggestion it adopted a petition to the king, set- 
ting forth their rights and grievances, disclaiming anv desire for independence 
of the British Parliament; and also adopted an address to the Lords and 
Gonimons, in which they declared that the people of the colonies were entitled 
to e(|ual rights and privileges with their fellow subjects in Great Britain. The 
Assembly was conservative but patriotic, and after attending to several mat- 
ters of administration and making the routine appropriations, it adjourned 
April 8th. It was the last meeting of the colonial Assembly in New York. 

The Committee of Observation called for a meeting- of the freeholders 
and freemen of the city, at the Exchange, on March 6th. At nine o'clock of 
that da}- a union flag was hoisted on the libertv pole and a large number of 
the people marched thence to the Exchange, where thev authorized the com- 
mittee to nominate eleven delegates for the purpose of choosing delegates to 
the general congress. The delegates selected to represent the city and county 
of New ^'ork in the Provincial Congress were Philip Livingston, John Jay, 
James Duane, John Alsop, Isaac Low, Francis Lewis, Abraham Walton. Abra- 
ham Brasher, Alexander McDougall, Leonard Lispenard, and Isaac Roosevelt. 
They were elected by a large majority at the poll, on March 15th, and on 
April 20th they met in Provincial Congress, of which Philip Livingston was 
chosen ])resident. The next day thev chose Philip Livingston, James Duane, 
John Alsop, John Jay, Francis Lewis, Simon Boerum, William Flo\^d, Henry 
\Msner, Philip Schuyler, George Clinton, Lewis Morris and Robert Living- 
ston, Jr. (the first five from the city and county of New York), to represent 
the colony in the Continental Congress. 

A travel-stained horseman, being one of the regular express of the com- 
mittee at Boston, dashed into town at noon on Sunday with news of the Battle 
of Lexington, and handed to Isaac Low, chairman of the Committee of Observa- 
tion, a dispatch announcing the fact. After he had countersigned it and 
passed it on for transmission to Philadelphia, he spread the news. The excite- 
ment was intense, and the patriots were fired with the desire to prepare for a 
struggle which was now inevitable. Isaac Low, on April 26th, issued on be- 
half of the committee, a call for the election by, the freeholders and freemen, 
of a new Committee of One Hundred, to take charge of affairs in the present 
emergency, polls to be held on the 2Sth, at the usual places of election in each 



HISTORV OF XEJV YORK 



ward, and also recommending at the same time that a Provincial Congress 
shotild be immediately summoned and that twenty delegates to represent the 
city and comitv should be elected at the same time. The election was held, the 
recommendations adopted and the General Committee of One Hundred was 
chosen, including the leading patriots, as follows : 



Isaac Low 
Philip Livins4_st<Jii 
James Duane 
John Alsop 
John Jay 

P. \'. B. Livingston 
Isaac Sears 
David Johnson 
Alexander ^^IcDougall 
Thomas Randall 
Leonard Lispenard 
\\'illiam Walton 
John Broome 
Joseph Hallett 
Gabriel H. Ludlow 
Nicholas Hoffman 
Abraham Walton 
Peter William Schaack 
Henry Remsen 
Peter T. Curtenius 
Abraham Bragster 
Abraham P. Lott 
Abraham Duryee 
Joseph Ball 
Francis Lewis 
Joseph Totten 
Thomas I vers 
Hercules Mulligan 
John Anthony 
Francis Buffer 
A'ictor Bicker 
John P>. ^Toore 
Rudolphus Ritzema 
Lindlcv Murrav 



Lancaster Burling 
John Lasher 
George Janeway 
James Beeknian 
Samuel \ erplanck 
Richard Yates 
David Chirkson 
Thomas Smith 
James Desbrosses 
Augustus van Home 
Garret Keteltas 
Eleazar [Miller 
Benjamin Kissam 
John Morin Scott 
Cornelitis Clopjier 
John Reade 
John van Cortlandt 
Jacobus van Zandt 
(ierardus Du\ckinck 
Peter Goelet 
John Marston 
Thomas Marston 
John Alorton 
< ieorge Folliot 
Jacobus Left"erts 
Richard Sharp 
Hamilton Young 
Abraham Brinckerhoft' 
Theophilus Anthony 
\\"illiam Goforth 
\\'i!liam Denning 
Isaac Roosevelt 
Tacob van A'oorhees 



Jeremiah i'latt 
Comfort Sands 
Robert Benson 
William W. Gilbert 
John Berrien 
Gabriel W. Ludlow 
Nicholas Roosevelt 
Edwin Fleming 
Lawrence Embell 
Samuel Jones 
John DeLancey 
Frederick lav 
William W. J.u.Uow 
John White 
Walter Franklin 
David Beekman 
William Seton 
Evert Banker 
Robert Ray 
Nicholas Bogert 
William Laight 
Sanniel Broome 
John Lamb 
Daniel Phoenix 
Anthony van Dam 
Daniel Dunscomb 
John Imlay 
Glliver Tcmpleton 
Lewis Pintard 
Cornelius P. Low 
Tliomas Buchanan 
Petrus Byvanck 
Benjamin Helme 



The names of the twenty-one -deputies chosen for the city and countv of 
New York, to meet deputies of other c<umties in Pro\incial Congress, were: 
Leonard I^ispenard, Isaac Tow, Abraham A\'alton. Isaac Roosevelt, Abraham 
Brasher, Alexander McDougall, Samuel \'er])]anck, David Clarkson. George 
Folliot, Joseph Hallett, John van Cortlandt. P. \'. P. Livingston, James Beek- 
man. John Mnrin Scott, Thomas Smith, Benjamin Kissam, Richard Yates, 
John ]\Iarston, ^^"alter Franklin, Jacol)us van Zandt .and John DeT^ancey. 

These met on the day designated. May 22. 1773. and began to legislate in 
a ]irovisional wav, independent of king or roval governor. The Revolution 
had I)ecome an active force in Xew \'ork Citv. 



CHAPTER T ir E N T Y - S I X 

THE REVOLUTION IN NEW YORK 

CONTINENTAL CAMP IN THE CITY-MOVEMENTS 

OF TWO ARMIES IN AND AROUND THE CITY 

On Sunday, June 25, 1775, there were two important arrivals in the 
City of New York. One was Governor Tryon, who had been sent back to 
his province by Lord Dartmouth, and arrived to find it largely controlled 
by an independent government. The other was General George Washing- 
ton, who, on June 15, 1775, had been appointed by the Continental Con- 
gress, sitting at Philadelphia, to be "General and Commander in Chief of 
the United Colonies and of all the forces now raised or to be raised by 
them," and who, on the day of Governor Tryon's return, passed through 
the city on his way to the camp at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Colden, for the last time, surrendered the reins of what little authority 
was now left, to his superior officer. During Tryon's fourteen months' 
absence, he had been passive, presenting no noticeable obstruction to the 
course of the patriot leaders. He had known nothing about the measures 
taken to prevent the landing of tea until the forces of resistance had 
triumphed, and political power and executive authority had slipped from 
his hands almost without his knowledge. Evidently the government of 
New York, as a royal colony was, at that period, no job for a man of 
eighty-seven years. So with the return of Governor Tryon, he retired 
finally to his home at Flushing, where he died, September 21, 1776. He 
was a man of much ability and considerable learning, a Scotchman, and 
tenacious of his views and opinions, and therefore in the five separate inter- 
regnums during which he filled the gubernatorial office he was in conflict with 
the radical element of the patriot party. The periods of his rule began in 
August, 1760, when he was president of the Council, and seventy-two years 
of age. He was commissioned lieutenant governor, March 20, 1761, and 
filled the office until his death, acting as governor for periods aggregating 
a total of six years and five months. He was one of the most distinguished 
scholars of his century in America, devoted much attention to the study of 
the sciences, and especially of botany, and was the first to introduce the 
Linnsean system of classification in America. He published a History of 
the Five Indian Nations of Canada (1727), a work of great value, and a less 
miportant work on The Principles of Action in Matter (1752). 

When the Committee of One Hundred was formed, after the news of 
the Battle of Lexington was received in New York, one of the first resolu- 
tions it adopted was to recommend that "every inhabitant perfect himself 



26-1 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



in Military Discipline and provide himself with Arms, Accoutrements and 
Ammunition as by law directed." The existing militia organizations were 
promptly filled up, and several new ones formed. A party of citizens went 
to the City Hall, where there were about five hundred muskets, provincial 
property, and removed them to a safer place. Congress, through the New 
York delegates, addressed the people of the colony, advising them, in view 
of the expected arrival of British troops, to act on the defensive as long as 
possible, to permit the troops to remain in their barracks as long as they 
behave peaceably and quietly, but not to suffer them to erect fortifications 
or cut ofif communications between town and countrv. On the other hand. 




OLD VIEW OF JAMAICA VILLAGE, LONG ISLAND 

if the troops should commit hostilities, or invade private property, the 
inhabitants were advised to defend themselves and their belongings, and 
repel force for force. It was also advised that the warlike stores should be 
removed from the City of New York; that a place be provided as a retreat 
for the women and children in case one should be needed, and that sufifi- 
cient men be enlisted and kept in constant readiness for home protection. 

On May 26, 1775, H.M.S. Asia, sixty-four guns, under command of 
Captain George Vandeput, arrived off the Battery, with orders that the 
Royal Irish Regiment, which was at the Upper Barracks, should go on 
board, and arrangements were also made with the civil authorities for the 
removal of the regimental laundresses, with their belongings, to Governor's 
Island. The departure of this regiment, on June 4th, to the place of 
embarkation, was the occasion of one of the most daring of the deeds of 
the Revolution. The regiment was carrying with it not only the arma- 
ment for its men, but also a considerable number of spare guns, which they 
had loaded on carts. The order to permit the British to retire with their 
arms and accoutrements was not much relished by some of the more 



MARINUS iriLLETT HALTS THE TROOPS 265 

radical of the patriots, and one of tliese, ]\Iarinus Willett, deemed it his duty 
to take a hand in regulating matters. So, as the procession, coming down 
Broad Street, reached the corner of Beaver Street, he ran into the road and 
stopped the horse that was drawing the front cartload of arms, thus halting 
the march. Major Hamilton, commanding the regiment, came forward to 
discover the cause of the halt, and Willett told him that he had halted the 
column to prevent the spare arms from being carried off, as the authori- 
zation of the committee covered no arms except those the soldiers carried 
on their backs. At this juncture David Matthews, a Tory alderman, who, 
a year later became mayor of New York by British appointment, stepped 
up and defended the right of the troops to carry the extra arms with them, 
but Willett held his ground. He was rather stag'gered when Gouverneur Mor- 
ris, of whose patriotic standing there was no question, sided with Matthews as 
to the authority of the troops to move the guns. Just then John Morin Scott, 
who besides being one of the most influential members of the Committee 
of One Hundred, was one of the leading lawyers of New York, came on the 
scene and backed up Willett's argument. Thereupon Willett turned the 
front cart to the right, ordering the cartman to drive up Beaver Street, 
and the others to follow. Willett jumped on a cart and addressed the 
soldiers, saying, that "if it was their desire to repeat the bloody business 
going on in Boston, that the people of New York were ready to meet them; 
but if they felt a repugnance to the unnatural work of shedding the blood 
of their countrymen, and would recover their arms and march forward 
they should be protected." Just then one of the soldiers at the front shoul- 
dered his musket and began to march, followed by his comrades and the 
cheers of a great throng of citizens who had gathered during the prelim- 
inary altercation. The five carts, loaded with chests of arms, went out of 
Beaver Street, up Broadway to a large yard, where the arms were 
deposited, to afterward form part of the ecjuipment of the first New York 
troops raised under the orders of the Continental Congress. This auda- 
cious exploit is commemorated by a bronze tablet on the wall of the build- 
ing at the northwest corner of Broad and Beaver Streets, the scene of its 
enactment. Marinus Willett, who was a native of Jamaica, L. I., born July 
31, 1740, was a lienteuant in DeLancey's regiment, serving under General 
Abercrombie in the French and Indian War, in 1758. He became an ardent 
member of the Sons of Liberty, captain in the first Revolutionary regiment 
organized in New York, was promoted lieutenant colonel in 1777, and 
colonel in 1779; distinguished himself at Fort Stanwix, and continued 
actively in the field during the Revolution, making the last attack of the 
war, on the British at Oswego, in February, 1783. He was appointed by 
President Washington, in 1792, commissioner to treat with the Creek 



26G HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

Indians. He was a member of the New York Assembly, 1783-1784: sheriff 
of New York, 1784-1792, and mayor of New York, 1807-1808. He was 
actively engaged in the War of 1812, and died August 22, 1830. 

When Governor Tryon took the seals of office from Cadwallader 
Golden, in June, 1775, he took with their possession about all there was to 
remind him that he was governor. The chief activity was the organization 
of troops. The counties of New York, Alban}', Ulster and Di:tchess each 
furnished a regiment on the first call of the Gontinental Gongress for the 
organization of "The American Gontinental Army." The First (or New 
York Gity) Regiment was organized with Alexander McDougall, colonel; 
Rudolphus Ritzema, lieutenant colonel ; and Herman Zedwitz, major. 
John Lamb was made captain of the company of artillery. These officers 
were commissioned June 28, 1775, three davs after Tryon's return. 

Lamb's Artillery Gompany caused the first interchange of hostile shots. 
Under orders from the Provincial Gongress the company, supporting a 
considerable party of citizens, went, about eleven o'clock on the night of 
August 23d, to the Battery to remove the guns that were mounted there: 
and while they were engaged in the work, one of the Asia's boats coming 
near enough to discover what was being done, fired a musket as a signal 
to apprise the Asia of the activity of the Americans, and Lamb's men 
replied with a sharp volley from their muskets. Soon after, the firing of 
ordnance from the ship began, and nine, eighteen and twenty-four pound 
shot began to fly shoreward, as well as musket balls fired by the marines. 
Some of the houses on Whitehall Street, near the fort, were damaged in 
their upper stories, and three men were wounded. But all the pieces of 
cannon that were mounted on carriages were secured by the party, who 
carried off twenty-one guns. One of the Asia's misdirected shots went 
through the roof of the famous and historical tavern of Sanuiel Fraunces, 
who, because of the dark tint he had acquired through his French West 
Indian blood, was popularly known as "Black Sam." Freneau, the most 
notable of the American patriot poets of the period, commemorates this 
casualty in a satirical poem, including the following quatrain: 

Scarce a broadside was ended 'till another began again. 
By Jove ! It was nothing but fire away Flanagan ! 
Some thought him saluting his Sallys and Nancys 
'Till he drove a round-shot thro' the roof of Sam Francis. 

Gaptain Vandeput, of the Asia, calling upon Mayor Hicks the following 
day, protested against the action of the Gontinentals in carrying off the guns, 
\\\\.\\ significant threats to become effective in the event of future demonstra- 
tions of the kind. 



IS.I.If SR.IRS ]I'RI:CKS RIllXCTOX'S Ol-'l-fili 



The most difficult problems of the Provincial Congress were occasioned 
bv the excessive zeal of the more radical patriots, some of whom perpetrated 
acts of lawlessness directed against citizens of Tory politics, which the Com- 
mittee of Safety were unable to prevent. Large numbers of Liyalists left the 
city, and manv of those whose sympathies were with the Revolution also left 
New York with their families for places less exposed to the possibilities of 
acti^•e warfare. On C)ctober 13th, Governor Tryon sent word to ^layor Hicks 
that he had been advised that the Continental Congress had recommended 
that the Provincial Congress "should seize the officers of this government, and 
particularlv myself by name," saying that such an attempt wwld meet with 
stubborn resistance from the king's forces. He also declared his wish to go 




SOUTHWEST VIEW OF NEW YORK FROM BEDLOE'S ISLAND 



111! board the Asia with his wife and familv and his ])ri\-ate effects, and would 
like the local authorities to ])rotect him from interference in carrying out this 
resolution. In answer, he received, through the mayor, a communication from 
the Committee of One Hundred, declaring that the report of which he spoke 
was unfounded, and expressing in most polite terms a ho|)e that His Excel- 
lency would continue his residence among a people who had "the most grate- 
ful sense of his upright and disinterested administration." To this missive 
the governor made an equallv courteous rejoinder, but removed to the Asia 
with all possible despatch. 

Isaac Sears, who was himself a member of the Committee of Safety, com- 
mitted one of the most flagrant violations of its rules by heading a company 
of armed Connecticut horsemen, and with them at noon rode up to the printing- 
office of James Rivington, editor and publisher of the New York Gazetteer, 
which they entered and, after breaking u]) the presses, carried off all the ty])e 
to New Haven. The same partv had. the day before, arrested three of the 



■.'(;s HISTORY OF .\7:Jf ]'ORK 

leadino" citizens of Westchester for pernicious ]Hilitical activity on the roval 
side. Altliough the horsemen received an ii])roarious ovation when they re- 
turned to Connecticut, their conduct was condemned bv the Committee of 
Safety, which endeavored to get the Provincial Congress to act in the matter. 
The Congress addressed the governor of Connecticut in regard to the matter, 
asking that the stolen property should he restored to its owner, and Riving- 
ton addressed the Continental Congress asking for protection, but nothing was 
done about the matter, the public mind being occupied with more important 
matters. 

Washington learned earlv in January, 1776, of the proposed departure of 
Sir Henry Clinton from Boston with an expedition which he believed was 
intended to bring about a British occu])ation of Ne\\- ^"ork. He therefore 
ordered General Charles Lee to assemble a volunteer army (juickly and march 
to New York, to put the city in the best possible condition of defense. There 
was much opposition to the military occupation of the cit_\-, and deputations 
waited upon General Lee to con\-ev them. The peoj^le of Xew York were 
more hopeful of a compromise \\ith the British government than were those 
of New England, and while the numl)L'r whu justified Britain's arbitrary leg- 
islation which had brought on the Revolution was confined to onlv a few of 
the more aristocratic class, there were many, even among the Whigs, who were 
at heart only reformers and not revolutionists, and whose highest hopes went 
no further than a substitution of the Assembly for the Parliament as a taxing 
body, -with, perhaps, a re])rcsentation of the colonies in the British Parliament. 
Those who fa\-ored immediate independence were probably in a minority. 
There was a general dread of military occupation, and when General Lee 
entered the city there was great alarm among the inhabitants, and a large 
requisition for carts and boats to remove families from the city. Lee came 
in with fifteen hundred Connecticut troops on Sundaw I'ebruarv 4th, the same 
day that brought General Sir flenr)- Clinton to Santly I look with the British 
contingent. .Sir Henry came up to the harl)or to consult with Governor 
Tryon and to look over the situation, and he expressed great surprise when he 
was not allowed to land. He declared that he could not understand why there 
was so much alarm on his account; that the place was his Ijoyhood home, to 
which he was much attached (he was son of Admiral (ieorge ('linton, who 
had been governor of New York from 1743 to 1753J, and he sent for Mayor 
Hicks and asked him to assure the people that he had only come on a visit. 

Lee busied himself with defenses, throwing U]) barricades and bordering 
the island with earthworks on which he mounted more than a hundred guns. 
He chopped into some prized timber preserves for material and temporarily 
spoiled the beauty of several garden spots, and he was impatient of com- 
])laints, showing it by military bluntness of speech. Congress voted eight 



ir.lSHIXGTOX fX XHir YORK 



269 



thousand men f(ir the defense of the citw on March 14th, and requested the 
governors of New Jersey to have their niiHtia ready to march to New York 
on short notice. Tories were still leavin^L^' the citv as fast as they could, and 
had set up some temporar\- I)uildins;s on ISedloe's Island as a first way station, 
hut the Continental troops hvu'ned the huildinos, carried off the tools which 
were heing- used for making intrenchments. and also carried away stores of 
clothing and an ahundance of ]ioultry. 




FRANKLIN HOUSE. 1760 
1S4 Pearl Street. I'ranklin Square. Residence of Washington when inaugurated, 1789 



General Israel Putnam was sent to supersede General Lee on April 4th, 
and continued the preparations, fortified Red Hook and Governor's Island and 
protected the heights of Long Island opposite the city hy a chain of redoubts, 
from Gowanus north to \\'allabout Bay. Three companies of the rifle bat- 
talion were sent to Staten Island to act as a corps of observation, and in the 
early part of April had a sharp skirmish with boats' crews coming ashore for 
water, in which two or three British seamen were killed and a dozen captured. 
The Asia went out through the Narrows, to be ready to welcome the expected 
fleet. General W'a-^hington arrived in New ^'ork, A]iril 14th, from Cam- 



HISTORY OF XRJ]' VOKK 



liri(l<;x'. inspecting;', on the way. the hri^acles of Greene and Spencer, who were 
making' a slow march to Xew York l:)ecanse of the bad condition of the roads. 
When he arrived he inspected all the preparations that had been made, and 
added some practical snggestions. 

More than 1)\- the military i)re])arations, Washington was tried bv civic 
obstrnction. The enemy drawing near was composed of perfectly trained 
troops. His own forces were chieti\' made Uj) of untrained and untried farmers 
and working ])eo])]e unaccustomed to arms. Around him in the city were 
friends and foes, the latter including several tli(iusands of citizens whose sym- 
])athies were in favor of Jiritish rule, and neutrals, who taking no sides, were 
nuich incensed at the order wliicli jirevented them from trade and correspond- 
ence with the Asia in the harbor. The Committee of Safety showed great 
reluctance alxiut turning o\er the cit\' to military rule, and W^ashington 
rei)lied to their objections in a letter characteristic of that great man, declar- 
ing his great desire to go haiid iii hand with the ci\'il authority, and the re- 
luctance and i)ain which it caused him when his manifest duty compelled him 
to encounter the local convenience of individuals or even of a whole colony. 
Init that in the present important contest it was necessary to prefer the least 
of two evils, and he added: "In the weak and defenseless state in which this 
citv was some time ago, political ])rudcnce might justify the correspondence 
that subsisted between the country and the enemy's ships of war; but as the 
largest part of the Continental troops is here, as strong works are erected and 
erecting for the defense of the citv and harbor, these motives no longer exist, 
but are absorlied in others of a more im])ortant nature." After further re- 
marks pertinent to the sul)ject, he concludes: "In effecting the salutary pur- 
poses abo\e mentioned I could wish for the concurrence of your honorable 
body. It certainly adds great weight to the measures adopted when the civil 
authoritv cor)])erates with the militarv to carry them into execution." 

Washington, after Howe's evacuation of Boston, had sent General 
Thomas to Canada to head oil an attack from that section, but the troops 
under that command had been driven back and were now in a fever-laden 
camp on Lake Champlain, and large detachments had to be sent to rein- 
force that armv. The political situation was becoming tense. Congress 
contained man\' who were dishcjirtened b_\- the defeats which had thus far 
been registered bv the patriot army. As a whole, it was determined to 
uphold the ]iopular cause, but as to policies was much divided, and lacking 
in harmony. bhe \ irginia Convention had passed a resolution favoring 
independence, and later resolutions were i)assed in North Carolina, 
Massachusetts, X'irginia, Connecticut and New Hampshire, in order, 
instructing their delegates to concur with other colonies in declaring 
indei)enflence. 



THE BRITISH TLEIIT I\ Mill' \'(>RK ILil<IH)l< 371 

The plan of the British lies2,an tu develo]). Howe was to attack New 
^'orl<, ascend tlie Huds()n and meet an army from Canada, thns cutting- the 
provinces in two, while Clinton should occupy the southern seaports, driv- 
ing- the Americans back to the interior. Great Uritain had made arrange- 
ments for an auxiliary force of mercenary troops from ( iermany, whose par- 
ticipation made the name "Hessian" an i)])])r()hrii)ns one for man}- years 
after in America. 

While making- preparatioi-is to meet the enemy, whose approach was 
now certain, Washington found it necessary to deal with a conspiracy at 
his door. Tryoi-i,<in the Asia, had Idund means, with the aid of some loy- 
alists -who remained in the city, to corruj)! with bribes some of those who 
had access to the American headc|uarters. A xagrant, who had been 
imprisoned for some minor offense, gave the first clew which led to the 
arrest of David Matthews, who, in the sun-imer before, had taken the Tory 
side in the altercation with Marinus Willett about the guns at liroad and 
r>eaver Streets, as well as several other citizens, including a gunsmith, and 
])rivate Thomas Hickey, who -was a memlier of ( General Washington's body- 
guard. The charge w-as a conspiracv to capture or assassinate \\'ashing- 
ton and his principal generals, to blow up the magazines and to spike the 
guns. The investigation wdiich followed showed transactions in small 
arms and amnumition between Matthews and others on one side, and Gov- 
ernor Tryon on the other, but they were let go; but as the guilt of Hickey 
was clearly proved, he was convicted "of mutiny and sedition and of 
holding treacherous correspondence with his country's enemies," and sen- 
tenced to death. He was hanged June jHtli, in the presence of a large con- 
course of citizens, and of the troops. 

The first sail of the British fieet came within sight of Sandy Hook on 
June 29, 1776, and was followed by the others until, on Julv 2d, there were 
1,^0 ^■essels in the upper and lower bays — the greatest fleet that had ever 
been seen in America. General Howe, wdio arrived July ist, on the Grey- 
hound, was visited b}- Governor Tryon, from whom he received a full and 
detailed account of the preparations made by Washington. The British 
troops landed and made camp on Staten Island, the American riflemen 
ha\ing- before that been withdraw-n. 

On June "th, Richard Henry Lee had risen in the Continental Congress 
and read: "Resolved, That these United Colonies are and ought to be free 
and independent States, and that all political connection between us and 
the State of Great Britain is and ought to be dissolved." John Adams, in 
a glowing and impassioned speech, had seconded the motion. It was not 
nnmediately adopted, although it evidently expressed the views of the 
majority of the membership. Some States had already expressed them- 



HISTOR]' ol- A7:f;- ]-URK 



selves as favorable to independence, bul others (as Xew York) were delib- 
erating-, and therefore the}' fa^•ored a postponement. One recommendation 
of the Continental Con^-ress was, that the respective colonies should each take 
tip a form of g'overnment for themselves. Therefore the Provincial Con- 
gress had, on motion of (jottverneur Morris, called a convention to meet 
Jtine 19th, when delegates were elected for a new provincial body, to meet 
Inlv Qth. at White Plains, which became the temporary capital. 

The Declaration of Independence, adopted at Philadelphia, Jtdy 4th, 
was published to the troops in the city on their several parades, in 
obedience to Washington's order, which ended with an appeal to every 
soldier to act with fidelity and courage, "as knowing that now the peace 
and safety of his country depends (under God) solely on the success of our 
arms, and that he is now in the service of a State possessed of sufficient 
power to reward his merit and advance him to the highest honors of a free 
countrv." The troops and jiatriotic citizens were greatly elated by the 
news, but there were no salutes or other exercises wasteful of powder. At 
night, however, the statue of George III was overturned from its pedestal 
and carried away. The statue, which was of lead heavily gilded, was after- 
ward, for the greater part, melted into ])ullets for the use of the Connec- 
ticttt troojjs. The destruction of the statue called forth a rebuke from head- 
quarters, but its terms were not very scathing. 

The same day, at White Plains, the newly elected body met, adopted 
the name of "The Convention of the Representatives of the State of New- 
York," and adopted the Declaration of Independence, which was publicly 
read to an assemblage of the people of White Plains. In New York the 
Committee of Safety proclaimed a meeting, which was held July iSth, in 
the Citv Hall, to a great gathering, who, after the reading had been com- 
pleted, tore down the royal coat of arms which had held place o\er the 
seat of justice in the courthouse, and burned it amid the plaudits of 
thousands of spectators, and the picture of George III, in the Council 
Chamber, was treated in a similar manner: another British arms, wrought in 
stone, in front of the City Hall, was also thrown down and broken to 
pieces. The same dav the British arms from all the churches were ordered to 
be removed and destroyed, and \\here\er that insignia of royalty appeared, 
including several signs on taverns, it was destroyed. 

In relation to the taking down of the king's arms, it will be of interest 
to quote from a letter of Rev. Charles Inglis, then rector of Trinity and 
its subsidiary churches, addressed to Rev. Dr. Hind: "In the beginning of 
[uly, independency was declared * * * I thought it was proper to con- 
sult stich of the vestrv as were in town, and others of the congregation 
* * * and I must do them the iustice to sav, that thev were all 



RECTOR INGLIS SURROUNDED BY "REBELS" 273 

unanimous for shutting up the churches; and chose rather to submit to 
that temporary inconvenience, than, by omitting the prayers for the king, 
give that mark of disaffection for their sovereign. To have prayed for him 
had l^een rash to the last degree — the inevitable consequence had Ijcen a 
demolition of the churches, and the destruction of all who frequented them. 
The whole rebel force was collected here, and the most violent partisans 
from all parts of the continent * * * All the king's arms, even those 
on the signs of taverns, were destroyed. The committee sent me a mes- 
sage, which I esteemed a favour and indulgence, to have the king's arms 
taken down in the church, or else the mob would do it, and might deface 
and injure the churches. I immediately complied. People were not at 
liberty to speak their sentiments, and even silence was construed as a mark 
(if disaffection. Things being thus situatetl, I shut up the churches. Even 
this was attended with great hazard: for it was declaring, in the strongest 
manner, our disapprobation of independency, and that under the eve of 
Washington and his army." Lossing, in his Pictorial Field Book of the 
Revolution, says that "the arms in Trinity Church were carried to New 
Brunswick by Rev. Ch.arles Inglis, D.D.. at the close of the war, and now 
( 1852) hang on the walls of a Protestant Episcopal Church in St. John." 

The statement of Dr. Inglis, as to the political sentiments of the mem- 
bers of the Church of England, illustrates the fact that in the City of 
New York, at least, the |)olitical alignment and the denominational cleav- 
age were in a large measure identical. That there were many of the 
patriot party who were also members of the Church of England is doubt- 
less true, particularly in Mrginia. George Washington was a member of 
that church. But in New York City the members of the Church of Eng- 
land were almost solidly of Tory politics, and those of the Presbyterian, 
Reformed Dutch, and other denominations were nearlv all, but not quite so 
solidly, Whigs. 

All the excitements in the city in connection with the formation of the 
new State government at \\'hite Plains, and the adoption of the Declaration 
of Independence at Philadelphia, went on with the enemy's great fleet in the 
harbor and the British Army preparing itself for battle in the camp on Staten 
Island. The Patriot Army enrolled at the several posts on New York, Long 
and Governor's Islands and Paulus Hook (Jersey City) aggregated 17,225, 
but because of not only the usual canq) diseases, ])ut also of an epidemic of 
smallpox, about 3700 were sick, and others were detailed on other duties until 
the effective fighting force was 10,514 men. Few of these were accustomed 
to warfare, and this was the force which (reneral Washington had to oppose 
to the well-trained, seasoned and well-provisioned army of 33,000, including 
13,000 Hessians, encamped on Staten Island. 



'.';i HISTORY of XlUf VOKK 

Besides tlie regular tr(>()])s. there were arriving militia of Conneeticut 
and Long Island, of which twelve regiments of the former and two regiments 
of the latter came hefore the Battle of Long Island, btit of the regular forces 
so many had joined on short enlistments that there were daih- departures in 
considerable num])ers. The army was in live divisions, under Generals Put- 
nam, Heath, Spencer, Sullivan and Greene, in addition to the fottrteen regi- 
ments of emergency militia and the artillery, under command of Colonel Knox. 
In Putnam's division were James Clinton's Brigade ( foin- Massachusetts regi- 
ments), Scott's Brigade (four New York regiments), and Fellnws' Brigade 
(four Massachusetts regiments). In 1 leath's Division were Mifflin's Brigade 
(two Pennsylvania, two Massachusetts and one Connecticut regiment) and 
George Clinton's Brigade (five New York Regiments). Spencer's Division 
inclttded Parson's Brigade (four Connecticut and one Massachusetts regi- 
ments) and ^^'adsworth's Brigade (seven Connecticut regiments). Sttllivan's 
Division had Stirling's Brigade (one ^Maryland, one Delaware and two Penn- 
sylvania regiments) and AIcDougall's Brigade (two New York, one Connecti- 
cut, and one artificer regiments). General Greene's Di\ision was made u]) of 
Nixon's Brigade (one Pennsylvania, one Rlmde Island, and three Massachu- 
setts regiments), and Heard's Brigade, composed nf fwc Xe\\- Jersev regi- 
ments. 

Notable among the New York troojjs \\as the I'irst Regiment, under 
Colonel Alexander McDougall, who had six xears liefore been in jail for his 
too ])atriotic utterances; he was colonel of the regiment, organized in March. 
1776, as sttccessor to the other First Regiment which he had organized in June, 
1775, 1)ut the term of which had expired after ser\-ing under Alontgomery in 
Canada. John Lamb's company of artillerw with se\ent\- men. had also gone 
to Canada, and had lost fortv of its men in the hard eami)aign there. Captain 
Lamb was wounded and ca])ttired at Quebec, and the tliirty survivors of his 
company returned to New York, in March, iyyf>. Its successor was a coni- 
panv kno\vn as the New York Provincial ( later State ) Companv of Artillery, 
organized on call of the Provincial Congress in M.arch, 177^), with Alexan- 
der Il.amilton as captain; and which afterward became a part of tlie artillery 
regiment of Colonel Lamb, and served until the close of the war. 

( )n lulv iJth. Lord Howe, admir.al connnander in chief of the naval forces 
on the American coast, arrived with more shipv, in lime to witness a military 
movement plaimed by his brother, Gener.il Sir William Howe, in conjunction 
with the fleet admiral. Its plan was to rut off the ujj-river conimunieations 
of the American forces, to destrov two shi])s which were in course of con- 
struction at Poughkeepsie, and to encourage and organize the forces of loyal- 
ists, of whom it was rejiorted that there were man\- in Westchester and be- 
yond. For this ])ur])ose the Phreni.x, fort\- guns, and the Rose, twent\' guns. 



77//; BATTLE OF LONG L'iLAXD 



made their wav up North River under full canvas, accompanied by their tend- 
ers. Thev were shot at from every battery along- the route, but were skill- 
fully piloted, and though they fired l)roadsides from both starboard and port 
guns at both the New ^'ork and the New Jersey shores, they did little damage. 
American sharpshooters tried to pick off the sailors on the decks, but they had 
little chance, because the sailors were protected by sandbags piled up behind 
the bulwarks. Three Americans were killed by the bursting- of a gun, and 
three more by the enemy's shots. The up-river designs of General Howe were 
frustrated bv the activity and vigilance of the recently organized militia, under 
the command of General George Clinton. 

Lord Howe, endeavoring to negotiate some kind of basis for peace, sent a 
message addressed to George A\'ashing-ton, Esq., but his messenger found no 
person of that rank to whom it could be delivered. Colonel Patterson, the 
next envov, who jiaid more attention to diplomatic usage and proper cottrtesy, 
saw the general, and was informed that his propositions would be presented to 
the Congress as a matter of courtesy, but returned without the slightest inti- 
mation that peace could be now arranged upon any basis involving a recog- 
nition of George HT, (ir any other monarch. The continuance of war was, 
therefore. inevital)le, and the British decided on Long Island as the first point 
of attack. The American defenses on Long Island extended from the Wall- 
about Bay, across what is now the heart of Brooklyn, to Gowanus ^larsh, and 
included three .small forts and two redoubts, with field intrenchments and other 
fortifications. Without going into much detailed description of the movements, 
it may be brieflv stated that on August 26th. General Washington went over 
from ^lanhattan to Long Island, where General Sullivan had been in charge, 
taking with him General Putnam, who was Sullivan's superior, and therefore 
was in general command of the succeeding battle. The British had brought 
an army of fifteen thousand men from Staten Island, landing its forces at 
Gravesend, on the 22d. Washington, after leaving orders as to the disposal 
of the forces preparatory- to battle, returned to New York on the night of the 
26th. At that tii-ne the troops on the American side on Long Island had 
been augmented to a total of seven thousand men, and the British force was 
augmented l)y five thousand Hessians tmder General De Heister. 

The British ])lan of attack, as carried out, proved to be well devised, while 
the American preparation tiu-ned out to be weakest where strength was most 
needed. The British Armv advanced bv three routes against the American 
position, and the most important route, the f;miaica road, seems to have been 
least guarded, and it was precisely by this road that the British and Hessians 
advanced in greatest force. Parts of the American Army, under General 
William Alexander ( Lord Stirling) and General Sullivan, stationed in 
advance of the principal Americmi fortification, were defeated after a stren- 



•-.'?(; 



HISTORY OF Xlijr YORK 



nous resistance in whicli Lord Stiiiin"', in particnlar, showed stubborn fight 
against Cornwahis, in which the ^larylanders especially distinguished them- 
selves, but Generals De Heister and Grant bringing up reinforcements in over- 
whelming numbers. Lord Stirling was at last compelled to surrender with a 
few of his men to the Hessian commander. Sullivan had before that been cap- 
tured with four hundred men. The British loss in killed, wounded and miss- 
ing was alwut four hundred men. and on the American side about one thou- 
sand, of whom about eight huuflred, with Lord Stirling and General Sullivan, 
were prisoners. Howe had captured part of the American position, and was 
in better shape for complete victory than before the battle. The next day was 

spent 1)\- linth sides in re- 
pairing damages, and the 
Americans brought rein- 
forcements that dav and the 
next. SCI that by the evening 
of the 20th the Americans 
had an army of nine thou- 
sand men. During the two 
days the rain had fallen in- 
cessantly, but there had 
))een a continued fusillade 
liy the pickets, and the Brit- 
isli were making intrench- 
ments ])reiiaratory to an- 
other .attack. Washington, 
reflecting on the superiority 
in numliers and position of 
the enemy, concluded that 
the success of the British 
was only a matter of a few hours, while the 0])])ortunitv to retreat to Xew 
York would l)e much smaller if tiie wind should change, as the British ves- 
sels had l)een ])revented by adverse winds from entering the East River. The 
proposition to retreat to Xew York was submitted b}- General Washington to 
a CHimcil of general officers that afternoon and tmanimouslv approved. An 
order to the (juartermaster's department to impress e\erv kind of water cnift 
from Llell (late around the island to Spuyten Duyvil Creek and have them ,ill 
in the east harbor liy dark, was executed with wcindcrful celeritv and secrecv. 
Even the reginient.al commanders did nnt know imtil night that a gener;il 
retreat was contemplated, but through the night, by oar or sail, tlie entire 
American ;n"my had crossed the river, and the next morning the British were 
surprised to find themselves in full possession. It was a masterful retreat and 




OLD SUGAR HOUSE IN LIBERTY STREET 
The Prison of the Revoiutioii 



IX CAMP OX HJRLEM HEIGHTS 277 

is so reg'arded 1)y military historians, while they condemn in em])hatic terms 
the lack of American generalship in the precedins: battle. 

After retnrning- to New York, General Washington began to consider a 
fnrther retreat. The American troops were disheartened, and the militia were 
demoralized, many companies, and even whole regiments, returning home. It 
was want of confidence in his troops that made Washington recommend to 
Congress that the city should be abandoned : and he was authorized to make that 
move. General Greene and other general officers recomniended the burning 
of the city on its evacuation, but Congress ordered that it should not be dam- 
aged, as it would doubtless be retaken from the enemv after a time. Public 
property was hastily removed to Harlem Heights, and the removal was nearly 
completed when, on November 14th, the British fleet began to circle the island, 
with frigates and transports concentrating ofif Kips or Turtle Bay, on East 
River, and near Bloomingdale on North River. The British encamped at 
Astoria, with detachments also on Montressor (now Randall's) and Buchan- 
an's (now Ward's) Islands, made a landing near Kip's house (now the foot 
of Thirty-fourth Street), the way having been cleared by broadsides from the 
frigates, which falling into the low intrenchments held by the live Connecticut 
militia regiments, under Colonel Douglas, they stayed not on the order of their 
going but were on a beeline for Harlem, when Washington, meeting them at 
the place where the new public library now stands in Brvant Park, tried in 
vain to rally them, but they went on, and Washington nearlv fell into the 
hands of the British. General Putnam, who had charge of the troops in the 
lower end of the island, had rallied them into marching order, and with young 
Aaron Burr, one of his aides, as guide, went through the woods to about 
Forty-second Street and East River, and thence to the Bloomingdale road at 
Seventieth Street, and thence to Harlem Heights (extending from St. Nich- 
olas Avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Street northwesterly to the 
Hudson River), while the British later occupied Bloomingdale Heights, a 
parallel line of bluffs extending from St. Nicholas Avenue and One Hundred 
and Twenty-fifth Street and northwesterly to the Hudson River at One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-ninth Streets. 

On the morning of September i6th a scouting party of Knowlton's 
Rangers encountered British pickets near Hogeland's house (One Hundred 
and Twelfth Street, near the Hudson), and had a smart skirmish with a de- 
tachment of the British Light Infantry. Presently they were followed by two 
battalions of that corps and the Forty-second Highlanders, and retreated 
slowly and in order, stopping whenever a stone fence gave opportunity to take 
shots at the enemy. When they neared the American lines, Washington sent 
reinforcements under Lieutenant Colonel Crary and Major Leitch, until finally, 
with British reinforcements, a thousand or more were engaged on each side. 



I fhl^B> 



378 HISTORY OF XR]]- YORK 

It was a short and vigorous en,s,"as,emeiu. The British were (h"iven back to 
their Hues and Washington then withch-ew liis force. The British loss was 
eight officers and fourteen men killetl, and about seventy wounded, whik- the 
American loss was twentv-five kiHcfk inchiding I'olonel KnowUdU, "Major 
Leitch and two other officers, and fifty-five wounck^d. 

W^ashington's headquarters were k^cated at the Roger ^borris house (after- 
ward Madame Jumel's), which still stands, and for a month he kept his men 
busv erecting defenses extending from the Hudson to the Harlem, l^etween 
One Hundred and Fortv-fifth and One Hundred and Sixtieth Streets, and 
especiallv in strengthening the fortification of the ground overlooking the 
Hudson, between the present One Hundred and Tughty-first and One Hundred 
and Eightv-second Streets, being the highest point on Manhattan Island. 
Eastward the defenses extended to signal stations at 'Jdn'ogg's Neck. General 
Howe had so far attempted no concerted demonstration against the American 
defenses on the Heights, but prepared his plans to cut off Washington's com- 
munications and perhaps to capture his entire force. A large part of his army 
was taken up the Sound on flotillas, antl finding Throgg's Neck an ini])ractica- 
ble landing, moved up to Pell's Point, where del)arkation was made on Octo- 
ber iiSth. Howe's movements had made his plans (jl)vious to Washington, 
who determined to abandon his i)(isition on Harlem Heights, and march north 
parallel to the British lines, hut on the opjjosite side of the Bronx River. 
General Glover, with 750 men, was sent to delay Howe's march between Pell's 
Point and New Rochelle, and fw taking advantage of the numerous stone 
fences as convenient barricades they were enabled to retard the British march 
for several hours. Washington took up a position at \Mn'te Plains, blocking 
the roads leading to the Hudson and to New England. At this ]ioint the two 
armies, each of about thirteen thousand men, came face to face, on October 
28, 1776. Howe, seeing Washington's strong ])osition, avoided an attack on 
the front of the American army, but sent four thousand men, in two columns, 
under Generals Clinton and De Heister, to gain Ghatterton Hill, a rockv height 
west of the Bronx River, near White Plains \illage. To ])revent this. General 
McDougall, with six hundred Continentals, eighi hundred militia and two guns, 
under command of Captain Alexander Hamilton, made a rajjid march, gained 
the hill and held it firmly against the enemy antl lhirt\- i)ieces of artillerv, until 
Rahl's Hessians, who had forded the P.ronx lower down, reinforced the Brit- 
ish, making a combined attack which rendered McDougall's position no longer 
tenable, so he fell back in good order u])on White Plains, taking with him his 
artillery and his wounded. The victorv in this battle of \\'hite Plains (or 
Chatterton Hill) was undecisive. The Americans, whose losses amounted to 
about 140 killed and wounded, had been comjielled to abandon the hill, but the 
British loss aggregated 22(). Meanwhile Washington had thrown uj) hasty 



CAPTURE OF FORT U'.ISinXGTO.Y 279 

intrcnchnients, and Howe ])osl])nnL'd furlher attack. Lurd Percy, with rein- 
forcements, came itp on the 30th, and the Britisli would i)robably have attacked 
the next dav, but a violent storm came up. and on the evenino- of the 31st 
Washington took advantage of it to retire to an unassailable [losition at Xorth 
Castle, about five miles northwest of White Plains. 

General Howe, having failed in his flank nio\ement against the main 
bod\- (if Washington's army, turned his attention to h^)rl Washington, 
which was being held by Colonel Magaw, with three thousand men. His 
l)lans were aided by the treason of William Demont, Magaw's post adjutant, 
who deserted, Xovember 2d, carrying" with him the plans of Fort W'ash- 
ington, by means of which the designs of the invaders were made more 
])recise. General Greene, when he left Fort Washington for Fort Lee, on 
the o])|)osite side of the Hudson, had full conlidence in the ability of its 
defenders to hold it. Howe invested the fort, on Xovember 15th, and com- 
manded the garrison to surrender on pain of being i)ut to the sword. 
Magaw re|)iied that he would hold the fort to the last extremity. The next 
da^• the llritish attacked in four divisions, led, res])ectively, by (jeneral 
Knvphausen and General Matthews (supported by Lord Cornwallis), Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Sterling and Lord Percy. Soon after daybreak, the cannon- 
ading began, and it continued with great fierceness on both sides until 
noon. Knyphausen's Hessians then advanced in two columns, of which one, 
under General Rahl, took a circuitous route to the summit and penetrated 
Alagaw's advanced works. The other column took a straight course up the 
steep hill, facing a disastrous and galling fire from Colonel Rawling's sharp- 
shooters. The Second Division, under ALatthews, making good their landing, 
forced the opposing Americans from their sheltered jiositions behind trees 
and rocks up a steep and stonv hill: the Third Division, under Sterling, 
landed under a heav}' fire, and succeeded in carrying the first redoubt, 
after a stubborn tight. Percy's Division, with e(|ual intrepidity, carried 
other advanced works, and at last, on receiving a second summons from 
Howe, Magaw, seeing further effort to be useless, surrendered the fort, 
forty-three pieces of artillery and 2634 men, who became prisoners of war. 
The capture of Fort Washington, and of Fort Lee, across the Hudson, 
which General Greene evacuated five days later, caused great consterna- 
tion throughout the United States. The Americans had lost 150 killed and 
wounded, and the British, five hundred. Fort Washington was renamed 
Fort Knyphausen, in honor of the Hessian general who led in its ca))ture. 



CHAPTER T ir E N T Y - S E F E N 

NEW YORK UNDER BRITISH MILITARY RULE 

REDCOATS, HESSIANS AND LOYALISTS 

THEIR INTERESTS AND THEIR DIVERSIONS 

New York was now a loyal and a Tory city. Its joy at becoming such, 
and the happenings thereafter, as seen through Tory spectacles, have 
been narrated by Ewald Gustav Schaukirk, pastor of the Moravian congre- 
gaticiu at New York, born at Stettin, Prussia, emigrated to New York in 
1774, and appointed to his pastorate in 1775. On September 15, 1776, he 
tells us that "the king's flag was put up again in the fort and the Rebels' 
taken down," and rejoices at the deli\ery of the city from the "usurpers" 
who had "oppressed it so long." The next day. the first of the English 
troops came to town, and with them (invernor Tryon and other British 
officials. 

The reidicing was unanimous. The only people who were openly 
known as adherents of tlie American cause were in the numerous prisons, 
and the Whigs, who were with Washington's ragged arm_\- in the jerseys, 
r who had gone away to more friendly surroundings, were not on hand 
to disturb the festivities. Such of these as had left jiroperty behind were 
remembered to the extent that their houses were marked as forfeited. 
There were manv who were strangers in town, who took i)art in the cere- 
monies. Thev were Tories from Westchester, Long Island, and other 
parts of New ^'ork, Connecticut and New jersey, who felt safer in New 
York, under Loyalist auspices than they did among their "rebel" neigh- 
bors. 

Ten days after the king's troops entered the city occurred a disastrous 
fire, which, beginning in Whitehall Street, spread north and west, destroy- 
ing part of Broad, Stone and Beaver Streets, then up Broadway, and the 
streets extending west of Broadway, to the Hudson River. Trinity 
Church, in spite of heroic efl:orts to save it, was destroyed, as was also the 
old Lutheran Church, and St. Paul's Church was only saved by almost 
superhuman efforts. The progress of the flames was checked l)y the King's 
College grounds, at Mortkile (now Barclay) Street. In the jiath of the 
flames were manv wooden buildings, and each of these added to the more 
ra])id spread of the flames. In 1761 there had been an ordinance ])assed to 
the eft'ect that no wooden buildings should be erected after 1766, but the 
time was afterward extended to 1774. There was no eft'ective way of fight- 
ing the fire. The fire engines were out of order, and most of the members 
of the volunteer fire company were with the American Army, either in 



(J 



EXECUTIOX OF XATHAX HALE 281 



the Xortli or in the Jerseys. So the fire practically burned its course. Of 
course, the British suspected that the fire was the work of "rebels," and 
made several arrests, but all those arrested were acc|uitted, for the reason 
that nothing- could be proved against them. In all, al^out 300 houses were 
destroyed. 

The day after the fire a scene was enacted, which created no excite- 
ment in the town, at the time, but which placed an otherwise obscure 
name among the immortals. It was the execution of a rebel sp}', who, while 
Washington was in Harlem, had been sent to gather needed information 
in regard to the British forces in Long Island. His name was Nathan 
Hale, born in Coventry, Conn., in 1756. He was an honor graduate of 
Yale, in the Class of 1773, taught school at East Haddam for a term, 
October, 1773, to March, 1774, and after that at New London, until July 
I, 1775, when he became first lieutenant in Charles Webb's Connecticut 
regiment, served in recruiting duty in New London, and afterward at the 
siege of Boston. He was commissioned a captain in the Continental Army, 
and saw active service in the battle of Long Island. When detailed on his 
final duty, he was a member of Knowlton Rangers. When given the com- 
mission to visit the royal camp, for which he had volunteered, he disguised 
as a Dutch schoolmaster and entered the British lines, secured and noted 
the desired information, and was about to return, on September 21st, when 
he was recog-nized and captured. The next morning he was hanged as 
a spy, after a night in which he had been deprived, by the brutal pro- 
vost marshal, Cunningham, of all comforts, even of a Bible, or clergyman, 
and met his fate with soldierly courage and the brave statement: "I only 
regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." A magnificent 
monument to this brave young patriot stands in City Hall Park, the 
work i^f the sculptor MacMonnies. 

The patriots, who were held as military prisoners, were neglected and mis- 
treated in the most shameful way. There were nearly five thousand of these 
prisoners confined in the prison ship Jersey, the Bridewell on the Common, 
and in jails improvised from the Brick, Middle Dutch, North Dutch and 
French churches, the sugar houses, King's College, and the "New Gaol," or 
"Provost," which was, according to Pintard, "destined for the more noto- 
rious rebels, civil, naval and military." Among its inmates were Colonels 
Magaw, Rawlins. Allen, Ramsay, Miles and Atlee; Majors Bird, West, 
Williams and DeCourcey; Captains Wilson, Tudor, Edwards, Forrest, 
Lenox, Davenport, Herbert, Edwards and others. Cunningham, the pro- 
vost marshal, his deputy, O'Keefe, and the commissioners, Loring, Sproat 
and others in authority, treated the American soldiers with inhuman 
cruelty. The prisoners were compelled to sleep on hard oak planks, and 



HISTOk'V OF XEIV YORK 




THE BRIDEWELL AND A PORTION OF BROADWAY. 1805 



l)ackc'(l so close thai tlic_\- coulil only lurn by word of comiiiaiid. ■"left" or 
"riiLjht." Thcv were <;iven no fuel, little food, and that, generally, of 
(|nalit}- nnfit for linnian cnnsuniption. The infanions Captain Cunningham 
ended his career on the gallows, being executed, in London, for forgery, 
August lo, 17^1, and he confessed not only to the cruelties mentioned, 

and to starving i)risoners by 
__j sto])pmg their rations and sell- 

^j^ - :; :^, 0^^^X^^:;^._ . iHg tlieiii, but also to secret exe- 

^ " _^^%-_ 5=^!^ ': ■sf^Sj^E^'h • cutions of 2y^ American pris- 

oners and "obnoxious persons." 
The treatment of prisoners on 
the Jersey and other prison 
ships was also brutal. 

Washington, after leaving 
New York, marched his armv 
through Xew Jersey, toward 
Philadelphia, followed hard bv 
the British under Cornwallis, 
who successively took Newark, 
New Brunswick and Trenton, 
then laid (|uiet, waiting for the freezing of the Delaware River, so as to 
cross the ice to cai:)ture P'hiladelphia. Washington, crossing the Delaware 
with boats, amid floating ice, surjjrised and cai^tured a Hessian force at 
Trenton, and on januar_\' 3, 1777, fought the successful battle of Princeton, 
which revived the hoi)es of the patriots and ga\'e them confidence in the 
ultimate sttccess of their cause. The British retired to New York, where 
thev made things li\ely, and where were gathered many regiments — 
English, Irish, Scotch and Hessian, not to forget the American "Loyalist" 
troo])s chieflv recruited in New York City and \-icinity. Among these 
were Simcoe's First American Regiment, or "Queen's Rangers"; Rawdon's 
Second American Regiment, or "X'olunteers of Ireland:" Turnbull's Third 
American Regiment, or "Xew \ ork \oltmteers:' Brown's "Prince of 
Wales" American Regiment; Robinson's "Loyal American Regiment," 
and "DeLancey's Brigade" (three regiments), commanded I)\- Colonel 
( )liver DeLance^■, the brother of the late lieutenant governor. He was 
the most zealous of the Royalist part}- in New York, and James DeLancey, 
son of the late lietUenant governor, was also of the same party. Colonel 
neLance\' had made himself so obnoxious to the Libert\- Hoys that a 
])artv of them, under the leadershiji of Martling, one of their more reck- 
less sjjirits, came down from the American lines, on Xo\-ember 25, 1777, 
and burned his house at Bloomingdale as a mark of their detestation. 



GAV LIFE IX Xliir YORK 383 



At tlie close of the \\';ir n\ Independence his estates, and those of 
Tames DeLancey, were confiscated, and lie went to London, where 
he died. ' 

In the early ])art of 1777. Rivint^'tdn. whose i)ress liad been broken by 
Isaac Sears and the Conneclicni Cavaliers, returned to New York and resumed 
the pul)lication of his pajier. now calletl the Royal Gazette. Hut^h Gaine pub- 
lished The Xew York Gazette and Weekly Mercury. Holt's Journal, which 
had left New York, was somewhat noniad'c about this ])eriod, niovint;- from 
place to place along the Hutlson, and llie ])alriot government had located at 
Kingston. There, in A|Mnl. 1777, the Constitutional Convention assembled 
and framed the first written Constitution of the State of New York. The 
office of governor was made elective and George Clinton was elected the first 
governor, in which office he continued for eighteen years. John Jay was 
appointed chief justice, and Robert R. Livingston chancellor of the new 
State; and I'hili]) Livingston, James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, 
and (iouverneur Alorris were appointed delegates to the Continental 
Congress. 

While the American prisoners were starving and neglected in the prison 
houses and prison ships of New Vork, and dying by the dozens daily, the 
British and Hessian officers and their wives, and Loyalist citizens, with their 
wives and daughters, were living a life of gayety. Prices, for food especially, 
were very high ior the area from which supplies could be drawn for the Brit- 
ish camp; for New York then was only extended over a small adjacent area 
from which the producers had in a large measure fled. Such things as could 
be imported — faln'ics and trinkets from London and other Old \A'orld mar- 
kets — were displayed in the fashionable shops, which were then chiefly located 
in Hanover Square. Society was gay, and its votaries met nightly at dinners 
and routs, or attended the performances at the Theatre Roval in John Street, 
where i)erformances were given by gifted amateurs selected from the officers 
of the army, under the title of the "Garrison Dramatic Club." There was, 
if the contem])orary critics may be credited, nuich talent in the company, 
which included comedians and tragedians, the younger subalterns taking the 
female characters. The chief scene painter was Oliver DeLancev ; but the 
most versatile of the company was the young officer Andre, who was not 
only chief among the romantic heroes in the company, playing Romeo and other 
similar rcMes, but was the author of ])lays and prologues, and also aided in 
painting. 

David Matthews continued as mayor of New York during the entire Brit- 
ish occupancy of the city, and there were other civil officers, but the govern- 
ment was vested in the military commandant, of whom (ieneral James 
Pattison was the first and most popular. He was distinguished for 



inSTORV OF XEW YORK 



url)anity of manner and unfailing courtesy. He regulated the citv with 
autocratic power, and managed, upon the whole, to give satisfaction to 
the inhabitants. 

Meanwhile the war progressed with varied fortunes. Silas Deane and 
Benjamin Franklin had been doing effective work in Paris and Versailles in 
the endeavor to secure from France recognition of the new republic. Formal 
recognition was delayed, but private assistance in monev and supplies was 
forthcoming. Liberty-loving Europeans offered their ser^-ices to the patriots 
and the Marquis de La Fayette, Baron Steuben, Raron De Kalb. Kosciuszko 
and Pulaski were among the men of heroic mould who came to the American 
army. 

Tn the summer of 1777, large reinforcements went out of New York to 
join the forces which hoped to crush Washington and the rebellion at one coup. 
On September nth, thev had opposed their eighteen thousand men to eleven 
thousand Americans at Chadd's Ford, on the Brandvwine Creek, and had won 
a victory which had enabled Lord Howe to occupy Philadelphia, and had com- 
pelled the Continental Congress to adjourn first to Lancaster and afterward to 
York, in Pennsvlvania. Washington made an unsuccessful attack on the 
British at Germantown. on Octolier 4th, and earlv in September went into 
\\ inter (|uarters at A'alley Forge, where his troops suffered greatlv from cold 
and hunger. 

In the North, the British general, Carleton. had made elaborate plans for 
the capture of the entire State of New York, and thus separate New England 
from the other rebellious colonies. The endeavor to carrv this program into 
execution was entrusted to General Burgoyne. who. with a force of seven 
thousand British and Hessian soldiers, and perhaps as many Canadians and 
Indians, started on what he expected to be a triumphal march from Canada to 
the lower Hudson. The plan included the cooperation of another force of 
Loyalists and Indians, under Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger, who was to go up 
the St. Lawrence to Oswego, and with the assistance of Sir John Johnson 
and his Indians, capture Fort Stanwix, march down the Mohawk Valley and 
join General Burgoyne. St. Leger effected the junction with Sir John Johnson 
and his Indians under Joseph Brant, but failed to capture Fort Stanwix, and 
after the battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777, in which a force of .\mericans 
under General Herkimer administered a signal defeat to his allies, St. Leger, 
hearing of the near approach of another American relieving^ force under Gen- 
eral Benedict Arnold, hastily retreated into Canada and gave up his part of 
the campaign i)lanned bv Carleton. 

Burgoyne had no better fortune. At first he was greatly delayed by 
felled trees and ruined roads. lie sent out a large force of over thirteen hun- 
dred British, Hessians and Indians, who were to capture the American depot 



XEll' YORK IX THE RFJ'OLUTIOX 



285 




■^St'i 



HISTOKV OF XI-Jl' YORK 



of su])]iliL's at Pit-nninqldn, l)ut who were erushed and nearly annihilated, on 
August ic>th. hv a force of about two thousand militia under General Stark, 
the British loss being- 207 killed and 700 captured (including the wounded), 
and the American forty killed and forty-two wottnded. Following this 
defeat, many df the Canadian and Indian allies deserted. Burgoyne 
went on, but after two defeats at Saratoga, on September Kjth and (Octo- 
ber 7th, he was cnm|)elled to capitulate to General Gates, ()ctober 17th, 
the Americans taking between five and six thottsand ])risoners and nuich 
artillery. 

This ca])ture of an entire armv has been regarded as the turning point 
nf the war. It gave heart to the Americans, and was especially valuable for 
its eltect on the international relations of the United States and hurried the 
execution of a treatv of alliance with France, which was ratified. In the city 
of New ^'llrk the news was verv depressing to the Lovalists, some of whom 
l)ecame less effusive in their loyal zeal. .\t first there was a feeling among 

the Xew- ^'ork Tories that 
Great Britain was invincible, 
and that short work would be 
made of the rebellion as soon 
as the Royal forces could get 
into good working order. But 
after Saratoga they had their 
doubts, and they greatly moder- 
ated their loyalist ardor. 

1 he militarv head([tiarters 
were at Xo. i Broadway, in a 
house which was built by Sir 
Peter Warren and was after- 
ward ac(|uire(l bv John Watts, 
wliose daughter, Marv, mar- 
ried Captain Kennedy I after- 
ward Farl of Cassilis). It 
liad thus become known as the Ivemiedx' Ibmse, while the adioining house. No. 
;;, known ,'is the W atts House, became headquarters of the traitorous Bene- 
dict .\nio](l, in his eff'orts to recruit Americans for the king's armv and to 
])ersuade Continental officers to desert their colors and ioin the corps he was 
endeavoring to raise. The naval headqtiarters were in the Beekman Hotise, 
on Hanover S(|uare. at I'eaver .Street, on the site where the Journ;iI of Com- 
merce building" was afterward located ])efore the rennival of that newspaper to 
Broadwax'. This liouse had been the naval headquarters and rendezvous of the 
navv belore the- l\e\olution. and cimtinued to be dtu'ing the entire war. W'hen 




it 

No. 1 BROADWAY IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 



BRITISH CELEBRITIl-.S IN THE CITY 2Sr 

the Duke of Clarence (afterward William IV) came to Xew York as a mifl- 
shipman with Admiral Digby in the St. George, in September, 1781, he made 
this house his place of resort when on shore. His Royal Highness was a cen- 
tre of much attraction, but during the winter seemed to most enjoy skating 
on the Collect Pond (site of the present Tombs Prison ), where one of his com- 
panions was Gulian Verplanck (afterward president of the Bank of New York), 
whose timely aid at one time affected the future history of Great Britain by 
rescuing the voung prince, who had fallen through the ice, from a watery 
grave, lioratio Nelson, then a young cai)tain, was also to be seen about the 
Beekman House, in 17S2. 

A fire which broke out on Cruger's Wharf, August 3, 177S, spread 
until it destroyed about fifty houses. Many other incidents occurred 
which were news then, Init do not belong to permanent history. The 
King's and Queen's Birthday, Coronation Day, and other British occasions, 
were celebrated in military style, and when British victories were reported, 
demonstrations of rejoicing were made by the military and the wealthy 
citizens. But the high prices and poor opportunities had a depressing 
eft'ect on the ])oor. There have been ])reserved valuable documents giv- 
ing an insight into social conditions in New York. One of these is "Let- 
ters and Journals of Madame de Riedesel," wife of General Riedesel, who, 
after being captured with Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, was a prisoner 
for nearly three years, and after his exchange lived in New York. His 
wife was a great social favorite in New York, and her journals give a 
familiar picttn-e of polite society during the British occupation. She tells 
of the man}- functions, some of which were too fast for her; describes her 
life during her stay at the Beekman mansion, a beautiful country jilace 
(near the foot of Fifty-second Street and East River), which was occui)ied 
successively by distinguished British officers during the occupation. Many 
of her comments deal with domestic aft'airs. and the dearness of provisions 
and fuel seem to have been chief of her w^oes. The other chronicle, t he- 
diary of Pastor Schaukirk, of the Moravian congregation, wdiose Tor\-ism 
was of the most pronounced tyi)e, gives us an inkling of the contemporary 
view. He records a rumor that "the rebels made an attack on Powles 
( Paulus) Hook," as Jersey City was then called, referring to the brilliant 
dash on the British post there by "Light Horse Harry" Lee, August K), 
1771), and reflects upon the fact that the rebels had t.aken some prisoners 
on that attack as l)eing "another instance of the great carelessness on our 
side, when on the other hand, the military gentlemen amuse themselxes 
with trifles and diversions." On a previous occasion, a celebration of 
the Queen's Birthday, with "a ball that cost two thousand guineas and 
over three hundred dishes for supper," was considered bv the reverend 



SS8 HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 

critic as carryin.o- matters "too far in expense in such times of distress 
and calamity." 

Great rejoicino- was made over the news of the surrender of Charles- 
ton (May 12, 1780). and the defeat, on August 16, 1780, of General Gates, 
at Camden, South Carolina, by Cornwallis. 

The treachery of Benedict Arnold, and the capture and execution of 
Major Andre, in September, 1780, was one of the incidents in which Xew 
York was most interested, as Andre was one of the most popular of the 
officers in New York society. Arnold, who was commissioned brigadier 
general in the British army, had little success in recruiting for the Royal 
Army in New York. 

The control which Cornwallis had gained in the South was broken by 
a reverse at King's Mountain, October 7, 1780, and after General Greene 
had been placed in command of the American forces in that region the 
contest became shar|) and decisive. Morgan overwhelmed Tarleton, the 
British cavalr}- leader, at the Cowpens, January 17, T781, and while Corn- 
wallis won \ictory at (nhlford Court House, it was dearlv bought. 
French aid had much to do with the final success of the patriot arms, and 
the surrender of Cornwallis, at ^'orktown. October ig, 1781, made the 
triumph of the American cause a certaint\-. 

Sir Henr}- Clinton, then in command of the forces in America, was 
recalled after the disaster at Yorktown, and was superseded by Sir Guy 
Carleton, who soon arrived in New ^drk. ^Meanwhile, Washington, after 
sending ( ieneral Arthur St. Clair with a strong detachment to the 
Southern .army to reinforce < leneral (ireene, dispatched the remainder of 
his army to Morristown, Xew jersev, excejit some of the New York troops, 
which were dispatched to the camp in the Highlands of the Hudson. In 
.April, Washington, who had been in consultation with the Congress at 
I 'liiladelphi;i, went to Morristown, and thence, after a few days, to New- 
burg. 

The news of \'orktown brought consternation to the ministry of 
Lord North, in England, and the Peace Partv in Parliament manifested 
such ])ower that on March 28. 1782, the premier resigned, and Lord Rock- 
ingham, leader of the o])position, formed a ministry and instructed Sir Guy 
Carleton to negotiate for an early treat}' of peace. After correspondence 
and negotiations through the summer, preliminary articles of peace were 
signed at Paris, November _:;o, 1782, followed, on September 3, 178,^, 
by ;i definite treat}' on the part of (ireat Britain, recognizing" the 
in(le])en(lence of the L'niled States, and fixing the (ireat Lakes, on 
the north, and the Mississip])i, on the west, as the boundaries of the new 
n;ilion. 



LO]\lLISTS CO .IXD PATRIOTS EXTER 



On the eiglith anniversary of the battle of Lexin.c'ton, April ly, ijS,^, 
a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in the American camp, and on 
November 3d, the Continental Army was disl)anded by order of Congress. 
On November 25th General Washington entered the city 1)y the Bowery, while 
the British troops were embarking at the Battery, nntil they tilled the ships in 
the harbor, and sailed down the bay. General Washington stopped at the 
Bull's Head Tavern, in the Bowery. 

When the preparations for evacuation began, the Loyalists were left 
with unpleasant alternatives. Those who were wealthy and had been 
aggressive in the royal cause, had to look forward to the confiscation of 
their property. If they stayed, it would be with the brand of Tory, which 
remained an epithet of opprobrium for many decades, and with many 
annoyances from the patriots, some of whom were even then returning. 
Thev could go to England, or to Nova Scotia, and many did. Prisoners of 
war were let out of prisons and prison ships and paroled. It had been 
arranged that the British troops should be permitted to remain on Staten 
Island, New Utrecht and Dennis', until such time as might be necessary 
for the troops for whom transportation was not at once available. Besides 
the troops, it was necessary to transport the refugee Loyalists, of whom 
29.244 left New York for Nova Scotia that year. 

The entry of the patriots into New York was on this wise: 800 men 
( New York and Massachusetts troops and militia), under Brevet Brigadier 
General Henry Jackson, had for several days cami)ed at ]\lcGowan's Pass 
(near the northeastern entrance of Central Park ). and when notified that 
the rear guard of the British were embarking at the Battery, thev 
marched in triumph to the city, down the Bower}- to Chatham, to Queen 
(now Pearl) and Wall Streets and Broadway, to Fort George, where Gen- 
eral Knox took charge. The tlagstafif had been soaped In- the enemv, and 
the cleats and halyards removed, but a visit to Goelet's hardware store soon 
enabled a nimble sailor to nail on cleats, reeve new halyards, and fling 
the Stars and Stripes to the breeze, saluted Iw thirteen guns. Then Gov- 
ernor Clinton, who had come into the citv with (Cienerals \\'ashington and 
Knox, appeared opposite the right of the line on Broadway, and received 
the salute appropriate to his rank, while the troops stood at attention. 
Following this, a great procession, mounted and afoot, went back to the 
Bull's Head Tavern to a great reception, which had been arranged to 
honor General Washington and Governor Clinton. It was a happv out- 
pouring of people that greeted the great commander and the popular gov- 
ernor. Exiles had been returning for days, but now that the enemy was 
gone they poured in by the thousands, and evervone wished to add his 
enthusiastic greetings to the great general. A\'hen the greetings had sub- 

19 



?90 



UlsrORY OF NEir ]'ORK 



sided the "eneral made his way to Fraunces' Tavern, where he stayed until 
he left the city. 

On December 4, 1783. A\"ashington. whu was about to resign his com- 
mission and return to private life, took leave of his comrades in an impres- 
sive and historical meeting" at Fraimces' Tavern, where the officers grasped 
the hand of their cimimander in chief, and with every mark of affection, 
they then followed him to the wharf, at A\'hitehall, where he entered the 
barge waiting to convey him to Paulus Hook, and from it he was soon wav- 
intr a silent adieu. 




^ ^^U^"^^^^^^^ 




CHAPTER T jr E N T Y - E I G H T 



NEW BIRTH OF NEW YORK UNDER REPUBLIC 

INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT 

NEW YORK AS NATIONAL CAPITAL 

(3n December 5, 1783. Admiral Digby, with the last of the British 
fleet, departed from Staten Island with the last vestige of British 
authority on New York soil. It had been New Amsterdam and Dutch, 
New York and English, Fort Orange and Dutch again, once more New 
York and English, and it was still New York, but now and always 
American, although no city in the world is more cosmopolitan. 

The citv was greatly changed in ])opulation. The Royalists, in the 
first place, had departed. In Nova Scotia Thomas Barclay and William 
Axtell. merchants. Colonel Edmund Fanning, Dr. Charles Inglis, rector of 
Trinity, William Smith, who had been chief justice of the colony and its 
first historian, and many more had taken up their permanent residence. 
Several others had gone to Montreal and Quebec, and other places in 
Canada: some to the West Indies, the Bermudas and Bahamas, and many 
of the more wealthy, including Oliver and James DeLancey, William 
Bayard, Hon. Andrew Eliot, the lieutenant governor. Judge Thomas 
Jones, Colonel Roger [Morris, and George Ludlow, had lost their estates 
by confiscation and spent the rest of their days in England. ]\Iany of the 
AMiigs who had moved away from New York because of their patriotism, 
had so established themselves in the places to which they had gone, that 
they decided to become permanent residents of those localities. Many 
who had taken part in the Revolution had died on the field, or through 
diseases in camp, or in jirison ; and some of them in their term of service 
had seen some place that appealed to them more strongly as a place of 
residence. On the other hand, there came to the city manv who were new 
to those who had been old residents. These newcomers were nearly all 
of the patriot party, as were most of the old residents who returned. 
Among the inhabitants there were some Lovalists; even some who had been 
such emphatic supporters of the British that their estates were confiscated, 
and these were bitter against the new government which had thus pun- 
ished them for treason. Some who had held their homes during the British 
occupation had been good enough Loyalists until the success ni the patriot 
cause was made certain, and had then developed toleration and even friend- 
liness for the returning Continentals and refugees. 

The city resumed its wonted powers and activities under the Dongan 
and Montgomerie charters, the State of New York taking the place of 



•.".»■.' HISTOR}' OF XEW YORK 

sovereignty formerl}- lield by Great liritain, and the governor of the State 
having the ptiwer of appointment of mayor, which had previously been 
exercised by the royal governor. The laws in regard to the election of 
aldermen and assistant aldermen remained unchanged. 

There was no city government to take charge of New Xuvk imme- 
diately after its evacuation by the British, but the legislature had elected 
a bodv t(i temporarily look after the city and neighljoring counties, after 
the withdrawal of the enemy. It was called the Council for the Southern 
District of New York, and was composed of the governor, George Clinton: 
the lieutenant governor, Pierre van Cortlandt : the chancellor, Robert R. 
Livingston: judges Robert Yates and John Sloss Hobart, of the State 
Supreme Court: John Morin Scott, secretary of state; Egbert Benson, 
attorney-general; the State senators of the southern counties, Stephen 
Ward. Isaac Stoutenburgh, James Duane and William Smith, and the 
assemblymen of those districts. The governor and seven others were to 
constitute a quorum. This body, meeting in the old council chamber on 
Wall Street, with James I\I. Hughes as secretary, went to work to create 
conditions of order and protection, making the Light Infantry Battalion 
of the Continental Arm}', which remained for some time at the fort under 
General Knox and Major Sumner, a ])olice force to maintain order and 
enforce necessary regulations. The first ordinance prescribed that each loaf 
should weigh two pounds and eight ounces avoirdujiois, should be marked 
with the initials of the baker, and should sell for eight cojipers. Newcomers 
should be registered. Watchmen were appointed and thieves and robbers 
were jailed, and there were official weighers and measurers appointed, and 
a fire department organized : provision also being made for the other needs 
of the city. This council called for a regular election on December 13th, 
and a regular list of aldermen and assistant aldermen was chosen. They 
organized as a Common Council bv electing as j^resident John P.roome. and 
this council and a large body of citizens petitioned Go\ernor Clinton to 
appoint Senator James Duane to the office of mayor. He complied, and 
on February gth Duane was formallv installed in his office. The first Ameri- 
can city government as organized was, therefore, as fiillows: Mayor, 
James Duane: recorder, Richard \'arick : chamberlain (city treasurer), 
Daniel Phcenix; sherifi^, Marinus Willett; coroner. Jeremiah Wool; clerk 
of the Common Council, Robert Benson. Aldermen: Beniamin Blagge, 
Thomas Randall, John Broome, William A\\ (iilbert, William Neilson. 
Thomas luers, Abraham P. Lott. Assistant aldermen: Daniel Ph(enix, 
Abraham van Gelden, Thomas Ten Eyck, Henry Shute. Samuel Johnson. 
Jeremiah W^ool. James Duane. who was born here in 1733, was a lawyer by 
profession. His father, who had been an officer in the British Navy, 



.-IMERICAX OFFICIALS OF XEJl' YORK 293 

had resigned and engaged in mercantile business in Xew York, where he 
had married Altea Keteltas, of an old New York Dutch family. Two of 
their sons had entered the navy, but James, the third son, studied law 
under lames Alexander, and himself became one of the leaders at the 
Xew York Bar. He married Mary, eldest daughter of Colonel Robert 
Livingston. He acquired, partly by inheritance and partly by purchase, 
the Township of Duanesburgh, in Schenectady County, had a city resi- 
dence (in Pine Street and a farm in the countrj', wdiich was called ( ".ram- 
ercy Seat, that name being a corru])tion of the Dutch name, "Krooin 
Mcssic" (crooked little knife), given to a creek which ran through the land. 
The present Gramercy Park was part of that farm. During the Revolu- 
tionarv War he served in the Continental Congress and the New York Pro- 
vincial Congress, and at its close was a member of the State Senate. His 
Pine Street house was burned during the British occupation, but his farm 
had escaped damage. He held the office of mayor until 1789, when Presi- 
dent Washington appointed him the first judge of the United States Dis- 
trict Court of Xew York, in which oftice he rendered many decisions which 
were of great importance during the formative period of federal juris- 
prudence. 

The other officials were also men of ])r(iminence. Richard Yarick, 
the recorder, had been General Washington's private secretary during the 
latter ])art of the war; was Duane's successor in the ofiice of mayor, and 
afterward for many years president of the American Bible Society. 
Colonel Willett had distinguished himself at the head of his regiment in 
many of the engagements of the war for independence, as well as in the 
famous Broad Street episode of June 4, 1775, before narrated, while the 
aldermen were all prominent merchants and members of the Chamber of 
Commerce. The first meeting of the Common Council, as completely 
organized, was held February 10, 1784. In the following month it changed 
the city seal, voting to erase the imperial crown and substitute the crest 
of the arms of the State of New York, consisting of a rejiresentation of 
a semiglobe with a soaring eagle thereon. 

One of the institutions of the city which had survived and been in action 
throughout the British occupation was the Chamber of Commerce, which had 
been organized April 8, 1768, had been granted a charter by Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor Colden, ALarch 13, 1770, and had been kept up by British, and resident 
merchants during the war. Returning merchants of the patriot party filled 
up the membership after the British evacuation, and on April 13, 1784, it was 
incorporated by the New York Legislature with John Alsop, president : Isaac 
Sears, vice president: John Broome, treasurer: John Blagge, secretary, and the 
following members in addition to these ofiicers : Samuel Broome, George 



204 HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 

Embree, Thomas Hazard, Cornelius Ray. Al^'ahani Durvee. Thomas Randall, 
Thomas Tucker, Daniel Phoenix, Isaac Roosevelt, James Beekman, Eliphalet 
Brush, John R. Kip. Comfort Sands, Nathaniel Hazard. Jeremiah Piatt. Ger- 
ardus Duyckinck, Abraham P. Lott, Benjamin Ledyard. Anthon\- Griffiths, 
William Malcolm, Robert Bowen, John Berrian. Jacob Morris, John Frank- 
lin, Abraham Lott, James Jarvis, Henry H. Kip, Archibald Currie, Stephen 
Sayre, Jonathan Lawrence, Joshua Sands. A'iner van Zandt. David Currie, 
Lawrence Embree and Jacobus van Zandt. The organization grew in mem- 
bership and had a great influence not onl}- in the promotion of the business 
interests of the city, but also in its public affairs, the Common Council for 
some time drawing' its membership chiefl\' from that of the Chamber of Com- 
merce. 

An important incident of 1784 was the passage through the citv, Septem- 
ber nth. of General La Fayette, which was a very enthusiastic occasion. He 
was met In' the mayor and Common Council, who tendered him the freedom of 
the city with a complimentary address, and he was escorted by a large bodv 
of citizens to the wharf, where he embarked for his return to France. Other 
notable gatherings were those welcoming' John Jay on his rettn^n from his suc- 
cessful European mission. Baron Steulicn, on a visit to the city, and Washing- 
ton, on his arrival in the citv on December 2d. 

The Continental Congress had failed in an attempt to control the customs. 
New York had consented that it should do so if the other States acquiesced, but 
Rhode Island refused, and Virginia, which had at first approved, withdrew her 
consent, so that the matter was left in the hands of the State. New York's 
law, as recoiumended by Congress, was on an ad ralorein basis, but as New- 
York was tmder British occupation, it was not effective until the evacuation. 
New York merchants were opposed to the ad valorem feature of the tariff, 
advocating s])ecific duties because under them the best goods would seek the 
mru'ket, and the Chamber of Commerce sent in a petition to that eff'ect. In 
response to this demand the Legislature of New York, convened in the City 
Hall in New York, changed the tariff' law to a specific tariff', and appointed 
Colonel John Lamb, veteran Son of Liberty and distinguished soldier of the 
War for Independence, as the first collector of the i)ort of New York, who 
established the Custom House on the lower floor of his dwelling, on the north 
side of Wall Street between William and Pearl Streets. 

The freedom of the commerce of New York from the restrictions of the 
British Navigation Act gave an impetus to foreign trade: a regular French 
line of packets put the citv in conununication with the European continent. 
and various American firms established in foreign trade, the ship Empress of 
China, Captain John Green, being the first to sail for Canton. February 22. 
1784. But the control of the tariff' by the States was a handicap to the com- 



KIWrS COLLEGE BECOMES COLUMBLi 



■i'.)o 




METHODIST CHURCH IN JOHN STREET IN OLDEN TIMES 



nierce of New York. Connecticut, l\v iniimsint;- a lower tariff, took trade away 
from New York to New Haven, some of the mercliants removin.^' to that city, 
l)ni cnming- Ixick when the Constitution of ijSg was adoiited and made the 
tariff uniform for the entire country. 

There was onlv one liank in New ^'ork in the period imme(hately follow- 
ino- the Revolution. This was the Dank of New ^'ork, estahlished chiefly 
through the eft'orts of William 
Duer and General Alexander 
jMcDou^'all. early in 17S4. 
General McDouqall became its 
i'lrst president until his tleath. 
June 8, 1786. Isaac Roosevelt 
became president of the bank 
in 1789. 

During the British occu- 
pation King's College had dis- 
continued its operation. Its 
building had barely escaped 
destruction in the fire of 1776, 
and had been used as a hospital bv the I'.ritisli. While so used its librar_\- was 
rifled. The State legislature, Mav i, 1784, passed an act changing the name 
from King's College to Colum])ia College, and i)lacing it under the State 
Board of Regents created bv the same act. The first student who entered the 
college under its new name was De Witt Clinton, nephew of the governor, 
who was an honor graduate at the first commencement, held April 11, 1786, 
and was afterward mavor. United States senator, i)residential candidate and 
governor. 

Trinity Church had been destroyed by fire in Septeml)er, 1776, and the 
corner stone for the new building was not laid until August 21, 1788. Rev. 
Dr. Charles Inglis, the rector, left the citv with the refugees for Nova Scotia, 
and while the evacuation was going on the Torv members of the parish elected 
Re\'. Dr. Benjamin Moore to the rectorship, but on the return of the Whigs 
to control of the town, those of them who were members of Trinity succeeded 
in securing action from the legislature, giving them control, whereupon they 
revoked the election of Dr. Moore and called Rev. Dr. Sanniel Provoost to 
l)e rector. The three Reformed Dutch churches had been badly maltreated 
by the Britisli, who had used them for prisons, hospitals, storehouses and 
riding schools, the Middle Church being in an especiallv deplorable condition, 
so that it was not re(^pened until I7<)0, and the three Presbyterian churches 
had also been used b\- the arnn- for secidar ])urposes. A fourth was built in 
T787. There were also two German Lutheran churches, a Catholic congrega- 



•.'!)(i 



HISTORY OF XRjy YORK 



tion, ministered to by Father Whelan, a Moravian church, Friends' nieetine 
Iiouse, a Jewish synagogue. Baptist church, and the Alethodist church on John 
Street, built in 1769, which churcli, "the mother of Methodism in New York," 
still occupies the same site. 

The City Hall, at the northeast corner of Wall and Nassau Streets, built 
in 1700, was used for city business, but in 1785, when Congress assembled in 
New York, the council gave up the use of the greater part of it to that body, 
retaining only a part of the west end of it for mayor's office and council cham- 
ber. ^^'hen the Federal Constitution had been adopted by the States, in 17S8, 
the Common Council decided to give u]) the entire building for use of the new 
government, and had it entirelv remodeled bv Major L'Enfant, at a cost of 




FEDERAL HALL AND VERPLANCK MANSION 
Site of ttie '»M (_■u•^ttm^ House and Assay Oflice 

$65,000, and it became known as the New Federal Hall, the most imposing edi- 
fice in the citv. The first American post office in the city was opened November 
28, 1783. at 38 Smith Street, and \\'illiam Bedlow, a deputy of Postmaster- 
General Ebenezer Hazard (then at Philadelphia), was appointed postmaster. 
New York, as were the other States, was agitated with discussion as to 
the i)roprietv <»f creating a strong federal government with sovereign power 
of international and interstate problems, and at first the majority seemed to 
be those who dreaded loss of liberty by creating a strong and centralized gov- 
ernment, but the commercial interests of New ^'ork so plainly needed the aid 
of a federal power which could treat with foreign governments on a basis of 
e(|ualitv, that thr<^ugh tlu- al)le efforts of l];unilton. jav and Livingston, the 
assent f)f New ^'ork to the Federal Constitution was secured, and New York 
became the federal ca]:)ital. George Washington had been elected President, 
and John Adams \'ice President of the Cnited States. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON INAUGURATED PRESIDENT 297 

Mr. Adams arrived in the city April 20, 1781J, and was met at Kings- 
bridge by members of Congress and an escort of light horse, under com- 
mand of Captain Stakes, and when he reached town a salute was fired from 
guns at the Batter}-. President Washington came from Paulus tlook, where 
he had been received by Congressional, State and city conmiittees, to New 
^'ork, on a decorated barge accompanied by other craft containing rejoicing 
throngs, which cheered and sang patriotic songs. On the hither shore greater 
multitudes cheered him as he landed, and the procession that celebrated his 
coming was the largest which had ever, up to that time, been seen in New 
York. Declining the offered carriage, for he was tired of riding, the great 
President walked, properly attended, with the procession to the Franklin House, 
at 3 Cherry Street, where he had welcome but brief repose, after which he 
went to the DePeyster House, on Queen (now Pearl) Street, nearly opposite 
Cedar Street, to dine with Go\'ernor Clinton. The town was gaily decorated 
for the occasion — more gaily than it had ever been before, and in the evening 
there was a great illumination which included nearly every house in the city. 
The few exceptions were some of the as yet unreconciled Anti-Federalists, 
several of whose darkened windows were shattered by missiles thrown by 
some too enthusiastic partisans of the constitution. Receptions took nearly all 
of General Washington's time from then until April 30th, when the day 
0]:)ened with the roar of the guns at Fort George. In the morning, prayers 
were offered at many churches after a general ringing of all the church bells 
in the city. At noon an official escort waited at the President's door and he 
was followed by a great military and civic procession, mounted and on foot, to 
Federal Hall, where he went to the senate chamber, where he went up, bow- 
ing, to a seat between the Vice President on his right and the speaker on his 
left. Thence he stepped to the balcony and in full view of the senators and 
representatives within, of many of the nation's greatest on the balcony with 
him, and of a throng outside that packed the streets and roofs, he took the 
oath, kissed the Book, and Chancellor Livingston proclaimed: "It is done! 
Long live George Washington, President of the L^nited States !" A flag shot 
up to the cupola of Federal Hall, and at this signal the guns at the Battery 
boomed again, the bells of all the city again clanged in chorus, and the shouts 
of the multitude resounded through the streets of the city. The President re- 
turned to the senate chamber and delivered his inaugural address, and then 
with his entourage repaired to St. Paul's church, to take part in a thanksgiving- 
service conducted by Bishop Provoost. The United States of America had 
became a nation, fully organized on a permanent basis. 

The religious sentiments expressed by the President in his inaugural 
address were pleasing to worshipers of all denominations, and the first re- 
sponse of approval came from the Methodist Episcopal Church in John Street, 



HISTORY OF XI-JJ' YORK 



of which Re\-. John Dickens was the pastor. Services liad lieen held on the 
morning" of the inaus^uration, in that church, where the New York Confer- 
ence (then comprising' twenty ministers) had been in session for two davs pre- 
vioush', presided nver h\ Bishops Asbur_\- and Coke. 

One of the first ap])ointments made In- President Washington was that 
of AlaA-or Dnane, to he Cnited States judge for the District of New York. 
He was succeeded in the office of mayor, under Governor Chnton's appoint- 
ment, liy Richard \'arick, previously recorder, and Sanuiel Jones was ap- 
l^ointed to the latter office. Aaron Burr was elected attorney-general. 

When the new government was organized, questions of titles and social 
usages came up and roused much antagonism and heated discussion, beginning 
with a proposition in Congress to select titles for the President and other offi- 
cials. A senate committee proposed that the executive should be styled "His 
Highness the President of the United States, and Protector of Their Liber- 
ties." Others of more exuberant tastes thought that "High Mightiness," 
"His Elective Majesty." or just plain "His Majesty." would meet the situation 
better, but the House of Re]M-esentatives would have none of them. It was 
decided to call him simply '"the President of the United States." Certain rich 
and fashionable ])eople, however, created a social atmosphere which was, as 
near as they could make it, a copy of Eur(ii)ean ciiurts. Fenno's Gazette of 
the United States, which was regarded as being the government organ, made 
nuich of the social doings, which nuich offended the democratic ideas of the 
majority, although the President himself lived a simple and unostentatious life. 

Among the ])residential appointments were several New Yorkers, includ- 
ing Alexander Jlamilton, secretarv of the treasurv; William Duer. assistant 
secretary: John Jav, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court; Samuel 
Osgood, ])ostmaster-general : and Gouverneur Morris, appointed on a special 
mission to Europe. Local federal apiiointments included John Lamb, collector 
of the port: I'enjamin Walker, naval officer, and [ohn Lasher, survevor of 
the i^ort. 

The proceedings of the First Congress, while interesting from a national 
standpoint, had little in them pertaining to local history. The State legisla- 
ture enacted, March if). i7()0. that the lands at Fort George belonging to the 
!^tate should fore\er be reserved for the erection of public buildings, and ap- 
])ointing Gerard Bancker. Richard A^arick and John Watts commissioners to 
demolish b^ort George, level the grounds, erect a new Imlkhead at the Battery 
and erect new buildings for the State government and to be applied to the 
temporary use of the President of the Ignited States during such time as the 
Congress of the L'nited States should hold its sessions in the City of New 
A'ork. The commission rajjidlv cleared awav F"ort George, and in leveling the 
ground, under the ruins the workmen came upon the leaden caskets contain- 



THE CINCINNATI AND TAMMANY 



•^fiM 



ing- the remains of Lord and Lady Belloniont. They were moved with decorum 
and interred with proper marks of respect in St. Paul's churchyard. On ^larch 
25, 17Q0, Trinity Church, which had been rebuilt, was consecrated. There 
was placed within the edifice a canopied pew for the President's use. One of 




RclT.'diucd jr, nil tliL- onginal [•nnt III I lie .■•'lU'ctwii I'f Mr. I'l-icy K. /'.vii.'. -'J 
NEW YORK HARBOR. 1790. SHOWING GOVERNORS HOUSE IN BACKGROUND 

the acts of the State Assembly, passed ]ylarch 31st, g-ranted Governor's Island 
and certain lands in Clinton County as well as £1000 cash to Columbia College. 
"The Societv of the Cincinnati," composed of officers who served in the 
W'dv of Independence, was an organization at that time of great political power. 
Another organization which had arisen as in some respects a rival to The 
Society of the Cincinnati was the "St. Tammany Society or Columbian Order," 
with its well-known imitation of the tribal organization of the American In- 
dians. There had been a "St. Tammany Society" before that, but in May, 17S9, 
the organization added the "Columbian" adjunct to its name and greatly 
strengthened itself, becoming in fact a protest against the hereditary feature 
of the Cincinnati, and more democratic in character. In both of the societies 
there were at that time members of both parties, but at times they were prac- 



HISTORV OP XJiir )'OKK 



ticallv opposing' political camps. Biith nuule a prominent feature of the ob- 
servance of Independence Day. In i/uo, that anniversary falling on Sunday, 
the celebration was postponed until Monday, July 5th. Brockholst Livingston 
delivered an oration in St. Paul's Church, before a distinguished audience, in 
which were included members of Congress, the Cincinnati, and Federal, State 
and municipal authorities who, after the address, waited on the President. 
The members of the Cincinnati invited "the Grand Sachem and Fathers of the 
St. Tammany Society" to a dinner, at which such good humor jirevailed as 
to make the occasion one of special note. 

St. Tammany Society soon had occasion to place itself in a promi- 
nent i^osition in connection with a matter of national importance. The 
Indians in the Carolinas, Florida and ( ieorgia had been very trouble- 
some in the South under Spanish inspiration, and Colonel ^larinus 
Willett had been sent on a special mission to the Creek Indians of the 
South, and word came that he was on his wa}^ to New York with 
McCiillvray, chief of the hostile tribe (of mixed blood from a Scotch 
father), and twenty-eight warriors. John Pintard, sagamore of Tam- 
many, a man of high social standing, a scholar of distinction, and editor of 
the Dail}^ Advertiser, saw in this news an opportunity to advance the 
prestige of the society, and made arrangements accordingly. Colonel 
Willett and his Indian guests, who had been traveling toward New York 
at government expense and had been greeted by great crowds at every 
place along the way, were met by the Sons of St. Tammany, dressed in 
true Indian style and with much aboriginal magnificence. The Tani- 
manyites took charge of the Indians, iiiloted them to the houses of the 
president, and secretary of war, and afterward showed them everything 
there was to see in New York likely to interest them. At a grand enter- 
tainment on August 3d, Grand Sachem HolTman made them an eloquent 
s])eech, telling them that the sjnrits of two great chiefs, Tammany and 
Columbus, were supposed to walk u|) and down in that Great Wigwam. 
One of them, Tammany, was a great and good Indian chief, a warrior, 
hunter and patriot, and thej' called themselves his sons. Sagamore Pintard, 
whose speech, when translated to the warriors, seemed to greatly please 
them, ])roduced a calumet beautifulK- ornamented, which was smoked by 
them all in turn. The Indian chief conferred ui)on (Irand Sachem Hotf- 
man the title of Taliva Mico (Chief of the White Town), and the President 
of the United States was toasted as the "Beloved Chieftain of the Thirteen 
Fires." Other things were arranged h\ Tammany for the chiefs, one of 
which was their ])resence with the President at a great military re\'iew, 
Jul}' Jjtli, which much impressed them, and a dinner by the President, to 
the chiefs. A treatv with the Indians was drawn up and si""ned bv them 



U'.ISIIIXGTOX'S L.lSr LOOK .IT XRU' YORK 



101 



and the President, at Federal Hall, which was the last time the President 
ever visited that buildin",-. 

The question of the place for the permanent capital had greatly 
agitated the conntr_\-. New York and Philadelphia both wanted it and the 
latter had the strongest backing, but still stronger was the sentiment that 
a federal district should be cut out of one or more States which shnuld be 
central to the population and should be subject to the authority of no one 
State. As the latter plan involved some years of building and preparation 
Philadelphia was pacified with a promise of the capital for ten years, and 
on Jul}' i6, i/QO, the act for removal first to Philadelphia and afterward 
to the chosen district on the Potomac was signed by the President. The 
President gave his last State dinner on August 28th, and on the 30th a 
procession of State and municipal officers conducted the President and his 
family to McComb's Wharf on Xorth River, where the}' embarked on the 
same barge that had brought them to the city. A sahtte of thirteen guns 
was fired, the people cheered and the President, waving his hat, said, 
"Farewell." He never returned to New York. 




MANHATTANVILLE FROM CLAREMONT 



CHAPTER T ir E N T Y - X I N E 

CONSTRUCTIVE DAYS IN POLITICAL PARTIES 

THE CINCINNATI AND TAMMANY 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND AARON BURR 

An enumeration uf the inhabitants of New York niatle on December ii, 
1700, showed a population of 29.906 souls. Divided by wards, they were dis- 
tributed as follows: South Ward. 1756; Dock Ward, 1S54; East \\'ard, 3622; 
West Ward, 6054; Xorth Ward. 4596; Montgomerie Ward, 6702; Bowery 
A\'ard. 4S19; Harlem Division. 503. In the following October the names of 
the wards were changed to numbers, and they were more equallv divided on 
the basis of population. 

On Januarv 3. I7vji. the State assembly of New York met in the city, 
and John \\'atts was elected speaker. General Schuyler's term was about to 
ex])ire on March 4th. and he was a candidate for reelection, but was opposed 
bv Aaron Burr, and the latter won by ten majority in the senate and five in 
the house. Burr's victorv over Schuyler was considered as a bad defeat for 
the Federal partv. Chancellor Livingston and his lirother-in-law. Morgan 
Lewis, who had been prominent Federalists, used their influence in behalf of 
Burr, whom Lewis succeeded as attorney-general. John Pintard. Tammany 
sagamore, and Melancthon Smith, another Tammany man. were in that 
assembly, and Pintard developed much i)ower and adroitness as a legislative 
leader. 

Tammanv was getting to the front in various ways. Tt had established, 
in Sejitember. 1790, an American nmseum, which was the basis of the Mew 
^'ork Historical Society. Pintard's paper, the Daily Advertiser, announced 
that the object of the society in establishing the museum was to collect and 
preserve all material relating to the historv of our C(iuntry and all American 
curiosities of nature and art. The society had secured from the Common 
Council the use of a room in the City Hall for the purposes of this museum. 
wliich was open at all times to the members of the Tammany Society, and 
on Tuesdavs and Fridavs to the public. There was an interchange of civilities 
on Washington's Birthdav. 1791, between the Cincinnati and the Sons of Tam- 
manv, represented bv the grand sachem, Josiah Ogden Hoffman. 

Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, which had been printed in London 
wiih a dedication to Washington, appeared in an .American edition with a pre- 
linnnar\- note of high appnix'al from Thomas Jefl:'erson, secretary of state. The 
])ublication aroused a storm of Federalist dissent from its doctrines, coupled 
with adverse criticism of the secretary of state for endorsing them. Pintard 
puljlished the entire work as a serial, running from May 6th to 27th. in the 



POLITICAL TURMOIL IX XEJi' YORK 



303 



Daily Advertiser, together with the celebrated letters replying to the argu- 
ments of Paine and signed "Publicola." These were generally credited to John 
Adams, the Vice President, but were afterward found to be the work of his 
son, John Quincv Adams. Paine' s work liecame popular with that section of 
the people who were in sympathy with the rising revolution in France, and 
whom the Federalists began to refer to tauntingly as "Democrats." 

In 1792 was held a celebration of the third centenary of the discovery of 
America, on October 12th. There were orations, fourteen toasts, historical 
and allegorical tableaux, which glorified Columbus and his deeds, the Sons of 
Tammany or the Columbian 

Order, and Paine's Rights of ^ ^^95^, ^=^^^^ 

j\Ian. Tammany had become 
the adherent of the radical 
democracy represented bv 
Thomas Jefferson. It soon 
exemplified this stand by be- 
coming the chief support of 
Governor George Clinton in 
his race for reelection in 
November. Against him was 
pitted John Jay, and the fight 
was hot and heavy, and at no 
voting booth was the fight 
more fierce than in Trinity 
Church, which was one of the 
polling booths in that election. 
The election turned upon 
the legality of the returns 

from Otsego County. It was agreed to leave the result of the election on the 
decision of the senators from New ^'ork, Aaron Burr and Rufus King, who 
were to choose a third if they could not agree. They left it to Edmund Ran- 
dolph, who decided the legal question in such a way that the vote of Otsego 
County was rejected and Clinton was declared go\-ernor. The Federalists were 
incensed almost to the point of armed resistance, and made great demonstra- 
tions, even trying to induce the legislature to unseat Clinton, but without suc- 
cess. Clinton gained in popularity, and he received the vote of the State for 
the ^'ice Presidency, which he came near winning at that time. By this time 
the name "Republican" had become fixed upon the opponents of the Federal 
party. Later it became the "Re])ublican-Democratic" party, and finally the 
Democratic ' ])arty, being the only political organization which has been con- 
tmuous from the first administration to the present time. 




No. 2 BROADWAY, COR. MARKETFIELD STREET. 1798 



:;ol HISTORY Of XI-W ]'ORK 

The A-ear i/i)^ was the vear of the Reign of Terror in France. Aristo- 
cratic rule, which from l)eino' careless had come to be heartless, had l^rought 
the poorer classes in France to such a condition that revolution was the only 
alternative. The success of the Revolution in America was one important in- 
citement to the Revolution in France. It had been successful in America, 
Whv not in F'rance? Supercilious. contem]ituous, unfeeling, cruel, the aris- 
tocracv had brought u]ion themselves the hatred of the masses. So the Revo- 
lution in France, counting from the fall of the Bastile, July 14, 17S9, to the 
death of Louis XVI by the guillotine, in January, 1793, was closely corre- 
spondent to Washington's first term. 

Notwithstanding the extremes to which the French revolutionists went 
they were followed through these four years by the sympathy and applause of 
a large section of the American people, and especially of those who had been 
carried away with the eleutheromaniac reasoning of Paine's Rights of Man. 

So when Edmond Charles Edouarcl Genet came with credentials from the 
New Repul)lic where everybody was a plain "citizen," his landing at Charles- 
ton was the beginning of an ovation which kept up for several months. At 
Philadelphia he was received with such lavish expression of sympathy for 
France that after his credentials as minister had been accepted he began to 
issue commissions and letters of marqtie for privateers, and not onlv under- 
took to convert American vessels, with their crews, into F'rench vessels of war. 
but also to encourage attacks on British vessels in American waters. As 
Washington had. with the advice of his cabinet, issued a proclamation of neu- 
trality, in April, I7<)3, Jet¥erson, in June, notified Genet that he must cease 
arming and e(iuipping privateers in American ports. Genet, in turn, defied 
Washington, declaring that he was acting under the treaty of iJJ^ made 
with Congress, and that only Congress had the right to deal with him, and 
demanding that a s])ecial session of Congress be called. Washington there- 
upon demanded the recall of Genet, which, after some delay, was sent. When 
it came, his part\', the Girondists, were no longer in ])ower in France, but 
were being guillotined by the Jacobins of the mountain. So Citizen Genet, 
when he lost his official standing, decided to stay in New York as a private 
citizen. He married the daughter of Governor Clinton, and resided in the 
city until his death, in i^;](>. In the excitement, of which he was the centre. 
New York was an extensive participant for and against him. There was in 
the poinilar mind a hatred of England, which had so recently bent its energies 
to sub)ugate and coerce the colonies, and whose jailers had so maltreated 
manv who had suffered in its military ])risons. On the other hand, France 
had acted the i)art of a friend in the Revolution, and some of its sons had 
fought for the independence of the colonies. On the other hand, there were 
ties of blood and of institutions. The language, the social habits, the litera- 



L'AMBUSCADE AND CITIZENS GOMPARD AND GENET 306 

ture, the commercial methods of the Americans were essentially English. The 
agitation which had preceded the Revolution had been for rights as English- 
men. Imbedded in the laws were Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, the writ 
of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and an entire jurisprudence transplanted from 
Britain. In the long run, the greatness of the nation and its commercial in- 
terests would Ije best subserved by friendship with the government of what was, 
to the great majority of the American people, the Mother Countrv. 

But such was not the line of reasoning of a large part of the people. 
France, fighting for liberty, equality and fraternity, was to the popular mind, 
a figure truly heroic ; and at first Citizen Genet and his claims to recognition 
were sympathized with by probably a majority of the people. Many sup- 
ported him to the last, but there was a revulsion of feeling when his insolence 
went to the length of defying President Washington. 

New York's Anti-Federalists had their part in the agitation. On June 
I2th the vessel, L'Ambuscade, which had brought Citizen Genet to Charles- 
ton, arrived in New York. Her captain. Citizen Gompard, and the other 
ofificers and crew of the vessel were received and entertained with much 
enthusiasm, the liberty cap was hoisted on the tlagstaif (if the Tontine 
Coffee House, and all true patriots were exhorted to protect it ; tricolor 
cockades were worn and the Marseillaise sung, and New York tried to be 
as French as possible. Genet, who visited New York, August 8th, was wel- 
comed by the ringing of bells and the firing of salutes in honor of the 
French Republic. 

About the time of Genet's recall. Chief Justice John Jay had been 
appointed, in the spring of 1794, as a special envoy to England, to negotiate 
a treaty of commerce. Britain and the United States had not assumed 
complete diplomatic relations, and this precluded the appointment of a 
regular minister, so that the difficulties of Jay's mission were peculiarly try- 
ing, but he succeeded in negotiating a "Treaty of Amity, Commerce and 
Navigation between the United States and Great Britain," in 1795. This 
aroused the greatest excitement, and a perfect storm of invective and abuse 
swept the country. John Jay was denounced as corrupted with British 
gold. Orators declaimed against the perfidy which courted the friendship 
of Britain, the oppressor and foe of America, while deserting France, her 
friend and recent ally. Jay was burned in efifigy, in New York and Phila- 
delphia ; mass meetings in New York and Boston denounced the treaty. 
The New York meeting was held in front of the City Hall, and Edward 
Livingston was called to preside. Mayor Varick and Alexander Hamilton, 
who tried to control the meeting within bounds, found themselves unable to 
do so. Hamilton, from the front steps of his home, at the corner of Broad 
and Wall Streets, tried to address the people, but that statesman, who had 



ooi; 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



alwavs before been able to command attention, could get no hearing. 
Stones flew, and one struck him on the forehead. 'Die secretary thereupon 
said without excitement, "If you tise such striking arguments. I must 
retire." and quietly went into the house, while the mob rushed to the Bowl- 
ing Green to burn what purported to be copies of the Jay treaty, and unfurl 
the Frencli tricolor. Hamilton coiumenced writing essays under the pen 
name "Camillus," by which the opinion of the thoughtful was powerfully 
influenced. The treaty was ratified by the .Senate, after some important 
modifications, was signed by Washington, and one of the first bodies to 
approve it was the Chamber of Commerce of New York, at a meeting 
where seventy members were present and only ten adverse votes were cast. 

Aleanwhile Jay, during his 
absence, and before the treaty had 
been concluded, had been elected 
go\'ernor of New York. He 
arrived May j8, 17Q5, in the 
height of the storm over the 
treaty, and on July i, 1795, he 
was inaugurated governor. He 
moved from his home, at 113 
Broadway, then the highest num- 
l)er on that street, to the Gover- 
nor's Alansion, south of the Bowl- 
ing Green, on the block where the 
new Custom House now stands. 
The house faced north, and gave 
a view of tree-lined Broadway, 
the Common, and fields beyond. 
In September, J705. New York was visited by an epidemic of yellow 
fever, during which 732 ])ersons died fr(»m the disease. l)uring the preva- 
lence nf ihe scdurge Inisiness was stagnated. An article in the New York 
joiuMial. uf ( )ctober 17, 17<)5, spoke of the visitation as practically over, and 
congratulated the city cm the fact that the mortality among those visited by 
the disease had not been so great as had been expected, saying: "Not more 
than one in twent}- dies. Those who liave died were for the greatest part 
new residents."' Following this visitation. (Governor Jay initiated, for the 
first time in New ^'ork, the proclamation of a Thanksgiving Day for this 
State, which was appointed for Thursday, November 26th, and was 
speciallv designated as a day for giving thanks for the cessation of the epi- 
demic. Btit a worse visitation came in I7')8, when 1524 people died from 
the disease. It was most virulent along l-'ront .Street, and in the neighboring 




WHITE CONDUIT HOUSE 

Built about 1 7?; 

Usetl first a*; independent churcli. Stood on liil] at Biuadway 

lietween Leonard and Antliony Streets 



YELLOJr FEVER IX XEW YORK 307 



section of the city near the low ground, which had been rescued from the 
river, and bred mosquitoes in most luxurious profusion. Unfortunately, at 
that day there was no knowledge of the intimate connection of His Viru- 
lence Stegoinyia fasciafa with this destructive disease, nor were the people or 
the phvsicians anv better informed during the much more severe visitation of 
1822-1824, nor in that of 1853. 

Among the matters of legislation accomplished by the Jay administra- 
tion was a needed revision of the penal code. The number of offenses pun- 
ishable with death was greatly reduced. A bill introduced in the legisla- 
ture, in Januar}', 1796. for the abolition of slavery, was defeated in com- 
mittee of the whole, by a tie vote, the chairman giving the casting vote 
against it, but during Jay's second term, in April. 1799, a bill to the same 
eft'ect was passed. It provided that the exportation of slaves in the State 
should cease, and that all negroes born in the State after Jul}- 4. 1799, 
should be free. They should, however, be required to serve an apprenticeship 
until twenty-eight years old, if males, and twenty-five years old. if females. 
Attempts to abolish slavery had been made before, but had been wrecked 
on the question of compensation to owners, but this bill, ])rnviding, as it 
did, for gradual emancipation, met with no very great oppositi(Tn. 

A penitentiary was built in New York, in 1796, and in the same year 
the need for a retreat where sufferers from contagious diseases could 
receive proper attention without spreading the contagion through the city, 
led to the selection of Bedloe's Island for the purpose. 

The approach of the end of Washington's second term, with his 
known intention to retire at that time to private life, lent great importance 
to the election of 1796, through the country, but was not exceptionally sig- 
nificant in New York. John Adams, of Massachusetts, Federalist, was 
elected President, and Thomas Jefferson, Republican. Vice FVesident. a bi- 
partisan result, practically impossible under the present sytem, but not only 
possible, but probable, as it was arranged in the original constitution before 
amendment. 

In the State the governor, John Jay, was elected twice as a Federalist 
candidate, in 1793 and 1798, but in the latter election there were large 
Republican gains in the legislature, reducing the Federalist majority in the 
Senate to eight, and gaining a Republican majority in the Assembly of 
twenty-eight. The leading spirit on the Republican side was Aaron Burr, 
one of the most brilliant men of the day, and gifted in exceptional degree 
with the quality of personal magnetism. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, 
February 6, 1856, son of Rev. Aaron Burr, D.D., second president of 
Princeton, and of a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, the famous theologian. 
His father died in 1857 'i"d l"s mother in 1858, and he was brought up by 



;!(is 



HISTORY OF XllW YORK 



Re\'. Tinioth}- ICdwards, his maternal uncle, at Elizabethtown, Xew Jersey: 
went to Princeton, from which he was g-raduated with flistinguished honors 
at the head of the Class of 1772; studied theology under Rev. Dr. Bellamy, of 
Bethlehem, Connecticut, and law, in 1774, with his brother-in-law. Tappan 

Reeve, at Bethlehem, Connecticut. He 
served in the Continental Army with 
distinction from 1775, and had com- 
mand of a brigade when he resigned 
in I77g. He began the practice of 
law in Albany, in 1782, and the same 
year married Mrs. Theodosia Prevost. 
widow of a British officer, and their 
daughter, Theodosia, was born the fol- 
lowing- year. Burr was a member of 
the State Assembly in 1784-1785, elec- 
ted attorney-general of the State in 
T78g, was United States senator from 
i7<)i to i7<)7, and returned to the State 
Assembly again from 1707 to 1790. 
where his leadership of the Republican 
majority became absolute. His chief 
opponent was Alexander Hamilton, 
and his political ambition looked to- 
ward a place on the national ticket of 
the Republican party. 

On December 14. 1799, occurred 
the death of George Washington. The event was sudden and unexpected, 
and the mourning was general. The news reached Xew York on the 19th. 
and arrangements were made for a public funeral procession and a service at 
St. Paul's, which was chosen because it was there that Washington held a 
pew and regularly worshi])ed during his stay at the Franklin House, in 
New York. In the procession a funeral urn \\as carried upon a bier to reji- 
resent the corpse, followed by the Cincinnati, as chief mourners, other officers 
of the War of Independence, and the cor])oration of the city. Preceding the 
bier were all National and State military and naval forces in the city, mem- 
bers of all societies and lodges, civil officers of the city. State and Federal 
governments, consular representatives of the Spanish and British governments, 
and manv others. At St. Paul's, Bishop Provoost read appropriate prayers, 
and an oration was delivered by Gouverneur Morris. 

President Adams issued a pr(iclamation setting apart W^ashington's 
Birthdav, Feliruary 22, 1800, as a day of devotion and prayer, in com- 




NEW YORK HOSPITAL 

Broadway between Duane and Anthony (Worth) Streets 

Corner Stone laid 1773; site was then far out of town; 

used as barracks by the English during their 

occupation of the city 



AAROX BURR BECOMES J'ICE PRESIDEXT 309 



memoration of the illustrious soldier and statesman, and on that day all 
business was suspended in the city. The Cincinnati and the corporation 
attended the Dutch Church, where thev listened to a most eloc|uent eulogy 
on Washington, delivered by Dr. William Linn, of that church, who bore 
reputation as the greatest pulpit orator in the country. 

The vear 1800 was an exciting one in political matters. Party lines were 
strictly drawn ; the controversies were bitter and rancorous : even within the 
lines of party were clashing ambitions. The method of choosing the President 
and \^ice President made trouble more than possible. Voters were to cast 
votes for two persons, who could not be from the same State. The one receiv- 
ing the highest number of electoral votes should be President, the one receiving 
the next highest number of yotes should be Vice President, and in case of 
a tie the House of Representatives must decide it. This rule of procedure had 
worked sufficiently well in the first two elections when the personality of 
Washington left no doubt about the first place, nor much about the second : 
but in the third election it had given the presidency to one party and the vice 
presidency to another, with only three votes difference between them. In 
1800 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both of the Republican party, were 
well ahead of the others, but they were tied, each having seventy-three votes. 
while the other three candidates, all Federalists, were John Adams, sixty-five 
votes; Charles Cotes Pinckney, sixty-four votes: John Jay, one vote; so 
althotigh the electoral colleges had met in their several States on December 
4th, the result could not be known, and even then the decision had to be 
reached through a path that might be full of pitfalls. Burr, who had been 
regarded as the Republican candidate for Vice President, only was charged 
with intrigue to have himself elected President in the house ; some of his par- 
tisans went so far as to threaten that the northern Republicans would seat 
him by force if Jeft'erson were selected. But the decision made Jefferson Pres- 
ident and Burr \"ice President, as after thirty-six ineffectual ballots, James 
Addison Bayard, of Delaware, a Federalist who had been voting for Burr, 
changed his vote to Jefferson on the advice of Alexander Hamilton. 

Burr became Vice President, but he had lost prestige with his party, so 
that in 1804, when nominations were made again (the Constitution having 
meanwhile been amended so as to make the situation of 1800 thereafter im- 
possible). Burr's name was not even inentioned for the vice presidency, Gov- 
ernor George Clinton being nominated in his stead. Having failed there, he 
attempted to secure the nomination for governor of New York, but the party, 
controlled chiefly by the Clinton and Livingston families, passed him by in 
favor of Chief Justice Morgan Lewis, brother-in-law of the former chancellor, 
Robert R. Livingston. Lie then sought the Federalist nomination, but the 
most powerful voice in that party was that of Hamilton and Chancellor Lans- 



no 



HISTORY OF XliJl' YORK 



ing was named as its candidate for governor. When Chancellor Lansing 
declined to make the race. Burr decided to make the race as an independent, 
expecting to win some of the Republican (Democratic) vote and the bulk of 
the Federalist vote, but he miscalculated, for while Hamilton had been socially 
his friend, he believed Burr to be politically unsafe antl unscrupulous. His 
influence was cast in favor of Lewis, who was elected b}- an o\'erwhelming 
maioritv. Burr had been politically dethroned in the State and nation, and 
he determined on revenge. He sought occasion of quarrel, and as Hamilton 
had not been sparing of denunciation of him politically, he seized upon some 
expressions which had been made by him and challenged him to a duel. L'nder 
the foolish code of the day Hamilton could not refuse; so on July ii. 1904, 
in the early morning, they crossed the Hudson to Weehawken, about opposite 
the present Forty-second Street, shots were exchanged, and Hamilton was 
mortally wounded by Burr, who was unhurt, as Hamilton had tired his weapon 
in the air. Hamilton was brought to the city and taken to the home of his 
friend. William Bayard, where he died the next day, July 12. i<So4. Of Burr's 
future career it is not necessary to go into detail here. He was indicted for 
murder, but left the city, and after his term as Vice President had ended he 
engaged in various schemes which resulted in prosecutions for treason and 
other crimes. His career and that of his daughter Theodosia have furnished 
the theme for many articles and volumes. After wanderings over Europe he 
retiumed in 181 2, penniless, to New York, and resumed the practice of law. 
_ _^_. _ In i^^33. at the age of seventy- 

seven, he married Madame Jumel, 
a widow, who owned a ci^nsider- 
able pr()pert\- on Washington 
Heights. l)Ul the\- soon after were 
separated. He died in 1S36. 

Haniilt(Mi. wliom he slew, lives 
in history as the m<ist eminent of 
the earlv statesmen of Xew York, 
if indeed he l)e not the foremost in 
its entire history. He was a clear 
thinker upon political and economic 
jiroblems and took a lead in an- 
nouncing the \-iews in fa\'or of 
a strong central government, to 
which the State should be subordinate, and even more than Madison or 
Jay was the formulator of the principles and program of the Federalist 
party. He was secretary of the treasury under Washington from 1789 to 
1795. when he resigned to resume the practice of law. His writings, in nine 




TAMMANY HALL (Second Home) 

Erected i.Si2 

Southwest Corner Frankfort anil Nassau Streets 



FUXERAL Ul- ALEXAXUER HAMIETOX 



311 



volumes, are still looked upon as the authoritative announcement of those 
principles of centralized power that have been the basis of those parties 
which have been historically opposed I)y that party of which Jefferson may 
be said to have been the founder, first under the name of the Republican 
and later of the Democratic party. Hamilton was not, like Jeft'erson. a great 
political leader, for he distrusted the people and they reciprocated the senti- 
ment to the extent that he did not have a large personal folliiwing. His death, 
however, wrought intense excitement, and the manner of his going created in- 
dignation in citizens of every political shade, who made haste to express their 
feeling of sorrow for the loss of this great statesman, who had guided the 
finances of the country into paths of soundness and safety, and placed its credit 
on a firm basis, and who was, in addition, the foremost citizen of New York. 
The funeral took place in Trinity Church, on Saturday, July 14th. In its 
churchvard is his tombstone which worthily describes him as "The Patriot of 
Incorruptible Integrity, the Soldier of Approved \'alor, the Statesman of 
Consummate Wisdom." 




SOUTHERN VIEW OF HALLS OF JUSTICE 
CtMitre Street, 181J 



CHAPTER THIRTY 

BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
FULTON AND STEAM NAVIGATION 
THE SECOND WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN 

Richard Varick, who became mayor in 1789, was a member of the 
Federahst party, and therefore following tlie elections of 1800, which made 
practically a clean sweep for the Republicans, Edward Livingston was 
appointed mayor, in 1801. The census of 1800 showed the city to contain 
60,515 inhabitants. It had many municipal needs, one of which was a new 
Citv Hall. In 1802 there was a call for plans on the competitive principle, 
a premium being offered for the most acceptable plans, and the award was 
given to Messrs. Macomb and Mangin. On September 20, 1803, the corner 
stone was laid by Mayor Livingston, in the presence of the members of the 
corporation and a few others, most of the citizens having left town because 
of the retiu'n of yellow fever. The material chosen for the building was 
white marble from (|uarries in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, which was used for 
the south fr(int and the sides, but some economic soul in the Common Council 
argued that it was very unlikely that more than a few houses would be 
built north of the strttcture, and proposed that red sandstone should be used 
cm the north front to save expense, and the motion prevailed. It was fin- 
ished in 181 2, at a cost of half a million dollars, and has been used ever 
since; although in the few changes made, one has been to put in a back wall 
of the same material as the rest of the ])uilding. From an architectural stand- 
point it is still, though surrounded beyond the circling park by colossal sky- 
scrapers, one of the most attractive buildings in New York. 

Mayor Livingston resigned his oflice in 1803, and DeWitt Clinton was 
appointed to the place. His imcle, George Clinton, who was the first State 
governor of New York, from 1777 to 1795, was again governor (being the 
first of the series of Democratic-Republicans holding the oftice) from 1801 
to 1804. DeWitt Clinton was born at Little Britain, Orange Comity, New 
^'ork, March 2, 1769. He was the first graduate of Columbia College under 
that name, gaining high honors for his scholarship, and after stud}-ing law 
with Sanmel Jones, in New York City, was admitted to the ])ar in 1788, 
and he became one of the most successful members of his iirofession, but 
was especially known for his vigor and success in politics, and particularly 
was attached to the political fortunes of his uncle. He was elected from 
New York Citv to the Assembly, in I7<)7, and to the State Senate in 1798, 
and also became a member of the State Council of Appointment. During 
his terms in the legislature he showed allilit^- as a constructive statesman. 



BEGINNING OF THE PUBEIC SCHOOES 



313 




OLD VIEW OF CITY HALL 



heading- movements for the aboHtion of slavery and of imprisonment for 
debt in the State. He was elected United States senator in January, 1802, 
being then but thirty-three years of age, but resigned after a little more 
than a year's service, to accept 
from his uncle the office of 
mayor of New York. This 
office he held, with the ex- 
ception of two vears, until 
1815. 

It was during the admin- 
istration of DeWitt Clinton as 
mayor, and largely through 
his efforts, that our public 
school system, the most im- 
portant institution of our re- 
public, had its beginnings in 
New York. The germ of the 

idea dates back to 1S02, when some ladies belonging to the Society of Friends 
established, with a fund contributed from their own means, a free school for 
girls. Although only for one sex, its benefits were so apparent that it set 
other minds to thinking how they could be extended. Among those who had 
thought most deeply on the subject were Thomas Eddy and John Murray, 
who called a meeting of those who would unite to provide means for the edu- 
cation of those hitherto neglected, to meet at the house of John Murray, in 
Pearl Street. Besides Messrs. Murray and Eddy, there were present at the 
meeting Sanuiel Osgood, Brockholst Livingston, Samuel Miller, Joseph Con- 
stant, Thomas Pearsall, Thomas Franklin, Matthew Clarkson, Leonard Bleecker, 
Samuel Russell and William Edgar. That meeting, after passing a resolution 
setting forth the need and public importance of free education, appointed a 
committee to devise plans to carry the idea into execution, which reported, a 
week later, to a second meeting, recommending that a memorial be sent to 
the legislature on the subject. A petition was therefore drawn up, signed 
by one hundred leading citizens, and sent to the legislature, February 25, 
1805. O'l April 0, following, the legislature passed "An Act to Licorporate 
the Society instituted in the City of New York, for the Establishment of 
a Free School for the Education of Poor Children, who do not belong to 
or are not provided for by, any religious society." Thirty-seven incorpo- 
rators were named in the bill, headed by Mayor DeWitt Clinton, and including 
many other prominent names, two especially notable being those of Daniel 
D. Tompkins and Dr. Samuel Latham Mitchill. The bill provided for the 
management of the societv bv thirteen trustees, and the first board, named 



314 HISTORY OF XEIJ- YORK 

in the act, comprised DeWitt Clinton and the twelve gentlemen who had first 
met at the honse of Mr. Murray. DeWitt Clinton was chosen ])resident ; 
John Alurra}", vice jiresident: Leonard Bleecker, treasurer: and Benjamin D. 
Perkins, secretary, of the Public School Society, which did noble pioneer 
work. School Xo. i was opened on Pearl Street, near Madison Street, }klav 
17, 180^), with forty scholars. Some of the scholars were instructed gratui- 
tously, and others paid a nominal sum for tuition. The Public School 
Society sent its agents all over the city to find destitute and uninstructed 
children and bring them into the schools. 

The system soon commended itself to ])ublic approval, though it was 
not without opponents, some of whom thought that those who were prob- 
ably foredoomed to a life of drudgery were better without education, and 
others being very fearful that the system would "pauperize" its benefi- 
ciaries. But these objections practicalK' disappeared. In 1808 the corpora- 
tion of New Y(irk donated to the societv the old State arsenal, at the corner 
of Chatham Street and Tryon Row, on condition that they should educate 
the children in the Almshouse. School No. 2 was built in Henry Street, on 
ground donated for the purpose by Colonel Henr_\- Rutgers, and later 
School No. I was removed to William Street. Several schoolhouses were 
added by the society prior to 184J, when a new law was passed, providing 
for the maintenance of ward schools, to be entirely gratuitous, and sup- 
ported by taxation. The two systems worked harmoniously together under 
the supervision of a board of education, until 1853. when the Public School 
Society completed arrangements for merger, and turned o\er their schools 
and property to the cit}- corporation, relin(|uishing their charter. 

The appointixe offices of the State were at this period not vested in the 
governor alone, but in a Council of A])])ointment, composed of a senator 
from each of the four districts of the State, with the go\-ernor as chairman 
of the council. De^^'itt Clinton was the originator of this plan, intended to 
solidify the power of the Republican |)art\', and for his work in that direc- 
tion he has sometimes been designated as "the father of the spoils system." 
In 1806 the election in the State had resulted in a majoritN' of the Council 
of Appointment adverse to Ma\-or Clinton, who was, therefore, removed, 
and Colonel Marinus A\"illett was appointed in his stead. The Revolution- 
ary hero was personally ver}- popular, and it is noteworthy, also, that he was 
great-great-grandson of Thomas Willett, the first mayor of New ^'ork, 
appointed b\- ( iovernor Nicolls after the ca]iture of New Amsterdam, in 
1 664. 

It was not a Federalist victor}- that brought about the change. There 
was within the Re|)ublican part\ a jiojitical feud between the Livingston 
and Clinton families. In the campaign of 1804, Covernor George Clinton 



DEW ITT CLIXTOX'S POLITICAL FORTUNES 315 

hatl been elected \'ice President of the L'nited States for the second Jef- 
ferson administration. Morgan Lewis, who had been attorney-general, in 
succession to Aaron Burr, and later chief justice of the Stiprenie Court, and 
who was a brother-in-law of Chancellor Livingston, was elected governor, 
and when the election of 1806 increased the Federalist vote in the legisla- 
ture and the Council of Appointment, he gave his vote for Willett. The 
following year, however, the Clintonians again secured a majority, and 
DeWitt Clinton became mayor again, in 1807. In iSog the Federalists car- 
ried the State, and for their first act the Council of Appointment, at Albany, 
removed Clinton and appointed Jacob Radcliff, but in the election of 1810 the 
Republican party again triumphed, and Clinton became mayor again, until 
181 5. 

The most important event of the first decade of the Nineteenth Centurv 
in relation to the future development of New York and the building up of its 
commerce was the success achieved in applying steam to the jiropulsion of 
vessels. There has been much discussion, a good deal of it, in the earlier 
years of the controversy, quite acrimonious, in regard to the extent to which 
Fulton borrowed the ideas of predecessors, but that he l)uilt the first steam- 
boat that made regular tri])s with freight and passengers, and the first that 
was commercially profitable, is beyond dispute. 

Robert Fulton was born at Little Britain, Pennsylvania, of Irish parents, 
in 1765. While a young lad he was ajiprenticed to a Philadel]ihia jeweler, and 
his leisure time was spent in the study of painting, in which he showed such 
talent that he was soon painting and selling landscapes and portraits, and in 
four years bought with his earnings a farm, on which he placed his widowed 
nidther. ^^■hen twenty-two years old he went to London with letters to Ben- 
jamin West, the great American painter, from Franklin and other influential 
persons, and he continued his studies under the patronage of that great artist. 
Through this connection he was introduced to two noblemen who had taken a 
great interest in mechanics and engineering: the Duke of Bridgewater, who 
was owner of coal mines at Worsley, and constructed a canal connecting 
them with Manchester, and the Earl of Stanhope, inventor of the Stanhope 
printing press and inventor of several improvements in canal locks. Previotis 
to this Fulton had become interested in mechanical and engineering problems, 
and his association with these two noblemen greatly intensified his activities 
along this line. He turned his attention to mechanical invention and was 
chiefly interested in the subject of canals and of steam navigation. He 
obtained from the British government, in 1794, a patent for an inclined plane, 
mtended to displace canal locks, and in the same year invented a mill for 
sawing and polishing marble. He next invented a machine for spinning flax, 
and also a machine for making ropes. In 1706 he published "A Treatise on 



no 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



the Improvement of Canal Navigation," of which he sent copies to the Presi- 
dent, the secretary of the treasury, and to Governor Jay. with a letter to each 
calling- attention to the benefits to accrue from the construction of canals in 
the United States. 

Going to Paris in 1797, Fulton met Joel Barlow, diplomat and man of 
letters, and he entered with interest into the ideas of FuUon with reference 
to canals and steamboats, and advanced the necessary funds for the inventor's 
experiments with steamboat models, with which he experimented on the Seine. 




THE CLERMONT 
Robert Fulton's First American Steamboat, 1807 



In Paris he also had the advantage of meeting and interesting Robert R. 
Livingston, who after serving in the Continental Congress, 1777-1781, and as 
secretary of foreign affairs, 1 781 -1783, was a member of the New York State 
Constitutional Convention, 1777. and first chancellor of the State, serving until 
1 801, then becoming United States minister to France, in which capacity he 
negotiated, in 1803, the purchase of the territory of Louisiana from the 
French government. He was a man of broad culture and versatile attain- 
ments, a famous member of a distinguished family. Like Fulton, he had been 
an experimenter with the problem of the a]ii)lication of steam to navigation, 
which was occupying many minds in both continents. 

Thinking he had accomplished his ol)ject in 1708, he memorialized the 
legislature to the effect that having discovered a method of propelling a boat 
by means of steam he could not afford to undertake the expensive experi- 
ments necessary unless he could obtain an exclusive grant of that mode of 



ROBERT FULTON .-IXD ROBERT R. LIIIXCSTON 317 

navigation after he had made it successful. In response to his petition an 
act was passed in March, 1798, conferring upon Mr. Livingston the exclusive 
right and privilege of navigating boats which might be propelled by fire or 
steam upon all waters within the territorv or jurisdiction of the State of New 
York, for twentv years; but there was a proviso that he should, within twelve 
months from the date of the act, complete such a boat, which nuist develop 
a speed of mit less than four miles an hour. It is said that the members of 
both houses, in ^■oting for the bill, regarded it as a joke, and din"ing its passage 
the measure was ridiculed and made the subject of witticisms, but Livingston 
was a man of power, and the bill passed easily. Livingston Iniilt a steam- 
boat on his plans, but crndd not move it so fast as required by the statute. 

His departure on the French mission left the subject in abeyance, but 
meeting Fulton and Toel Barlow in Paris, his interest was revived. Fulton, 
operating with funds supplied by Barlow, constructed several models at Plom- 
bieres, in the summer of 1S02, and in the autumn and winter built on the 
Seine, at Paris, a steamboat. W^hen it was ready he named a day for the 
trial, inviting several scientists and friends to see it; but the night before the 
day fixed for the trial a gale swept down the valley of the Seine, and the 
boat was capsized, the machinery being too heavy for the hull, and sank in 
the river. Much disappointed, but not discouraged, Fulton raised the l;)oat, 
finding the machinery little injured. The hull, however, was a total wreck, 
and Fulton at once set about building a new one, sixty-six feet long with eight 
feet beam, which he propelled successfully along the Seine with the use of 
steam-driven paddle wheels as the propelling device. Many distinguished 
Parisians, including the olificers of the Listitute of France, had been invited 
to witness the trial, which was in all respects a success, except that the vessel 
did not develop the anticipated speed. Fulton felt that this was due in part 
to deficienc\- in power of the engines, and partly to defective construction of 
the boat itself. He had demonstrated the practicability of steam navigation, 
and he set to work to improve upon his models so as to get increased speed 
which, he felt, was a matter of modification and development. Lie was con- 
vinced that steam-dri\'en ])addle wheels were a thoroughly efficient means of 
propulsion. 

Chancellor Livingston was also pleased with the experiment, which they 
decided to repeat, with modification, in Xew York. An engine of greatly in- 
creased size and power was ordered from the famous engine works of Boul- 
ton & \A'att, at Birmingham, Fngland. After making and successfully oper- 
ating a model at Barlow's country seat, near Washington, Fulton set about 
building the hull in New York, and Chancellor Livingston secured a new 
grant to himself and Fulton, conferring upon them the exclusive right to 
navigate the waters of the State of Xew York by steam, provided that they 



••-.IS HISTORY OF XliW YORK 

should produce a steamboat of at least twenty tons burden capable of moving 
against the current of the Hudson at a rate of at least four miles per hour. 
A later act extended the time to April, 1807. 

During the progress of the work the experiment was a popular joke. 
Few expected success, and nearly every man felt himself competent to ridicule 
the entire project. The building was carried on at Charles Brown's shipyard, 
on the East River, and the vessel, as completed, w-as 130 feet long, 16^/2 feet 
wide, 4 feet deep, and of 160 tons burden. The wheels were fifteen feet in 
diameter, with paddles four feet long, having a dip of two feet. The equip- 
ment included a boiler twenty feet long, seven feet deep and eight feet wide, 
and the steam cylinder was twentv-four inches in diameter, and had a stroke 
of four feet. A preliminary trip from the shipyard to the Jersey shore satis- 
fied the inventor that he was going to be successful. It was made early in 
the morning, a few days before the regular trial trip, to the great surprise of 
those on 1)oard the ships anchored in the harbor, who were tlie only witnesses. 
On Monday, August 11, 1807, the vessel, which had been named the Clermont, 
after Chancellor Livingston's country seat, made its trial trip. The wharf 
from which the start was made was crowded with spectator^, mam- of whom 
made sarcastic remarks, and the majority expecting a fiasco. Fulton, writing 
about the occasion to his friend, Joel Barlow, said that there were perhaps not 
more than thirty persons in the city who l)elieved that the boat would move 
more than a mile an hour, or be of the least utility. But when the hawser 
was cast off at one o'clock the vessel started, and at once, under perfect con- 
trol, started up the river, against w-ind and current, and without any other 
power than that of steam, and at one o'clock on Tuesday arrived at Clermont, 
Chancellor Livingston's country house, one hundred and ten miles in twenty- 
four hours. The next day he left the chancellor's, at nine in the morning, 
with the steamboat, making the tri|) of fortv miles to Albany in ei,ght hours. 
On the return trip the Clermont left Albany at nine o'clock on Thursday morn- 
ing, arriving at the chancellor's at six o'clock, leaving there an hour later and 
reaching New York at four o'clock the next afternoon, thus making the re- 
turn trip of one hundred and fifty miles in thirty hours running time, or five 
miles an hour. 

In this trial trip Fulton discovered several alterations and repairs that 
were necessary for the greater perfection of the Clermont, including 
changes in the paddle wheels, which had greatly increased the speed, and 
changes which made the boat more convenient for travelers, and all 
ihrough the rest of the autumn the steamer made cjuick and regular pas- 
sages as a packet. An amusing result of the success of the Clermont was 
that the owners of sailing vessels combined and sued out an injunction to 
restrain Fulton fr<ini running the Clermont, on the ground that the right 



FULTOX'S TRIUMPH AROUSES OPFOSITIOX 



319 



of navigation of the river was theirs 1i}- i)rescription, as from the first the 
navigation of the river had helonged to them. It seems strangle now that 
such a ridiculous claim should have reached trial, but it did, and Daniel 
Webster won the case for Fulton and Livingston. The legislature, in 
1808, passed a law adding five years to the exclusive privileges of Fulton 
and Livingston for every new boat added, provided that the entire term 
should not exceed thirty years. 




Kt-pioLliiCi-il liKin the ,11 ij^iiuil fniit ill the ivlli'cl ii'ii rf Mr. I'crcy K. I'yiic, }d 
VIEW OF WALL STREET, 1825 

The jealousy and enmity of others in the river transj^ortation business 
led to several attempts to destroy the Clermont, by running afoul of her, 
and in other ways, and special laws, making such action criminal, were 
passed. Numerous patent suits had to be defended and prosecuted to sus- 
tain the monopoly granted to Fulton and Livingston, but it was upheld, 
until 1824, when it was set aside by the Su])reme Court of the Lnited States. 
The City of Neptune, of 295 tons measurement, was built in 1808, and The 
Paragon, in 181 1, and several other vessels were added to the New York- 
All)anv line. 



;i-20 HI STORY OF XF.Jl' YORK 

Another and xtry w'lluable ])art of the steam navioaiion interest was 
introduced l)y Fulton, in 1812. Durin,^- that year he constructed two steam 
ferryboats for the North River, and these l)oats, beiu"- each composed of 
twin hulls, united by a deck or bridtje, sharji at both ends, so that thev 
could move backward or forward with eqtial facility, were such a success 
that he soon Intilt two others for the l-'ast Ri\er. b\ilton also invented for 
them the floatin.;^' or movable dock, and the method b\- which the boats 
were brous^ht to them without shock. 

The course of Great Britain, in resjject to the commerce (>f the United 
States, was arroQ-ant and exasperating-, notwithstanding- the treaty of 171)5. 
In the war lietween England and France, each of the combatants blockacied 
the ports of the other, and captured all American vessels that attempted to 
enter, in spite of the neutrality that was strictly maintained by our govern- 
ment and peo|)Ie. England continued to search our vessels, and to impress 
into her service An-ierican seamen, claiming that English seamen, having once 
been English subjects always remained such, it being a national motto that 
"Once an Englishman, alwavs an Englishman." The claim of our govern- 
ment, on the other hand, was that an FLnglish-b(Mm subject could become 
an Ai-nerican liv naturalization. (3ne of the reasons impelling English 
coi-nmanders to this course was that many English seamen, on entering 
American ports, deserted, and after procuring fraudulent naturalization 
papers, would enter the American service, the reason being that seamen 
were better treated and better paid on American vessels. 

Commanders of English war ships, therefore, insisted on searching- 
American ships and taking ofif American seamen on the charge that thev 
were deserters: and English cruisers infested our coast and halted \essels 
as they entered or left the harbors, searching for seamen, so that before the 
war began over 900 American vessels had been searched, and more than 
4000 Aniericans had been imjM'essed into the English service. The attack 
made in June. 1807, on the frigate Chesapeake, by the British man-of-war 
Leopard, off the coast of Virginia, was one of the most flagrant of the 
insults in this period. An affair of a similar kind occurred at the entrance 
to the lower harl)or of New York, as early as April, 1806. when the British 
frigate Leander, Captain Whitby, while cruising oft' Sandy Hook, fired into 
the American sloop Richard, a coasting vessel, and killed one of her men. 
The corpse was brought to New York and publicly buried, and ])ublic 
meetings were held, demanding that reparation lie made by the British 
go\ernment ; but though Captain Whitby was sent home ti:> England and 
tried by court-martial, he was acfjuitted without punishment or even cen- 
sure. The Leopard's attack on the Chesapeake, the following year, was fol- 
lowed by a proclamation forbidding British armed vessels to enter Amer- 



EFFECT OF JEEEERSOX'S EMBARGO :5-21 

ican waters until reparatiuii lor thai attack had been made by the British 
g-overnment, and security given against future aggressions. 

Jefferson's poHcv was opposed to war. He believed that international 
disputes could be settled by peaceful means, and in the present condition of 
trade, when American vessels were debarred from trade in France, by the 
British "Orders in Council," issued in 1806, and from English ports by 
Napoleon's "Decrees" of 1807, he thought that he could force them to rea- 
sonable and equitable treatment of the United States by refusal to trade 
with them. As an expression of this policy he secured the passage, in 
December, 1807, of the Embargo Act. This was a statute prohibiting all 
American vessels from leaving the United States for foreign ports and ior- 
eign vessels from taking cargoes out of the United States. 

Jefferson was mistaken as to the eft'ect of this ])olicy. The event proved 
that England and France could do without our trade much better than we 
could do without theirs. Our ships went out of commission and lay idle 
at the wharves, commerce was destroyed, business was paralyzed, and 
failures occurred in every part of the country. Especially disastrous was 
the working of the Embargo in New England, New York and Philadel- 
phia, in which nearly all foreign intercourse centered. In New England 
the sentiment against the measure was especially intense, and some of the 
Federalist leaders in that section threatened that the Eastern States should 
secede from the Union. Finally, with Jeft'erson's consent, the Embargo Act 
was repealed, just before the close of his term, James Aladison becoming- 
President on March 4. 1809. Soon after Madison's inauguration he received 
from the British minister, ^Ir. Erskine, a promise that the obnoxious "Orders 
in Council" should be repealed before the loth of Jime, 1809, and. acting on 
this promise, ]\Ir. ^ladison proclaimed the resumption of commercial inter- 
course with England, but as the British government promptly disavowed 
the pledge of its minister, the President again proclaimed nonintercourse. 
France, in March, 1810, revoked the Napoleonic "Decrees." and American 
commerce was resumed with that country. 

In the summer of 1809 there was a celebration, under the auspices of 
the New York Historical Society, of the two-hundredth anniversary of 
the discovery of the island of [Manhattan by Henry Hudson. Literary 
exercises were held in the front courtroom of the City Hall, the princi|)al 
feature of the occasion being a learned and appropriate address by Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Miller, one of the founders of the New York Historical Society, 
which was organized in 1804, and has been a most eft'ective and valuable 
agency for the preservation of the annals of the city and colony, and the 
promotion of historical research. In the evening there was a dinner at the 
Citv Tavern, where the members of the societv and invited guests drank 



322 



HISTORY OF XHir YORK 



toasts and listened to addresses on historical and patriotic themes. That 
the existing international troubles were not forgotten is indicated by the 
subjects of two of the toasts: "A Speedy Termination of Our Foreign Rela- 
tions," responded to by Simeon DeAVitt, and "The Mouth of the Hudson — 

Alay it Soon Have a Sharp Set 
of Teeth to Show its Defense," 
responded to by Mr. Galen, 
Swedish consul. 

Among the improvements 
of that period was one of engi- 
neering, which transformed the 
region about what is now Canal 
Street. This was, along its 
will lie modern c( mrse, low and 
marsh}-, and in the wet season 
I)artially overflowed, so much 
so, in fact, that it is stated that 
sometimes, at exceptionally 
high tides, the waters of the 
Hudson and the East River 
met in the centre of the island. 
Tiny streams, that had their 




\0^m'- -^ 



THE STONE BRIDGE. 1800 
.\t Canal .Street and Broadway 



rise about the present intersection of Broatlway and Canal Street, flowed, some 
east and some west, adding to the dampness of that region. It was difficult 
to get the landowners and the corporation together, but finally it was proposed 
to cut a canal which should go one foot below low water mark and run direct 
from the East River to the Hudson. A s]iecial commission, composed of Simeon 
DeWitt, Gouverneur ]\lorris, John Rutherford and S. Guel, was appointed 
under an act passed by the legislature, which was given extensive powers, 
including not only the laying out of this canal, but also exclusive power to 
lay out streets, roads and public squares of such width, extent and direction 
as to them shall seem most conducive to the ]niblic good, and to shut up 
streets not accepted b}- the Common Council within that i)art of Xew A'ork 
north of an irregular line, of which the present Hoitston Street ( then called 
North Street) is the most southern portion. 

The commission laid out Canal Street, with the canal in the centre and 
broad thorotighfares on each side, both banks oi the stream being set with 
shade trees. It drained the portion of the Collect Pond which had not already 
been filled in, and it relieved the city from manv of the breeding" spots of our 
now familiar foe Anopheles, who, however, was not then known as the author 
of the malaria which was then especially prevalent in the lower end of Man- 



COMMISSIOXERS LAY OUT THE CITY 



hattan. But it did not drain all the low places, which finally disappeared in 
the uniform leveling, filling in and grading of the downtown section. The 
canal was. several years after, bricked over and became a sewer, and the trees 
were cut down, making the present wide street. 

Canal Street was only one of the resttlts of the commission's labors. 
The laying out of streets in the lower part of the city had been conducted 
with very little system and, having full power, they laid out the extensive and 
then largelv rural section of the city between Xorth (Houston) Street and 
Harlem and from river to river, upon a systematic plan, laying out the present 
numbered avenues from First to Twelfth, and the fotu" short aventies on the 
east from A to D, all running north and south and each one hundred feet 
wide, with transverse streets, also numbered, from First to One Hundred and 
Fiftv-fifth. all sixty feet in width except Fourteenth. T\\enty-third. Thirty- 
fourth, Fortv-second, Fiftv-seventh, Seventy-second, Se\•ent^•-ninth, Eightv- 
sixth, Ninetv-sixth. One Hundred and Sixth, One Hundred and Sixteenth, 
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth, One Hundred 
and Fortv-fifth and One Hundred and Fifty-fifth, each of which was, like the 
a\'enues laid out, one hundred tect witle. The report of the commissioner" 
.said that while some might think they shotild have extended their plans to 
cover all of Manhattan Fsland, they had no doubt that in carrying them so far 
north as One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, and thus providing "space for 
a greater population than is collected at any spot this side of China," they had 
provided many people with a subject for merriment, but they thought it prob- 
able that in the course of years considerable numbers might collect at Har- 
lem before the high hills to the southward of it would he built upon as a city, 
while it was not at all probable that houses would cover the ground north of 
Harlem Flats for "centuries to come." The work of the commission was well 
done. Their views of the future, moderate as they seem, when set alongside 
of the historic facts of the city's growth, were considered very optimistic in 
those days, and as the commissioners expected, many a jest Avas leveled at their 
projection of the city into the surrounding wilderness. But in their wide plan- 
ning they builded better than they knew, and it is a pity that their plans were 
not extended for miles beyond so that there would have been equal coherence 
in the laving out of what is now the borough of the Bronx. But had they 
done so they would have been deemed absolutely insane. Xobody in those 
days had dreams so wild as to picture the Bronx as a possible part of the New 
York City of the future. The commissioners, in extending their plans to One 
Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street had gone the limit in that direction. Optim- 
ism of that sort was verv rare. About the same time, according to Stone's 
History, a Lutheran church in the downtown district was in need of funds and 
contributions were solicited from its friends. One of those solicited ofifered to 



;>•.' I 



HISTORY OF \I:U' YORK 




*A 









&rr-a5Pj:|^ 







■■0K--^<irrrrrxn 
/mvS'"-rrrErf=Pcr 





rrrTTT, 



iffFiSiiiii 

mi 



fr.i/e DECLARED ACAISST GREAT BRITAIX 325 

donate to the church a tract of six acres near the stone bridge at the inter- 
section of Broadway and Canal Street, ])ut the trustees, after taking the mat- 
ter under advisement, dechned the gift, on the groimd that tlie land was not 
wiirth the trouble of fencing in. 

The State election which occurred in April, 1811, was locally notable and 
contested with great acrimony. Daniel D. Tompkins, who had been elected 
governor in 1807, was ren()minated by the Repul:)lican partv in 181 1, and his 
reelection was a foregone cnnclusion, but the contest centered about the lieu- 
tenant governorship, for \\hich DeW'itt Clinton was nominated. The Tam- 
many Society, which was then, as since, a great power in politics, bolted the 
nomination, alleging a belief that he was too much of an aristocrat to be the 
nominee of the Republican party, but reallv, of course, because he was not 
enough of a Tammany man. So Tammany nominated Alarinus ^^'illet as its 
own candidate, while Colonel Micholas Fish was the candidate of the Federal- 
ists. Many Tammany voters gave their votes to Fish, who led the poll by 
receiving .2044 votes to 678 for \\'illett and 51)0 for Clintou in the city. The 
great popularitv of Clinton in the country, however, gave him more than 
enough votes to counterbalance his losses in the city. He was elected lieuten- 
ant governor and for two years held that office, at the same time retaining the 
office of mayor, which he continued to hold until 181 5. 

In 181 1 the situation between the United .States and England became so 
tense that war seemed likelv to be the outcome, though New England and the 
Federalists were stronglv opposed to the war policy. The proposition to ad- 
mit Louisiana as a State was another bone of contention. Josiah Quincy 
declared in Congress that "If Louisiana be admitted. New England will sepa- 
rate from the Union, amicablv, if she mav, forciblv, if she must!" But Quincy 
and Massachusetts changed their minds on the subject, though Louisiana be- 
came a State in 1S12. 

England had thousands of our citizens in British ships and prisons whom 
she had taken from our ships on the pretext that thev were British subjects, 
and was constantly stopping and searching .-Vmerican vessels. The war spirit 
rose, and as a consequence of the refusal of England to modify her policy 
toward neutrals, an embargo upon all American shipping for sixtv davs was 
proclaimed by Madison as a preliminarv to hostilities. C)n June i, 1812, the 
President sent a message to Congress, in which he enumerated the American 
grievances against England, chief among which were the impressment of 
American seamen, the extension of the right of search to American Avar ves- 
.sels, the "paper blockade" established by the British "orders in council." and the 
alleged efforts of the English to persuade the Northwestern Indians to attack 
the Americans. In conclusion, the President recommended a formal declara- 
tion of war, which recommendation was carriefl out l)v Congress, [une [8, 1812. 



326 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

Sucli a declaration would have been foolhardy, considering the great dis- 
parity in power and resources between the two nations, had not Great Britain 
then lieen engaged in a war with Napoleon. English mastery of the seas 
seemed complete, and its army was large and well organized, thoroughly 
drilled and most effectively equipped. The United States had to create an 
army practically from raw material, for the veterans of the Revolutionary 
Army were almost all past effective age. The disgraceful surrender of Detroit 
by General Hull, on August i6th, was disheartening, and though General \"an 
Rensselaer did better work at Niagara Falls and Oueenstown in October, he 
was driven back across the border and many of the militia refused to make 
further attempts to cross the boundary line, claiming that the Government had 
no right to send them there. The Federalist party, opposed to the war, de- 
fended that doctrine, and General \ an Rensselaer resigned in disgust. 

On the sea, the American forces had given a better account of themselves. 
The United States frigate Constitution captured the British frigate Guerriere 
on August 19th; the Wasp took the Frolic, October i8th; the United States 
captured the Macedonian, October 25th ; and the Constitution took the Java, 
December 29th. 

While this war was going on the presidential election took place. Madi- 
son for President, and Elbridge Gerry for \"ice President were the nominees of 
the Republican party, while De\\'itt Clinton, who had been the New York leader 
of that party, but was opposed to Madison, took the nomination of the Feder- 
alist party for President, with Jared Ingersoll as the candidate for \'ice Presi- 
dent. ]\Iadison received 128 and Clinton 89 electoral \'otes, while Gerr^■ de- 
feated Ingersoll by an electoral vote of 131 to 86. 

During 1813 the war continued with varving success, but the Americans 
made a better showing on land than in 181 2, because of Commodore Perrv's 
capture of the English lieet of six vessels on Lake Erie, and Harrison's 
success in the battle of the Thames, ag.ainst the British under General Proctor, 
in which the chief, Tecumseh, was killed. The successful entrv into Chesa- 
peake Bay of a British fleet which landed troops that entered \\'ashington 
and burned the government buildings occurred in August, 1814, but the sub- 
sequent attack on Baltimore was unsuccessful. Before that, from the sum- 
mer of 181 3, the fortunes of war on the sea had alternated between British 
and American success. The Federalists of New England met in convention 
at Hartford, from December 15, 1814. to January 5, 181 5, in opposition to the 
war and the administration, but while the\- were deliberating, the treaty of 
Ghent, ending the war, was concluded, December 24, 1814, and in ignorance 
of its conclusion General Pakenham was defeated with great loss by a much 
smaller force under General Tackson, in the battle of New Orleans, January 
8, 181 5. 



Mill' YORK DURIXG THE WAR OF i8i. 



One of the aids to tlie Americans, during;' the war, which was especially 
effective, was that rendered by the American jjrivateers, who, during the 
war, captured about three hundred British vessels and took about three thou- 
sand prisoners. Of these privateers there were outfitted and sent out from 
New York fiftv-five vessels. 





* w^ *" iTiiiiitiwnfiii, • * * 



^fh^ 




Rcfrodnccd frvm llic vnginal fniit \n the collection of Mr. Percy R. Fync. ed 
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH AND BROADWAY STAGES. NEW YORK, 1827 



Durino- the war the people of Xew York united in the streni^'thening" of 
the city's defenses, with the oflicial ettorts of the government and city 
authorities, and many volunteers aided in the work. After the United States 
had captured the British frigate Macedonian, the two vessels went to New 
London and thence, after repairs, to New York, but were much delayed by 
the difficult passage of Hell Gate. Captain Decatur was induced to leave 
his vessels in Long Island Sound, in order to attend a l)an(|uet given in his 
honor in the Citv Hall ( llroadwav and Thames Street), in Xew York, on 



;V^8 HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 

December 12, 1812. Captain Hull, of the frii^ate Constitution, who had 
received the freedom of the city the day before, also attended, and live him- 
dred gentlemen sat down at the banquet tables. When the Macedonian 
reached Xew York. January t. 181 3. her presence added greatly to the joy- 
ful manifestations wnth which Xew York has always greeted the New 
Year, and the crew of the United States were entertained, on January jth. in 
the same banquet room where her commander had been received a few 
weeks before. Other demonstrations ni equal cordiality were soon after 
given in honor of Captain Lawrence and Commodore Bainbridge. 

After the battle between the Shannon and Chesapeake, June i, 1S13, 
and the later death of Captain Lawrence and Lieutenant Ludlow, from 
w()unds received in that action, their bodies were brought to Xew York, 
and the public funeral procession to Trinitv churchvard. September 13th, 
was witnessed by between twenty thiiu>and and thiri\- thousand people. 

One of the locally interesting incidents of the war was that of the 
Yankee, a fishing smack, which was fitted out in Xew York to capture the 
British sloop of war Eagle, which went out of the harbor, on July 4, 1813. 
having on deck a calf, a sheep, a goose, and three fishermen. The smack 
was overhauled by the Eagle and ordered to report to the commodore. At 
the signal-word "Lawrence!" forty men, who had been concealed below, with 
their muskets, rose and fired together, and at one volley killed three of the 
enemy and drove the rest below. The sloop of war struck without firing 
a gun. and was taken to X"ew York, where the anni^•ersary of independence 
was l)eing celebrated on the Battery. 

During the war, several companies of militia were organized and 
drilled, and preparations of every kind made to repel attack by land or sea. 
]Vlayor Clinton, who held the office during the entire war, was patriotic in 
his efforts to make the city's defenses complete. He had been opposed to 
the war. and as leader of the peace wing of the Republican party, had l)een 
taken up by the Federalists as their cnndidate. against Madison, for Presi- 
dent, in 1812. But when the war was actually begun he hesitated not at all 
in his allegiance to his countr}-"s side of the war. 

The news of Jackson's victory at X'ew Orleans, on [anuarv 8th. 
reached X^ew York on February 6. 181 5. and great was the rejoicing in the 
city, which had ])een (lee])ly de]>ressed by the burning of A\'ashington in the 
previous August, Init when the still more glorious news of the signing of the 
Treaty of Ghent came to hand, on the night of February 14th, men with 
lighted torches ran through the streets shouting "Peace ! Peace !" until the 
streets were full of the sound. War between the United States and Eng- 
land was o\er, and lias never l)een resumed, and Cjod grant that it never 
shall again I 



CHAPTER T H I R T Y - N E 

RECOVERY FROM EFFECTS OF WAR 

POLITICS, EPIDEMICS, RIOTS 

AND CONFLAGRATIONS-THE PANIC OF 1837 

New York had occasion to manifest joy at the return of peace. The 
war had prostrated the city's commerce and ruined many of its weahhy citi- 
zens. Peace brought opportunity, trade, markets, and ahhough Great 
Britain had not, in the treat}', disclaimed the right of search, and other out- 
rages against American commerce which caused the war, she did, in prac- 
tice, abandon them. 

Ships that had been idle for }'ears came out of creeks, and coves, w^ere 
repaired and repainted, and soon became busy; stores, warehouses and fac- 
tories assumed an activity greater than for years before, and the countrv at 
large took part in the revival. The revenue collected by the United States 
government, which had only aggregated $4,415,362 in 1814, increased to 
$37,695,625 in 181 5. of which the port of New York alone furnished 
$16,000,000. 

Reference must be made to ])()litical events, wdiich have always had 
much to do with the activities and progress of the city. By the elections of 
1814, the Federalists had gained control of the Council of Appointment, 
and as a consequence DeWitt Clintdu was removed from the office of mayor 
and John Ferguson was appointed in his stead, but the latter was in the 
federal service as naval officer in the customs service, he was held to be 
inca])acitated for the mavoraltv, so he resigned the office of mayor, and 
Jacob Radcliffe, w'ho had served as mayor for a year, in i8og-i8io, was 
again appointed to the office. At the charter election of 1816, the Repub- 
licans, who at that time adopted the name of "Democrats," carried six of 
the ten wards, and they were equally successful in 1817. As a national 
party, the Federalists did not long survive the Hartford Convention. 
They nominaled Rufus King, of New York, for President, and John 
Plager Howard, of Maryland, for Vice President, in t8i6, but King received 
only thirtv-four and Howard only twenty-two electoral votes, while on the 
Rejaiblican ticket, James Monroe, of \'irginia, for I 'resident, and Daniel D. 
Tompkins, of New York, for \'ice President, were each given 183. and were 
elected. In New "^'ork, DeWitt Clinton was elected governor of New York 
by unanimous vote of all the parties in the field, as successor to Governor 
Tompkins. The latter had an excellent record as governor, and was espe- 
cially able as a war governor in raising and equipping troops. In January, 
1817, he sent in liis last message to the legislature, in which he recommended 



330 



HISTORY OF XFJJ' YORK 



the enactment of a law, which the legislature at once passed, declaring that all 
slaves in the State should become free on and after July 4, 1827. He went 
from the governorship into the vice presidential office for eight years, being 
reelected with Monroe, in 1S20. 

The dislike of Tammany for Clinton, which has been before men- 
tioned, had begun several vears before, and had lieen part of a well-defined 




ririirPiifi'Mi 








EARLY VIEW OF BROADWAY FROM THE PARK 



cleavage of the Re]niblican party into factions. They had been designated, 
statewide, as ]\Iadisonians and Clintonians, from 1S12 until the close of ]Madi- 
son's administratidu, but after that the faction opposed to Clinton were 
called "'Bucktails,"' after an ornament worn by a certain section of Tam- 
many, who had been especially conspicuous in their war on Clinton, and 
the designation, at first local, became applied to that wing of the Republican 
party throughout the State, and, after the disappearance of the Federalist 
party, became the dominant factor in State and municipal politics for sev- 
eral years. 

In those days, antedating the telegraph, local factions in ])olitics were 
little known in other States, and while by New Yorkers the distinction 
between the Bucktails and the Clintonians was very well recognized, out- 
siders knew little or nothing about the division. This was ludicrously 
illustrated, when, on A\^ashington's Birthday, 1819, a grand ball was given 
by the Fourteenth (now the Seventh) Regiment, in honor of General Jackson, 
the hero of New Orleans, at the City Hotel. Among those present, the 
leading lights of Tammany were verv much in evidence. In the crowded 
dining room the toast was given: "To Ceneral Jackson: so long as the [Mis- 
sissippi rolls its waters to the ocean, so long mav live his great name and 
glorious deeds." After the cheers had subsided, the general made reply. 
and then proposed the toast: "To DeW'itt Clinton, governor of the great 



GEXERAL JACKSOX DISTURBS TAMMAXY 



331 



and patriotic State of New York." There were Clintonians enough 
present to give the toast assent, but the Bucktails, who looked upon 
Clinton as their greatest foe. were utterly confounded. (Jreal confusion 
followed, and the general left the room. The affair was satirized by Fitz- 
Greene Halleck (under the nom de guerre of "'Croaker"), in a poem entitled, 

"The songs were good, for Mead and Hawkins sung 'i-ni. 
The wine went round, 'twas laughter all, and joke ; 
When crack ! the General sprung a mine among 'em 
And beat a safe retreat amid the smoke. 
As fall the sticks of rockets when you fire 'em. 
So fell the Bucktails at that toast accurst, 
Looking like Korah, Dathan and Ahiram, 
\\'hen the firm earth beneath their footsteps burst." 

It is said that General Jackson, at that time, was not acciuainted \\ ith 
Clinton personally, but had, from what he had heard about him, conceived 
a great liking for the governor. 

The Bucktails continued to hold the majority in city elections, but the 
adherents of Clinton were strong in the State. In the charter election of 
i8r8, the Bucktail faction elected their candidates in six wards, the Clin- 
tonians in one, and the Federalists in three. By the governor's«casting 
vote in the Council of Appointment, Jacob Radcliffe was removed from the 
mayoral chair, and Cadwallader D. Colden, grandson of the former lieu- 
tenant governor of the province of New York, was appointed ma}-i)r, and 
in iSig Richard Riker was 
removed from the office of 
recorder, and Peter A. Ja}- 
was appointed to the place. 
In the charter election of 
1820, the Bucktails carried 
every ward in the city, except 
the second, and the legislative 
elections, in the following au- 
tumn, resulted in a victory of 
the same party, gaining them 
also a majority on the Coun- 
cil of Appointment, which 
enabled them to remove Col- 
den and appoint Stephen Allen 
as mayor, and again make Richard Riker recorder. The same faction won 
all the wards except the first and seci:)n(l, in 1821, and in 1822 thev made a 
clean sweep in every ward in the citv. 




MOUNT WASHINGTON COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE 
W'ashington Square, Fourth Street, about 1820 



3. 1-2 



HISTORY OF XlilJ- YORK 



This faction oi the Rei)iibHcaii ])art\' had for years been anxious to 
bring- al)out the downfall of Clinton. While mayor, he had been appointed 
a member df the Erie Canal Commission, and had taken such a deep 
interest in the matter that he had become the most powerful jiromoter of 
that great i)riiject of internal ini])r(ivement. wliich he regarded in the most 
o]:)timistic manner, and wliich he had set his heart upon seeing accom- 
plished. Those opposed to the 
_^^:^ =''^^fe-. project constantly referred to 

it as "Clinton's Folly," but by 
doing so tended to make the 
impression wider that Clinton 
and the Canal were insepara- 
ble as an issue. It was upon 
that issue that he was elected 
governor, in 1817, and re- 
elected in ic'sjo. In 1S2J he 
declined a renomination, for 
tile reason that the other fac- 
tion had gained ascendency. 
That faction was headed by 
Martin \"an Buren, who, from 
1 8 JO, headed that group of 
Democratic politicians resi- 
dent in All)anv which, with 
various changes in member- 
ship, ruled their party in the State, and largely influenced its policy in the 
nation for twenty-eight or thirty years. It was popularly known as the 
"All laii V Regency. " 

\\'hile politics in those days formed a large part of the citizen's life, the 
City of Xew A'ork f(.iund matters of really greater importance to attend 
to. While Creat Britain maintained some restrictions upon trade, espe- 
ciall\- trade with the East and West Indies, after the treaty of Ghent, the 
other Eurojiean n.'itions anxiously solicited American trade, and welcomed 
American products. Trade greatly re\iyed, and new projects of lasting 
value to the city were inaugurated. In 1816 the famous "Black Ball" Line 
of clii)i)er ])ackets to Li\erpool was established, and in rapid succession the 
establishing of the "Red Star," "Swallow Tail" and other lines followed, 
until instead of irregular departures, as l)efore, the schedules were so 
arranged that there were weekly sailings, and the averagx- outward running 
time of the Black Ball clippers was twenty-two days, and the homeward 
time twentv-nine davs. 




CORNER OF BROADWAY AND MURRAY STREET. 1820 



THE Hl'DSOX IS FROZEX Ol'ER 333 

The winter of 1817 was exceptionally cold, and the ice was solid from 
New York to the Jersey side, on the Hudson River, so that people easily 
crossed on the ice. The next winter was also a very cold one, ant! besides 
the freezino- of the Hudson, llie Sound was also frozen over from Long 
Island to the Connecticut shore. Tents were erected by various enterpris- 
ing outdoor merchants, on the ice, where hot potatoes, roasted clams, 
oysters and other things, likely to prove comforting to the pedestrians, 
were dispensed, and these were carried on ttntil the 17th of February, in 
1817. 

One of the notable events of 181 8 was the removal, from Quebec, of 
the remains of the gallant Major General Richard Montgomery, of the 
Continental Arm}^, who was killed in the assault on Quebec, December 
31' 1775- The body was l)rought to this city and interred in St. Paul's 
Church, with impressive ceremonies and military honors. A beautiful 
cenotaph, voted by the Continental Congress, in 1776, to his memory, 
stands in the Broadway front wall of the chttrch. 

On May 25, 1820, the old Park Theatre, on Park Row, near Ann Street, 
which was first opened January 2g, I7<)8, was burned to the ground. It 
had been the home of the classic drama, in which Sheridan's comedies, and 
other foremost plays of that era, had received their American premier 
productions. Its destruction was greatly mourned by friends of the drama, 
but it was replaced, in 1821, by a new and finer building, erected on the 
same spot by John Jacob Astor and John K. Beekman. This new theatre 
was closed soon after its oi)ening, owing to the yellow fe\er epidemic which 
broke out in that year, and was not reopened until the autumn of 1822. This 
second Park Theatre was burned in 1849. 

\'isitation of the city by the dreaded "yellow jack" occurred in 1819, 
and again in 1822 and 1823. Before the last-named year, the disease had 
always appeared first on the eastern side of the city, but on this occasion 
it began on Rector Street, near the North River, a ]:)art of the city which 
had lieen regarded as the most salubrious, and all the cases were in that 
section. It made its first appearance on June 17th, and remained until 
November 2d. All who could, left the city; business was practically sus- 
pended, the Custom House and the banks removed into temporary offices 
in Greenwich village, and the streets below the Park, which were included 
m the infected district, were walled up by the Board of Health, and all the 
residents of houses within the walled district were induced, or, where 
necessary, compelled to leave their homes until the return of cold weather. 
This was the last visitation of yellow fever, as an epidemic, to New "^'ork. 
The number of deaths from the disease that year was two hundred, which 
was not nearly as many victims as on most of its previous visitations to 



:v^^ 



HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 



Xcw \'ork. This luw death rate was credited to the vigorous measures 
a(loi)te(l Ii\- the liealth authorities. The (juarantiue station was estabhshed 
on Staten Island, in 1821. 

In the summer of 1824 the great event Avas the visit of the great Gen- 
eral La Favette, who arrived in Xew York in the ship Cadmus, accompanied 
bv his son, George W'asliington La Favette, and his secretary, Auguste LeVas- 

seur, on Sunday, August 15th, 
landing on Staten Island, 
where he was entertained until 
the next day by Daniel D. 
Tompkins, then Vice Presi- 
dent of the United States. On 
the next day he was escorted 
u]) to the city by a great naval 
parade, inclitding every kind 
of vessel, steam or sail, with 
manned yards, flags flying, 
bands of music and everything 
which could be devised to add 



" 1^ 







CASTLE GARDEN 
A fori in 1813 



to the cordiality of the occasion. \\'ashington's famous allv was taken by sur- 
prise. He had not dreamed of so pulilic or so warm a welcome. Though a 
nobleman of high rank and a statesman of distinction, liis fortune had been 
greatlv reduced and he came with some misgivings as to whether his slender 
means would ])ermit him to see much of the country. But America, at least 
as far as La Fayette was concerned, was not the proverbially ungrateful 
republic. It remembered his services in l)ehalf of American independence, 
and gave him such a welcome as had never been accorded before to any visitor 
to these shores. Landing at Castle Garden, he was welcomed l)y the corpo- 
ration, headed l)y Mayor William Paulding'. He was then taken to a review- 
ing strnid to review the troops drawn up in line at Battery Park, under com- 
mand of .Major General James Benedict. From there he was taken in a 
1)arouche, drawn by four horses, up Broadway to the City Hall. Cheering 
thousands lined the wav ; every place of vantage, on porches, window sills and 
roofs, along the route was occupied, .\rrived at the City Hall, the mayor 
welcomed him in an appropriate speech, to which the general made a brief 
but fitting reply, ble was given a lirilliant reception and banquet at the City 
Hotel, and a large suite of rooms and am])]e ])rovision for himsdlf and suite 
were provided by the city. He remained until the i()th, was taken to see all 
of the city's institutions, visited Llarlem under a military escort, and was feted 
and entertained by tlie leading citizens as well as many of his old conn-ades in 
arms. L)ail_\-. during his stav, he held a public reception in the council cham- 



LA FAYETTE EXTERTAIXED BY XEW YORK 335 

ber in the City Hall and shook hands with thousands of people, and when he 
departed for his tour of the country he was escorted for several miles otit of 
the city by a detachment of troops. On his passage through the city (after 
visiting Boston), on September loth. he was again entertained, including a 
grand concert of sacred music at St. Paul's Church, and when, after thirteen 
months of hospitality from the government, numicipalities and people of the 
United States, he returned in September, 1825, to New York, to embark on 
his homeward voyage, he was bid adieu l)y the citizens at a fete at Castle Gar- 
den, Avhich was the most elaborate function that had, up to that time, been 
given in this coitntry. 

After 1820 the selection of the mayor of New York was taken awav from 
Albany, the Board of Aldermen, by enactment of that year, being sul)stituted 
for the State Council of Appointment as the appointing power. Stephen Allen 
was mayor for 1821 and 1822, and was succeeded by William Paulding, who 
was mayor for the years 1823 and 1824. Philip Hone was appointed mavor 
in January, 1S25, but served only one year. He was afterward, by ai)point- 
ment of Zachar}- Taylor, naval officer of the port of New York, serving from 
1849 to 1851. ^Ir. Paulding again filled the office in 1826 and 1827. Mayor 
Paulding was a native of Tarrytown, New York, and nephew of John Pauld- 
ing, who captured Major Andre. He settled in New York about 1795, in the 
practice of law, married a daughter of Philip Rhinelander, and was elected to 
the Twelfth Congress in 18 10, but was absent from the last session of that 
Congress because of military duty. He took an active interest in raising and 
equipping militia regiments for the War of 181 2, and rose to the rank of brig- 
adier general of militia. He took the lead in the honors to La Fayette on his 
visit to New York in 1S24. 

When DeWitt Clinton declined to stand for nomination to the governor- 
ship in 1822, it was because he felt that the Albany Regency was so strongly 
intrenched in political power that it might be able to accomplish his defeat. 
Martin Van Buren and his companions in the Regency as well as the Bucktails 
in New "S'nrk were much delighted that their years of endeavor in that direc- 
tion had at last resulted in the final elimination, as they thought, of Clinton 
from the political situation. He was still, however, a member of the Erie 
Canal Commission, of w^hich he had been the chief promoter and central figure 
from 1810. To complete the discomfiture of their greatest foe, by striking 
him where it would hurt most, they removed him from the commission. The 
canal project now approaching completion had, in its earlier and more doubt- 
ful years, been called by its opponents "Clinton's Big Ditch" and "Clinton's 
Folly." But now no one called it folly, and his enemies determined to elimi- 
nate him from the work of which he had for so many years been the centre 
and dynamic. 



II/STORV Of MUr YORK 



But the way they took tr) accomplish it defeated their (i])iect. A storm 
of puhhc indignation at this action took the situation entireh- out of the hands 
of the bosses, and swept Chnton back t(T the governor's chair. So that instead 
of ehmination, they had dealt exaltation. Clinton was elected governor in 1824, 
and was in that otitice until February 11, 1828, when he suddenly died at 
Albany. 

The canal tor which he had worked so hard was completed in the autunm 
of 1825. The Seneca Chief, the first canal boat, left Buffalo at ten o'clock on 
the morning of October 26th, ha\-ing on board Governor Clinton, Chancellor 
Livingston, General Stephen van Rensselaer, Thurlow Weed, Colonel W. L. 
Stone and Joshua Foreman (founder of Syracuse). By arrangement cannon 
had been placed at intervals along the entire naite. each of the cannon being 
within hearing distance of the next one, and in this way, when the cannon at 
the starting place in ButTalo boomed the signal that the flotilla of canal boats 
had started, the next cannon took it up, and so on down the line, so that in an 
hour and twenty minutes New York recei\ed the message, and answering back, 
the replv reached Buffalo within three hours from the time the first signal had 

been fired. This held the rec- 
...^^, ,, -O . ord for quick transmission of a 

j:^; iif 1 f^,; > - message over such a distance 

until the electric telegraph was 
invented, and time and space 
were practically annihilated. 

The 4th day of November, 
1825, when the distinguished 
partv with their canal boats 
reachetl New York, was a day 
which was always remembered 
bv those who at that time re- 
sided in the city. The naval 
fete, which formed a part of the 
celebration, was by far the 
finest that had ever been given 
here or elsewhere, and was 
probably never equalled b}- any 
that came after until the Hudson-Fulton tercentennial celebration of 1909. 
IMilitarv and civic i)r(icessions on land, in which every organization in the city, 
political, commercial or otherwise, took i)art; the night illuminations of all 
tlie public liuildings, hotels and institutions; the lavish and i)rofuse (lisi)lays 
of fireworks, of music, the cheering, the dis])lay of flags by day and lights 
;it night on practicall\- all private as well as public houses; the entertainments. 




M 



m'} 







CORNER OF BROADWAY AND GRAND STREET. 1824 



CAXAL CRLEBRATIOX IX XEJl' YORK 



337 




OLD MERCHANTS' EXCHANGE 



receptions and l)alls which took up the four days of the celebration, which 
finished with the grand bah in the La Fayette Theatre, on Laurens Street, 
all testified to the high appreciation of what this direct waterway connection 
with the Great Lakes meant to the future of Xew York. 

The success and enthusiasm attending this celebration of the completion 
of ""Clinton's Big Ditch" was doubtless very gratifying to the g(>\-ernor. as 
the culmination of his greatest 
lifework. The results of the 
operation of the canal more 
than verified the hopes that he 
and the other optimists iden- 
tified with this great work had 
ventured to express. It gave 
access to markets, added value 
to lands, settled not only the 
great central valley of Xew 
York but the great western 
region tributary to the Great 
Lakes, and greatly increased 
the population of the city of 

New York, which, from 123,706 population in 1820, grew to 202,589 in 1830. 
By this canal commerce flowed to and from New York, and its accomplish- 
ment made certain beyond rivalr\' the position of New York as the commer- 
cial metropolis of America. 

In 1825 an important incident was the laving of the corner stone of the 
Merchants' Exchange, in Wall Street. Prior to that time the meeting place 
of the merchants of New York had been at the Tontine Coffee House, at Wall 
and ^A"ater Streets, a large building erected in 1792. The new Merchants' 
Exchange was completed in 1827. 

In May, 1825, the first gas pipes were laid by the New York Gas Light 
Company, a small beginning for what is now the most extensive gas light- 
ing system in the world. The plant was rapidly extended, and in a few- 
years the old nil lamps were replaced by gas in the principal streets of 
the city. 

With the revival of business, following the completinn of the Erie 
Canal, there was an era of speculation which came in an untimeh' end, in 
the panic of 1826, in which many lutteries. wildcat banks and ephemeral 
schemes, many of them fraudtilent in origin, and others of honest inten- 
tion, went to the wall. Its immediate effects were disastrous to many, but 
its ultimate results were to render the public more cautious and lead to a 
healthier condition in the business world. 



338 



HISTORY OF XIUV YORK 



William Paulding was succeeded in the office of mayor, in 1828, by 
Walter Bowne, who served until 1833. He was a descendant of a well- 
known Quaker family of that name, of Flushing, Long Island. He had for 
several years been successfully engaged in btisiness in New York City as 
a hardware merchant, and had also attained some prominence in politics as 
a Democrat, having been elected, for three consecutive terms, to the State 
Senate. His successor was Gideon Lee, a prominent leather merchant, who 
served one year only in the office, a new law being passed by the legislature 
making the office elective. 

The election of 1S24 had been divided as factional rather than partisan, 
all four of the candidates, Jackson, John Quincv Adams, Clav and Craw- 
ford, being classed as Republicans. Neither candidate received a majority 
of the electoral vote, and the decision was therefore left to the House of 

Representatives, which chose 
John Ouincy Adams. In 1828, 
the other candidates being 
eliminated, the contest was 
between Andrew Jackson, sup- 
ported liv the dominant fac- 
tion of what had been called 
the Re])ublican party, which in 
this national contest took, for 
the first time, the name of 
"Democratic Partv" for its 
official designation ; and John 
(Juinc\- Adams, who was 




GOTHIC HALL. BROADWAY. 1827 



largely supported by those who had, before its organization disappeared, I)een 
aligned with the Federalist ])arty, was now running under the i)artv designa- 
tion of "National Republican." Jackson was elected. 

Governor DeWitt Clinton, having died stiddenly at Albany, on Feb- 
ruary II. 1828, the lieutenant governor. Nathaniel Pitcher, served until the 
election of that year, when Martin Van Buren. who was then L'nited States 
Senator, was elected to the office of governor, which he resigned his sena- 
torship to accept. He resigned the governorship, in 1829, being called to 
Jackson's cabinet as secretary of state, and Enos T. Throop became governor. 

New York took a prominent place in political affairs by the organi- 
zation of the Whig party, at a meeting held liere in 1830 to promote the 
presidential candidacy of Henry Clay, and fa\oring a protective tariff and 
the preservation of a national bank. 1'he latter made a direct issue with 
Jackson, who had vetoed the bill to continue for another term the charter 
of the United States Bank, which would expire in i8_:;(), and in this he was 



XEW YORK GETS ITS FIRST HORSE RAILROAD 



339 




JUNCTION OF BROADWAY AND THE BOWERY ROAD, 1828 



supported by the Democratic party. Thus the distinctidii between parties 
was more clearly defined. Henry Clay, as a "National Republican," was a 
candidate against Jackson, in 1832, but he was overwhelmingly defeated by 

the latter; and William L. 
_ ___ Marcy, Democrat, was also 

elected governor of the State. 
A very important event 
of this period was the organ- 
ization of the New ^'ork and 
Harlem Railroad, which was 
the first horse-railroad in 
the W(n-!d, and the initial en- 
terprise in the tramway sys- 
tem of urban and interurljan 
transportation. 

After the last visitation 
of yellow fever, in 1823, 
New York was practically 
unmolested by epidemic dis- 
eases, except as isolated 
cases, brought in on ships, were treated at quarantine. But in 1832, New 
York had a new and most unwelcome visitor in the Asiatic cholera, which 
raged with much violence during the summer months, and it appeared 
again in 1834. There were 5835 cases and 2996 deaths in the former year, 
but its fatahties were greatly 
decreased on the second visi- 
tation. 

In 1834, for the first 
time, the mayor of New 
York was elected by the 
popular vote, under the new 
law. Cornelius \'an Wyck 
Lawrence was the Tamrnany 
candidate, but many inde- 
pendent Democrats, as well 
as the Whigs, supported 
Gulian C. \'erplanck on an 
independent ticket. In 
those days the number of 
polling places was small, 
the polls were held open for 




GRACE CHURCH AND VICINITY, 



r, 1 1 1 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



three successive days, and there was no registration of voters. Excitement 
ran liii^'h hecaiise of the veto of the hank charter, which was rather gener- 
ally and ([uite hitterly opposed hy the conservati\e element in the com- 
munity. l)ut was supported by most of the Democrats, and particularly in 
New Y(irk Cit}-, hy those of Tammany aftiliatinns. In the sixth ward, 
where election disturbances were by no means infrequent, there was a raid 
on the polls by Jackson Democrats, who destroyed the ballots and every- 
thing in the rudui where the election was held. Finally, the militia had 

to be called out to preserve 
order, and were managed with 
such eft'ectiveness that the riot 
so(-)n quieted, although there 
had been numerous conflicts 
until the militar\- arm was 
bronght to bear. The result 
of the poll was favorable to 
'Sir. Lawrence by a small ])lu- 
rality, liut the council had a 
\\hig majority. Mavor Law- 
rence had long been a man of 
])rominence in political affairs, 
and had served in Congress 

OLD CUSTOM HOUSE , ,- , ■ , , ' 

betore liemg elected mavor. 

Besides these disturbance>. popularly known as the "Election Riots," 
man^" others occurred. Other lawless mobs soon after set in to break up 
the abolition meetings of William Lloyd (iarrison, and soon after, the mob 
made severe attacks on some negroes who were trying to hr)ld religious 
meetings, and these disturbances were only quelled by a new recourse to the 
aid of the militia. The same means had also to be used to (|uell a stone- 
cutters" riot in August, 18,^4. caused by the employment of State ])risoners 
on cut-stone work. 

Xews of the death of ( ieneral La Fayette, in France, on 'Slav 20. 1834, 
reached Xew York on June 20th, and the City Council ordered that June 
26th shriuld l)e set apart for a proper ceremonial obser\'ance in lion(ir of the 
popular French commander, and the day was marked by a very decorous 
and appropriate <ibser\'ance, including a military parade, and an address at 
Castle Garden, in the evening, l)y Frederick A. Tallmadge. The citv build- 
ings and mauA' business and private buildings were draped in mourning. 

A most inqiortant move was made in the spring election, in 1835, when 
it was decided to secure a sujiply of water from the Croton River, forty 
miles distant. The existing suppl_\- had become i)alpabl}- inadequate, and 




.V£/f" yOKK^S MOST DISASTROUS FIRIi :M1 

the Cruton project met with marked approval, ahhtiugli it was an ambitious 
and expensive undertaking- for the resources and population of the city in 
those davs. Samuel Stevens, who had been re])resentative of the second 
ward in the Common Council for several years, is entitled to the chief credit 
of this undertaking-, which was com])leted in 1842. 

The most disastrous fire in the history of the city occurred December 16. 
1835. It raged through that night and all the next day and night, and was 
not under control until the i8th. It liurned along Wall Street from East 
River to Exchange Place, to Beaver, Hanover Square. Coenties Slip, and back 
to the river, covering an irregularly triangular piece of ground thirteen acres 
in extent and destroving fuj^ houses and stores, with property valued at eigh- 
teen million dollars. The South Dutch Church, in Garden Street, and the fine 
marble Merchants" Excliange, in Wall Street, were among the Iniildings 
destroved. The loss was so great that practically all i)f the fire insurance 
companies were unable to meet their losses, and failed. The supply of water, 
insufticient at the best, was rendered the more inadequate because of the freez- 
ing weather. The blow to manv of the enterprises was a staggering- one, 
but the losers built up new buildings in a very short time, and the structures 
were of much improved quality. 

The policy of Tackson with reference to the United States Bank had met 
the approval of the country at large, but had been very unpopular with most 
of the business men of Xew \'ork and the other large centres. Even many 
who agreed with the Jacksonian reasoning against the renewal of the charter 
of the bank thought that his policy was defective in failing to furnish some 
adequate substitute for that institution. But Jackson prevailed: the charter 
had not been issited. Jackson withdrew the government deposits from the 
bank, and when a few years later it tottered to its fall, it showed such condi- 
tions in its management and methods as seemed to justify the harsh measures 
which Jackson began and \'an Buren continued against the charter. 

Besides destroving" the bank and taking the government deposits from it, 
Jackson had paid off the national debt, which sent nuich specie out of the 
count rv. There were manv lianks established, and as there was no plan for 
securing to banks a national charter, the projectors turned to the States, many 
of which had no system of examining or controlling their banking institu- 
tions, so that manv, perhaps the n-iajoritv, of the banks instituted were with- 
out any basis worthy the name. Bank bills were issued in large quantities, 
but there was no certainty that thev were worth anything. Notes freshly 
issued might be paid bv banks at their counters, and the next day the bank 
might fail. The government land offices had received much of this "wild-cat" 
money and sustained much loss, until lackson issued a special order that gold 
and silver onlv should be received on land payments. As this Imsiness was 



CT^^crts^rsK 



342 



HISTORY OF XniJ- YORK 



very active in those days of land speculation, the gold and silver, of which the 
supply was small at the best, found its way into the national treasury. 

Added to this condition of the country were high prices for food prod- 
ucts. There was a short crop of wheat, and flour as a consequence of that 
fact, and of the operations of some keen speculators in the commodity, went 
up from seven to twelve dollars a barrel. Meat also went up to abnormally 
high prices, and coal was ten dollars per ton. There was great murmuring 
among the poor, and in answer to a poster headed "Bread, Meat, Rent, Fuel!" 
which called for a meeting in City Hall Park, a large crowd gathered in the 
evening of February lo, 1837. One of the agitators who spoke told the crowd 
that Mr. Eli Hart had 53,000 barrels of flour in his store in Washing- 
ton Street, and a rush was 




Men, climbing 
upper floors, 



made thither. 
U]) into the 

dashed about five hundred 
liarrels of flour out into the 
street, where the flour from 
the bursted barrels emptied 
into the roadway. At this 
point an alarm was sounded 
that the soldiers were coming 
and the mob desisted from its 
labors there, although other 
places were visited and sev- 
eral similar acts were done, 
though with less damage. 

Banks all over the coun- 
try failed, and most of the 
notes in circulation became valueless. Such specie as was outside of the treas- 
ur\- went into hiding, and all kinds of property — stocks, houses, lands and 
merchandise — were ofTered at ridiculously low prices, but purchases were few. 
Many large business firius failed, mills and factories shut down because their 
products could not be sold. Rich men became poor, and poor people, because 
there was no work to be had, suffered for lack of food. The "panic of 1837" 
passed into history as probal)lv the most severe monetarv crisis this country 
has ever experienced, and in no place was it felt more keenly than in New 
^'ork, \\here all the banks suspended ]\Iav 10, 1837. 

When Roger Brooke Taney, Jackson's secretar}' of the treasury, had 
withdrawn the government's deposits from the L'nited States Bank, in 1833, 
he had deposited the money in various State banks, which, in the vigorous 
\'an Buren campaign, were designated "]wt banks" by the opposition. Much 



TONTINE COFFEE HOUSE AS IT APPEARED IN 1812 



BROADU-AY AS IT il'AS 



543 



to 
w 
o 

> 
a 

> 

«! 

2 
W 

o 

w 




344 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



of this money had been borrowed by the States in whicl: tliey were located, to 
use in internal improvements, such as roads, railroads, canals, and the like. 
^^llen the panic of 1S37 came, many of the banks were unable to return to the 
government the money it had loaned them, and the government was greatly 
embarrassed. A special session of Congress was called which, on the request 
of the President, authorized the Treasury Department to issue $10,000,000 in 
notes, and provided for an indeiiendent treasury, the idea of which was origi- 
nated l)v Levi \\'oodburv, then secretary of the treasury, as a depositor}- where 
the monev of the government should be kept, instead of in the banks, and this 
was the fotmdation of the present system, the branches or subtreasuries after- 
ward being added, of which that in New York has alwavs lieen of the greatest 
importance. 




NORTHERN VIEW OF NAVY YARD AT BROOKLYN. 1835 



C H .4 P T E R T H I R T Y ^ T jr 

FROM THE PANIC OF 1837 TO THE ELECTION OF 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN-MUNICIPAL PROGRESS 

VARIOUS RIOTS AND DISASTERS 

The banks which had suspended in Xew \'(irk, in ]\hay, 1S37, had been 
compelled Id do so because of the conditions which made that coitrse the 
best for tlie lianks, their shareholders and their depositors. There were 
twentv-three incorporated banks in the city, with an a,2:'g'regate capital 
of $20,361,200. These banks, throui;h their officials, held a consultation, 
on Aug;ust 15th, and under the plans jiroposed l)y Alliert ("lallatin, 
appointed a committee, of which he was head, to call a convention of the 
principal lianks of the cottntry to agree ujxju a time for the resumption of 
specie payments, and take other steps to relieve the situation. 

The banks of Philadelphia, inlluenced 1)V the liank of the L'nited 
States (then ojierating under a charter from the State), declined to attend 
the convention, nor did any delegates attend from Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Alabama, or Tennessee, in which States the banking system was practically 
under the control of the lutnk of the United States. But on November 
27th the meeting was attended by delegates from se\'enteen States, and 
from the District of Columbia, and resolved upon the resumption of specie 
payments bv ]n\y i. 1838, but authorizing such lianks as found it neces- 
sary to do so to resume before, this latter clause being put in because under 
the law of Xew York State a bank suspended for more than twelve 
months would forfeit its charter. Attempts to get the Philadelphia banks 
into the agreement having failed, an eftort was made in another meeting 
to secure general accord in specie resumption by a slight postponement. 
Meanwhile, the Xew ^'ork banks having reduced their liabilities fifty per 
cent.. Mr. Gallatin's committee reported that if supported by the com- 
munity and the State authorities, the banks could resume on May 10, 183S. 
A general meeting of citizens was held, in which great satisfaction with 
this announcement was expressed; and the action of the committee was 
approved and ptiblic support pledged. Secretary Woodbury wrote, pledg- 
ing the su])port of the United States Treasury. The Xew ^'ork banks 
resumed upon the date named, with such success that the banks throughout 
the coimtry were compelled, by popular opinion, to resume on July ist. The 
failure of the Bank of the United States, in the following year, carrying 
with it the entire lianking svstem of the Southwestern States, together 
with disclosures highly discreditable to the management, put an end to the 
political demand for the creation of a new charter for that institution. 



o-k; 



HISTORY OF XHir YORK 



The number of cit>- wards had l)een increased to sixteen, in 1835, ^"d to 
seventeen, in 1836. The Whigs were successful in the elections of 1837 and 
1838, securino- majorities in both boards of the Common Council, and elect- 
ing Aaron Clark as mayor, being 
. : -: .: the second mayor of the city 

'^ft£%io' elected by the popular vote. The 

, ^ ^^ ;, , . " ^,**^7i^\ ;^ Democrats were successful in 

1839, electing Isaac L. Varian 
as mayor, and he was reelected 
in 1840. Robert Morris, of the 
well-known Revolutionary Mor- 
ris family, was the Tammany 
candidate for mayor in 1841, 
1842 and 1843. lieing elected in 
all three years. 

The inhabitants of the city, 
at the beginning of the Nine- 
teenth Century, were nearl}- all 
native born, of Dutch or Eng- 




THE HOUSE OF REFUGE 

At the junction of Broadway and the Old Post Road 
Erected in 1S24; burnt, 1838 



lish extraction. The first considerable immigration was Jewish, but soon the 
Irish predominated. The numbers of those who arrived were very small as 
compared with the immigration of the present day. The ten years, 1822-1831. 
inclusive, brought to the United States, through all ports, a total of 156,943 
alien passengers, which included, besides immigrants, all foreigners who 
came on a visit, the records being kept in that way. The annual influx was 
under 10,000 until 1825, under 20,000 until 1828, when 27,382 arrived, then 
fell to below 24.000 for three years. In 1831 there were 22,633 arrivals, 
which suddenly increased, in 1832, to 60,482: and in the decade of 1832- 
1841, inclusive, there were 657,077 arrivals of alien passengers in the United 
States, or more than four times as many as in the previous decade. The 
Irish immigration greatly ]iredi)minated in that decade, and until 1849. 

From the tirst, the immigration came into the country very largely 
through the port of New York, and that was never more true than now, 
for in the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1909, of 751,786 incoming immigrants, 
580,617, or about 77.23 per cent., came through the port of New York. 
This condition has been important as a factor in giving the population of 
the city its cosmopolitan character. The Irish-born population of New York 
is equal to that of Dublin; the German-born population equal to that of 
Frankfurt; the Italian-born population exceeds that of \'enice ; and the 
Jewish population is larger than in any other city of the world. More than 
half the population of the city is, wholly or partly, of foreign parentage. 



NATIVE AMERICAXS ELECT A MAYOR 



:u: 



The panic of 1S37 liad a remarkable effect on immigration to the 
United States in the following year, for from 79,340 alien passengers, in 
1837, the number dropped to 38,914, or more than fifty per cent., in 1838. 
But this was only temporary, for the number rose to 68,0(39 in 1839, and 
84,000 in 1840. The potato famine of 1846 started a great Irish immigra- 
tion, the total alien passengers being 154,416 in that year, and 234,968 in 
1847, largely Irish. Political events in 1848 and the following years gave 
impetus to a German immigration, which was soon to outnumber the Irish, 
and the California gold discoveries, in 1849 ^"^ 1850, made the stream of 
immigration larger and larger from every source. There was a check just 
before and during the Civil War. After the war it increased again. The 
Scandinavian immigration became a leading factor, going largely to the 
grain fields of the Northwest. Italy began to figure very largely, and with 
Russia and x\ustria-Hungary now furnishes the greater part of the immi- 
gration. 

The immigration to New York aft'ectcd its politics. The naturalization 
laws made the immigrant eligible to citizenship within five years, and 
the growth of Tammany, as a political power, came largely from the policy 
of the organization in working for the support of the large number of 
potential voters who were brought by the packet ships to the city. Soon 
foreign-born citizens were not voting, but holding oftice. and whereas the 
Democratic and Whig parties had heretofore been the controlling contestants 
for the oflices, there arose a new 
party based on opposition to the 
policy of the Democrats in par- 
celing out oftices to alien-born 
citizens, and in the charter elec- 
tion of 1844. the Native Amer- 
ican Party had taken so many 
from the other parties (espe- 
cially from the Whigs) that 
James Harper, its candidate, re- 
ceived 24.510 votes, to 20,538 
for Jonathan I. Coddington, the 
Democratic candidate, and 5297 
for the Whig nominee. This 
was the first election after the 
passage of the law al^olishing property qualifications for the suft'rage. 

On June 27, 1842, there was a celebration, with ai)propriate ceremony, 
at the receiving reservoir, in Yorkville (Eighty-sixth Street and Sixth 
Avenue), of the letting in of the water from the Croton Aqueduct, in which 




BROADWAY HOMESTEAD OF MAYOR VARIAN. 1839 



US 



IIISTORV Of XliW YORK 



tlic mayor, ConinKni Council, the j^dvernor, and hij^her judicial officers 
])articipated ; and nn Jnh- 4th there was a similarly appropriate programme 

to celebrate the letting in of 
the water to the great dis- 
tri])uting reservoir, at Fortv- 
second Street and Fifth Ave- 
nue, on the spot noAv occupied 
by the magnificent marble 
edifice of the New York Pub- 
lic Library, adjoining Bryant 
Park. On October 14th, the 
bringing in of the Croton 
water was made the subject of 
a jiublic celebration, in which 
the whole citv [larticipated, 
and which in extent and mag- 
nificence exceeded even the 
great celebration of the com- 
])leti(>n of the Frie Canal, which, until this water celebration, was the 
standard of ultimate magnificence by which all subsec[uent celebrations 
were c(>m])ared. It included a parade, which was the finest ever wit- 
nessed in the citv to that time, and included representatives of all societies. 
At the Citv ?Ial] the water- 




RECEIVING RESERVOIR 

"Croton Celebration," 1842 



works were formalh' trans- 
ferred to the citv: and the 
Sacred Music Societv sang a 
new ode, written liy (ieorge 
P. Morris for the occasion. 
There was an address bv 
Ma\or Morri'^ ; a.nd Gover- 
nor .Seward made a s])eech, 
in whicli he advocated the 
completion, l.\- the State, of 
the enlargement of the ]*j"ie 
Canal, which had been sus- 
])en<led some time before, be- 
cause it was found that tlie 
cost was greater than antici- 
|)ated. There were many other features of festivity, but the climax was in 
the oi)ening of the beautiful newly erected fountains in l^nion Square and City 
ilall I'ark, lor man}- years among the greatest attractions of the city. 




DISTRIBUTING RESERVOIR 



77//: FIRST i'XIFORMED POLICE 



:U!) 



^ ^^M 



in 1842, an act was ])assed declaring that none of the school moneys, 
III he distributed by the Xew York Board of Education, should be given to 
anv school in which any reli- 
gious or sectarian doctrine 1 ir 
tenet should be taught ; and in 
the following year Archbishoi) 
Hughes raised the objection 
that to allow the Bible to be 
read daily in the schools was 
teaching a sectarian doctrine. 
Colonel W'illiani L. Stone, 
then superintendent of coni- 
nmn schnols of Xew York, 
taking the other ground, there 
was a long- public discussion, 
extending into the summer of 
1S44, when it was suspended by tlie illness and death (in August) of Colonel 
Stone. It was decided by the Board of Education, November 13, 1844, "that 
the Bible, without note or comment, is not a sectarian book, and that the 
reading" of a portion of the Scriptures, without note or comment, at the open- 
ing of the schools, is not inculcating or ])ractising any religious or sectarian 
doctrine or tenet of anv particular Christian or other religious sect." 

Harper, the Native Amer- 





AQUEDUCT BRIDGE 



ican niavor, had the distinc- 
tion of appointing the first 
regular uniformed police force 
of New ^^)rk. The Legisla- 
ture enacted, in 1844, the 
[Municipal Police Act, but pro- 
vided that it should not take 
eitect until the city should 
pass ordinances to make it 
effect ive. As the City Coun- 
cil was of a party different 
irnm that in control of the 
Legislature, it did not put the 
act into effect, but passed an 
ordinance of its own. which 
provided for three forces, the watch, the munici])al police, and the police 
proper, but using little care in the allotment of duties so as to avoid 
a conflict of authorit\-. I'nder il, however, AIay(")r Har|)er ai)])ointed the 




PARK FOUNTAIN 
"Croton Celebration," 184J 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 



first uniformed police corps, known as the ^Municipal Police, but more 
familiarly as "Harper Police," and "M. P's." The old nig-ht watch, consist- 
ing itf about one thousand men, whose only imiform was the firemen's hat, 
without its front helmet piece (whence the popular name of "Leather- 
heads") were still continued, there being- only two hundred of the uniformed 
force appointed by flavor Harper. 

In the election of 1844 the Whigs had hoped by their support of 
Plarper to secure the Native American vote for their national ticket (Clay 
and Frelinghtiyscn) in that vear, but as manv of the Native Americans 
were also aboliti()nists, thev su])portcd Birney and ^Morris on the Liberty 
Party ticket, and the Democrats carried the State for Polk and Dallas, 
securing their election. Harper was a candidate for reelection as mayor, in 
1845, l3ut received only 17,485 votes. The Whig candidate, Dudley 
Selden, had 7032 votes, and the election was won by the vote of 24,307, 
polled for \\'illiam Frederick Havemeyer, the Democratic candidate. He 
was born of German parentage, in New York City, February 12, 1804, was 
g'raduated from Columbia College, and after that connected with his 
father's sugar refinery, until 1842, wdien he left that business. He was 
thereafter very prominent in jjolitical afl:'airs, and was three times elected 
mayor of the city: in 1845, 1848, and 1872. 

There were several notable events in 1845, that of most permanent 
interest being the completion of the magnetic telegraph (New York, 
Philadelphia and Washington Line), being the second ever constructed: the 
first, between Washington and Baltimore, having been completed in the pre- 
vious year. In 1846 lines were extended from New York to Boston and to 
Albany, and the system was rapidly extended to cover the entire cointtrv. 

On July 10. 1845, a fire broke out which proved to be second only to 
that of 1835 in the amount of damage done. It completely destroyed 
Exchange Place, and Beaver Street from Broadway almost to AA'illiam 
Street. Both sides of Broad Street, from above Exchang-e Place to Stone 
Street. \\'ith the east side of Broadway and Whitehall, were destroyed. Above 
Exchange Place the flames crossed Broadway and consimied several houses 
on the west side of that thoroughfare. The loss has been variouslv esti- 
mated at from six millions to ten millions of dollars. 

After Mayor Llavemeyer took ofifice, in 1845, the City Council, finding 
that the police ordinance of the previous year w^as not working well, took 
the necessary action, tuider the Act of the Legislature of 1844, to establish 
a Police Dejiartment in accordance with ils ]n-o\isions. It ended the old 
system of watchmen, and ended the terms of many officers, such as mar- 
shals, street inspectors, fire wardens, health warden, lamplighters, dock 
masters, inspectors, etc., and appointed in their stead a force of day and 



THE MACREADY-FORREST FEUD 



351 




COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 1840 



ni.o"ht police, not to exceed eight hundred in number, locating;- them in dis- 
trict headquarters, under the supervision of captains and assistant captains, 
and headed by a chief of police appointed by the mayor. This was the force 
until 1856, when the Legisla- 
ture created a new system of 
Metropolitan Police to take its 
place. The Democrats elected 
Andrew H. Mickle, mayor, in 
1846, l)ut the Whig- candidate, 
William V. Brady, was elected 
in 1S47, and William F. Have- 
meyer, for another term, in 
1848. 

New York was well rep- 
resented both in the rank and 
file of the Mexican W^ar, which 
followed, in 1847- 1848, the 
admission of Texas to the Union. General Worth, who was from this city, 
was one of the heroes of the victorious army from Monterey to the capture 
of Mexico. Commodore Sloat, who raised the American Hag in that other 
Monterey, in California, was a New Yorker, as was General Stephen Watts 
Kearny, who marched sixteen hundred men through a thousand miles of 
desert and seized Santa Fe, and his nephew, Philip, who was the first Amer- 
ican soldier to enter the gates of Mexico, lost an arm at Chepultepec, and 
became the "gallant General Phil Kearny" of the Civil War, until that fatal 
day of Chantillv which ended his life, in 1862. 

In our Twentieth Century days we are not entirely strangers to pro- 
fessional animosity on the stage, but it is more frequent on the operatic 
than the Thespian boards. It was different toward the end of the first half 
of the Nineteenth Century, and it is probable that professional jealous}^ of 
actors never had more serious results than did that which existed between 
the two tragedians, Edwin Forrest, the American, and William C. 
Macready, the Englishman. As to the foundation for the ill feeling, there 
are very conflicting accounts. Forrest had played in England and 
Macready had been on two previous tours in the United States. Both 
tragedians had been verv successful on both continents, for each was a magnifi- 
cent actor; but each had in the other's country met with some unfavorable 
newspaper criticism and charged that his rival had instigated it. One accoimt 
says that Forrest had witnessed a performance by ^Macready, at Edin- 
burgh, and had hissed him; and another, that Macready had given Forrest a 
similar aftront in London. The chances are that in its origin the whole feud 



HISTORY OF XliW YORK 



may have hecn l)iiilt up on baseless rumors, but it was in full operation wben 
Macready, tlien in his fifty-sixth year, came over on a third visit to the United 
States, in 1848. He ojiened in New York, and had a verv successful engage- 
ment, ])ut nn the last night, which was his lienefit, he took occasion, in the 
course of a siicech which he made to the audience, to mention some party or 
faction which had org-anized to i)rejudice the American public against him. 
Going to Boston, a newspaper of that city published a strong attack 
upon him; and in Philadel])hia, while his engagement was a successful 
one, the management of the house where he plaved onlv prevented a riot 
with the aid of a strong police force. Again, at the end of the engage- 
ment, in the speech usually given on such occasions, Macready made ref- 
erence to having received ungenerous treatment at the hands of an Ameri- 
can actor. Edwin Forrest at once published a card in a Pliiladelphia paper 
in which he attacked Macready viciously, making several charges against 
him, and calling him a "superannuated driveler," and a "poor old man" wdio 
was "disturbed by a guilty conscience." To this card Alacready rejoined 
with another, declaring Forrest's statements to be without foundation, 
and threatening an action for libel. Nothing was further done hostile to 
Macready, except occasional attacks from new-spapers which had espoused 
the Forrest side of the quarrel; but his performances were undisturbed 
umil his return engagement at the Astor Place Opera House, in Xew 
^'ork, in May, 1849. He advertised to open on Monday, May 7th, in 

"Macbeth," which Forrest 
was at the same time play- 
ing at W'allack's Theatre, in 
Broadwav. 

The subse(|uent j^roceed- 
ings indicate that there was 
concerted action to prevent 
[Macready from ])laying, and 
many afterward blamed For- 
rest for the results which 
followed — probalilv undul_\-. 
There is much doul)t whether 
Afacreadv had anvthing to do 
with the things occurring 
in Fngland, which Forrest 
charged against him, though 
it is certain that b'orresl believed he had. But the hostilitv against Macready, 
while lai-gely excited b\- llie reports of his (piarrel with Forrest, had a stronger 
basis in the tem]>orar\- inlensit\- of the Xati\'e .American movement of the 




Formerly I\Iidd 



OLD POST OFFICE 
Ihilcli Church. X.'issaii ami Cedar Streets 



MOB ATTACKS THE OPERA HOUSE 



So.T 



nnmt^jj- 







East 



BROADWAY THEATRE. 1850 

;ide of }iroadvvay, between I'eail and Ann Streets 



time. Caleb S. Woodhull had just been elected mayor, as the Whig candi- 
date, with the general support of the Native American faction. The large 
influx of foreigners after the Irish famine of 1846, had greatly increased the 
nativistic sentiment, which in 
many places had become an un- 
reasoning hostility to everything 
foreign, this being especially 
true of New York. 

On the Monday night, a 
large crowd waited quietly on 
the outside of the opera house, 
and when the door was (Opened 
went in without disturbance to 
their seats. The witches" scene, 
with which the play opens, went 
through quietly, but Macread\-'s 
appearance was the signal for 
hisses, catcalls and shouts of 
disapproval. Macready contin- 
ued through the act, though not 
a word he said could l)e heard. 

In the next act, when Mrs. Popt- came on, she was saluted with such 
vulgarity and alnise that she fled from the stage, and when Macready 
appeared again he, too, was compelled to retire Iv a shower of stale eggs 
and heavy missiles. The play was suspended, and the disttirbers went 
home in triunij^h. 

Macready proposed to the managers to throw^ up the engagement, but, 
hearing of this, many who felt that the proceedings of the evening were a 
disgrace to the city, joined in a request to the distinguished actor to recon- 
sider his decision, proniising him ample protection from anv rei)etition of 
the outrages of the opening night. It was signed by more than forty of 
the leading citizens of New York, and Macready responded to the request 
favorably, naming Thursday, May lOth, as the date of his appearance in the 
same play. Announcements were posted, and at the same time bills were 
placed, side by side with Macready's. aimouncing a performance of the 
same play by Forrest at Wallack's Broadwav Theatre. 

Almost simultaneously there also aj^peared a handliill, reading: 
"Workingmen ! Shall Americans or Englishmen rule in this country? The 
crews of the British steamers have threatened all Americans who shall dare 
appear this night at the English aristocratic Opera House. Workingmen! 
Freemen! Stand to your lawful rights!" It was stuck up everywhere, and 

23 



354 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




IBB; 



I':-''''- ..1; '-' ' .;; '!•' ■'. i*'^fi 




THE TABERNACLE, WITH ENTRANCE ON BROADWAY, 1846 



passed from hand to liand by thousands. Friends of Macready appealed to 
the chief of pohce, who made extensive preparations to repel violence. 
Tickets were only sold to those believed to be friendly to Macready, 

windows were secured by nail- 

'.^;;j^ ^^. ing planks across them, and 

■■:^^ when the evening came the 

-i^_/'':l:2/^' i ■- police only permitted those 

:f::'--\''--'- having tickets to enter the 

-; -::'..-- theatre. A large mob assem- 

bk-(l. I)Ut when the ticket hold- 



ers were in, the police barred 
the doors. The mob brought 
paving stones, which had been 
piled up in the streets prepar- 
atory to laying, and assailed 
the doors and windows, but 
were repulsed by the police. 
Inside, the curtain rose, 
and, as before, all was quiet 
until Macready appeared, when 
it was found that, in spite of 
precautions, many disturbers had gained admittance. They were about to 
rush to the stage and seize Macready, but a signal brought the police, who 
arrested the leaders and secured them inside, but ejected the others into 
the street. This infuriated the mob, who attacked the police, who were get- 
ting the worst of the encounter, when the Seventh Regiment, under Colonel 
Duryee, preceded by a troop of horse, appeared upon the scene. The horsemen, 
attacked by the mob with a shower of missiles, were compelled to retreat 
to Third Avenue, leaving several wounded on the street. The Seventh 
forced their way in file to the front of the opera house amid a shower of 
stones, which wounded many of the soldiers and battered forty muskets. 
The men were ordered to load with ball cartridge, and Recorder Tall- 
madge. who represented the city authorities in the absence of the mayor, 
addressed the mob, begging them to retire, but they ]iaid no heed. Sheriff 
Westervelt, after ccmsulting with the division commander, (ieneral Charles 
W. Sandford, ordered that a volley be fired, but to aim at the dead wall of 
the house opposite, over the heads of the crowd. The soldiers did so, but 
the mob only jeered, and responded with a shower of missiles. The order 
came from General Hall to reload, aim low, fire! and many of the mob 
were killed and wounded, while the others beat a hasty retreat. The 
soldiers pursued, and a part of the mob who, rallying in Third Avenue, 



ASTOR LIBRARY AND FREE ACADEMY 



355 



renewed their attack with stones and missiles, injuring- several of the 
soldiers, received another fatal volley, which finally dispersed the rioters. 
Generals Sandford and Hall, and Lieutenant Colonel BrinckerhofY were 
injured hy the rioters, and tme hundred and forty-one members of the 
Seventh, including Colonel Duryee and Captains Henry C. Shumway and 
William A. Pond. Thirty-four of the mob were killed and many injured. 
Alacready finished his performance, and after being secreted in a private 
house for two days, went to Boston, where he embarked for England. 

The morning after the riot there was great excitement, and a call was 
issued for a meeting in the park that evening of "all opposed to the 
destruction of human life." A great crowd assembled and listened to 
speeches denouncing the city authorities, and passed resolutions of censure, 
but although the Seventh was on guard duty for two days, there was no 
further disturbance. A coroner's jury, called to inquire into the deaths, 
justified the authorities who gave the order to fire on the mob. 

An epidemic of cholera broke out in New York shortly after this occur- 
rence, and continued for some months. About three thousand persons died 
of the disease. 

The Astor Free Public Library was incorporated January 13, 1849, 
having been endowed with the sum of $400,000 by John Jacob Astor, the 
richest merchant of the city, who had died in the previous year. The library 
was first opened to the public in February, 1S54. It is now merged into the 
New York Public Library — Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations — which is 
now the official title of the city's public library system. 

In January, 1849, the 
New York Free Academy 
opened its doors to the youth 
of the city who had completed 
at least one year in the public 
schools of the city. It was 
located on the corner of Lex- 
ington Avenue and Twenty- 
third Street, a site which was 
objected to by many because it 
was so far ujitown. It was 
given collegiate powers in 
1858, and in 1866 assumed 
its present title of The College of the City of New York, and with an able 
management and faculty presents the finest example in the world of a col- 
legiate institution which is a part of a city's free school system. Its 
present magnificent buildings and campus, at 138th to 141st Street, on St. 




FREE ACADEMY 

Twt'nty-thirtl Street, corner of Lexington Avenue 



.s.v; 



HISTORY OF XFJr YORK 



Nicholas Terrace, were begun in 1003. In i88j the re(|uirenient of 
prexidus attendance of the pubhc schools of the city was rei)eale(l, and the 
courses of the college are now open to all young men of the city who can 
pass the entrance examinations. 

Al)out 1X48 to 1853, many imiiortant institutions of New York, which 
have accomplished much good, and most of which are still in existence, were 
inaugurated. Among them was the Xew York Association for Improv- 
ing the Condition of the Poor, which, though organized in 1843, was not 
incorporated until 1848: the New York Juvenile Asylum, incorporated in 
1851 ; the Five Points Mission, inaugurated in 1850 by the New York Ladies" 
Home Missionary Society of the Methodist I{])isco])al Church, one of the 



most marvelouslv successftd ref(,»rmat 



orv 



and religious movements of its 
kind e\'er carried on in any city : 
and The h'ive Points House of 
Industrw inaugurated In' Rev. 
L. M. Pease, as an outgrowth of 
the Mission, but which l)ecanie a 
part of the institutional work of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church 
of the Ascension, in 183 1. 
Charles Loring Brace, who had 
been associated with 'Sly. Pease 



m that work, became s])eciallv 
interested in the needs of va- 
grant boys and girls, and suc- 
ceeded in interesting se\-cral 
men of philanthropic spirit, in 
efforts in that direction, which 
culminated in the organization 
of The Children's Aid Society, of which he was the acti\e head until his 
death, August 11, i8()o. The institution is said to have aided, in various 
practical wa\s, about half a million children. It is still in existence, carry- 
ing on its work on the lines laid down by its founder. St. Luke's Hospital 
was incorporated in 1S30, the outgrowth of the efforts of Rev. W illiam .-\. 
Muhlenlierg, rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Com- 
munion, and the corner stone of its building was laid in 1854. The Deniilt 
Dis])ensarv was established in 185 1, and the building was finished in March, 
1853, at the corner of Second Avenue and Twenty-third Street. 

The \'oung Men's Christian Association, founded in London by George 
W'ini.'ims, a rlrv goods clerk, in 1844, found its way to tliis continent in 
1851, when associations were established in Montreal and Boston. The 




OLD ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL 
Corner Fifth AvtiiiK- an.l Fifty-fourth Street, 185Q 



JliWV Ll\n L\ XHJr YORK 357 



New York Association was organized in 1852, at a meeting- presided over 
In- Rev. Gregory T. Bedell, then rector of the Church of the Ascension, but 
later Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Ohio. Rev. Dr. Isaac Ferris. ])astor 
of the Dutch Reformed Church, made an address, at the end of which many 
young- men enrolled their names, including a number who became promi- 
nent citizens of New York, such as Hon. Henry Arnoux, Alfred S. Barnes, 
Dr. Howard Crosby, William E. Dodge, Theodore Dwight, D. Willis 
lames, Morris K. Jesup and others. Froiu the beginning the association 
has grown wonderfully, and has been and still is probably the most potent 
institution of the city for the benefit of its young men, outside of home 
influence. 

In 1 849 the Legislature ])assed an act granting an amended charter to 
the citv, one of the features of which was the change of the date of the 
charter election from April to the day of the general election, on the first 
Tuesdav after the first Monday in November, and to extend to two years 
the terms of mayor and aldermen, beginning January ist, following the 
election. At the first election untler the provisions of this charter, in 
November, 1850, Ambrose C. Kingsland, candidate of the Whig j^arty, was 
elected maA'or, the last to be elected to the office under that party name, 
and two years later the party received its national (|uietus in the defeat of 
Scott and (jraham. 

In September, 1850, Jenny Lind, the famous S\\-edish so])rano singer, 
known to fame as "the Swedish Nightingale," sang to delighted audiences 
at Castle Garden, under the management of Phineas T. Barnum. Castle 
Garden was the old fortress, which after Revolutionary Days, was trans- 
formed into a stmimer garden. It was the scene of the recei)tion of ( ien- 
eral LaFayette, in 1824, and of President Jackson, in 1832, as well as of 
many other important gatherings. It never housed an e^■ent which left a 
deeper impression. Few' of us, now living, heard her, l)ut there are few who 
have not heard some old citizen speak with enthusiasm of her wonderful 
voice, and compare it, almost invarialilv to their depreciation, with the 
voices of the prima donnas of later days. 

Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer, who left England in May. 1845, 
had been lost in the Arctic, and Ladv Franklin had sent out ex])editions to 
rescue him and the crews of his two vessels, the Terror and the I'j-ebus. but 
these vessels had returned without tidings. The world became interested, 
and Flenry Grinnell, a New York merchant and ship owner, oft'ered to 
equip two of his vessels, and ttn^n them over to the government for a rescue 
expedition. His offer was accepted, and the Advance and the Rescue, 
manned through the navy department, and commanded by Lieutenant 
Edwin I. DeHaven. V. S. N.. left New ^'ork. Mav 22, i8^o, and returned. 



358 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 




ST. PAUL'S AND THE ASTOR HOUSE 



September 30, 185 1. No traces of the lost Franklin expedition were found, 
but numerous discoveries were made, including- Grinnell Land, the exten- 
sive region divided from Greenland by Smith's Sound. In 1853 Dr. Elisha 
Kent Kane went on another expedition in the Advance, equipped and pro- 
vided by Henry Grinnell and George Peabody. This expedition also failed 
to find any trace of Sir John's expedition, but discovered and mapped exten- 
sive, and before that unknown, Arctic regions, and definitely determined 

the existence of the circum- 
polar sea, locating and plat- 
ting much of its coast line. 
These discoveries created an 
interest in geogra])hical knowl- 
edge, and led to the organiza- 
tion of the American Geogra- 
phical Society, with headquar- 
ters in New York. George 
Bancroft, the distinguished 
historian, was the first presi- 
dent of the society, which has 
ever since had a prosperous 
existence. 

In 1851 was completed the first through railway connection between 
New York and the Great Lakes. This was the Erie Railroad, and the event 
was appropriately celebrated, on May 14th of that year. The Hudson 
River Railroad Company, chartered in 1846, was completed to Albany, 
October 3d, in the same year. Some further details in regard to the begin- 
ning and development of railroad facilities as they relate to the history and 
progress of New York City will be given in a subsequent chapter. 

The mayoralty election of 1852 was held at the same time as the 
presidential election, and the Democrats were successful in both, electing 
Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, President, and William R. King, of 
Alal)ama, Vice President of the Lnitcd States: while for mayor of New 
York, Jacob A. Westervelt. wlm had previously ser\ed as sherifif of New 
York County, was elected. The legislature elected at the same time made 
another amendment to the charter of New York, by abolishing the oftice 
of assistant alderman, and creating, in its place, a Board of Councilmen, of 
sixty members, who were to be chosen one each from sixty districts, into 
wliicli the Common Conncil shcnild apportion the city. Mayor Westervelt 
was succeeded, January i. 1S55. by another Democrat, Fernando Wood. 
It was during the term of Mayor Westervelt that the Crystal Palace 
was o]K'ned in what is now Bryant Park, as a 'A\'orld's Fair for the Exhi- 



THE DAYS OF THE CLIPPER SHIP 



359 



bition of the Industry of All Nations." It was modeled upon the plan of 
the Crystal Palace Exhibition, which had been held in London in 1S51, 
and it was opened by President Franklin Pierce, on July 4, 1853. with 
appropriate ceremonies. The building was constructed entirely of iron and 
g'lass, contained nearly forty thousand square feet of glass, and twehe hun- 
dred and fifty tons of iron. Its shape was that of a Greek cross, sur- 
mounted in the centre by a great translucent dome. Its exhibits, and 
especially its art gallery, delighted many thousands of visitors for several 
months, including many foreigners as well as Americans from all sections. 
It was opened as a permanent exhibition, ]\Iay 14. 1854, but after a time 
the patronage dwindled. It was closed for a time : but afterward used for 
various exhibitions and gatherings. It was destroved by fire October 5, 1858. 
The population of Xew York City in 1850 was, by Federal census, 
515,477, and in 1S60, 805,658, so that this was the decade of the greatest 
relative growth of the city (Manhattan) during the Nineteenth Century. 
Growth in trade and manu- 
factures was especially great, 
and commerce with foreign 
nations had a remarkable in- 
crease. One of the greatest 
factors in this growth of com- 
merce was the wonderful de- 
velopment of the shipbuilding 
industry in the United States. 
The old packet ships were 
built on square and ungainly 
models, good enough to float, 
but not much for speed. The 
clippers at first were of 750 to 
940 tons, but after the discov- 
ery of gold in California there 
was a demand for vessels 
larger and speedier than ever. 
There is a tradition among 
sailors that the idea of the architecture of the bow and keel of the cli])pers of 
that era came from a study of the bonito, a famous and Ijeautiful fish of the 
South x\tlantic. which can swim faster than anv other; but be this as it may, 
it was these vessels which for years maintained for the American flag the 
highest prestige on the high seas. New York was the centre of the building 
and sale of these clippers. Their achievements were the pride of Americans 
— how the Comet, 1209 tons, sailed to San Francisco, around the "Horn," 




FORMER JEWISH HOSPITAL. 1852 
13S West Twenty-eighth Street 



:ii;o HISTORY OF .V£rC YORK 

]'),3oS miles and Ijack in sc\cn months and nine days, llie homeward voyage 
being' in the record time of seventv-six days; the Sword Fish made a voyage 
from Shanghai to San l-'rancisco in tliirtv-one davs, another record; and the 
Drea(hiaugb.t, wliich ran awa\' from all competitors and was the wonder of 
the -^eas for s])eed. She was owned bv ['".dwin D. Aforgan, of New York. 

The winning of the Queen's Cup, bv the America, built for and 
owned b\' I'onnnodore lohn C. Stevens (founder of the New York Yacht 
Club) and his associates, in the regatta of the Royal Yacht Squadron, at 
Cowes, England, in 1851, was an event of great importance, as influencing 
the design of racing yachts all over the world. Many yachts have been 
Ijuilt in England and America for the express purpose of international con- 
tests for the America's cup, wdiich still remains in the liands of the New 
York Yacht Club. 

The setting aside of Central Park was the most useful civic work of the 
decade. In 1851 the lack of any worthy park system first received serious 
attention. Many years before, it had been proposed to make a park around 
the "Collect," or 'Thresh Water" pond, which occupied the site of the 
present Tombs ])rison, but it was never carried out. In early davs the 
pond was used for boating in the summer and for skating in the winter, but 
later it became a receptacle for rubbish, a miasmatic breeding spot for mos- 
quitoes of the malaria-conveying \ariety, and finally was drained, filled up 
and covered with a dense population. Someone else had a fair project for 
a large park from Third to Eighth Avenues, and from Twenty-third to 
Thirty-fourth Streets, but nothing came of that, except Madison Square. 

In 1S51 the proposition was to buv Jones' ^\'ood, which was a well- 
forested tract, from Third Avenue to the East River, on Sixty-sixth and 
Sixtv-seventh Streets. It found many advocates, and was accepted by 
ordinance and act of the Legislature, but was finally discarded as being too 
much to one side of the island. At last the Board of Aldermen appointed 
a commission to select a more central site, and the choice fell upon the 
tract between I'ifth and Eighth Avenues, from Eifty-ninth to ( )ne Hundred 
and Sixth Streets, which was reported to the Council in 1856, and the site 
was extended northward to ( )ne Hundred and Tenth Street, in 1850. 
Competiti\'e i)lans for construction and decoration were invited, and fortu- 
nately the choice fell upon Messrs. Olmsted and \'aux, who made Central 
Park one of the most beautiful in the world. The ajipointing of a con- 
sulting board brought into the citv's service the aid of many of its fore- 
most citizens — \\'ashingt(jn Tr\ing, Ceorge Bancroft, Charles H. Russell 
and .\ndrew IT. ( ireen. To the latter, especially. New' "S'ork owes a lasting 
debt of gratitude, llis zeal and watchfulness were of incalculal)le benefit 
to this beautitul i)ark. The ])eople of no cit\' in the \\orl(l have a more 



POWER OF THE XEW YORK PRESS 



■MM 



beautiful public garden, and though it has taken constant vigilance to pre- 
serve its integrity, it has never lacked champions and defenders. 

The rapid growth in population of Xew York City during the decade, 
1850-1860, has been adverted to. But a very large part of the increase came 
from immigration. Many men came during this period who are to-day 
among our best citizens; but there was also a large jjrdiiortion of the 
arrivals who were ignorant, not a few who were vicinus, and a consider- 
able number who were criminals. In the earlier immigration the country 
at large, and New York in particular, had found it comparatively easy to 
assimilate the newcomers into its population, but they were now pouring 
in at such a rate that their coming involved a serious civic difficulty. 

Nationally the question of slavery had been thrown into the seething 
caldron of politics. New York had rid itself of chattel slavery liy the 
process of gradual emancipation, and since 1827 its soil had been free. There 
had been a "Missouri Compromise" and a "Wilmot Proviso," but the ques- 
ticin whether the country could continue half slave and half free was becom- 
ing more and more acute. There were hotheads on both sides who made the 
dispute daily more acrimonious. The vortex of the whirlpool of discussion 
was the City of New York, the city of editorial giants. Here was Horace 
Greeley, with his Tribune, leader and spokesman of the sentiment which 
was forming the new Republican jiarty; Raymond, of the Times; liennett, 

of the Herald; Webb, of the 

Courier and Enquirer ; Bry- __ ____ 

ant, of the Evening Post ; and ~ 

other great journahsts who 

moulded opinion to an extent 

efjualed by none at this later 

day. The press of New York, 

editorially, was more truly 

metropolitan then than now, 

not because it was intrinsically 

abler, because, as a matter of 

fact, the newspapers of to- 
day are, from a news stand- 
point, far better than those of 

fifty odd years ago, but Ijecause 

then there was no other citv 

whose newspapers classed with 

those of New ^'ork. To-da\-, at Chicago, St. Eouis, San Erancisco, and many 

other cities, are papers as trulv metropolitan in character and make-u]), and as 

influential in political matters, as those of New York. So far as the editorial 




^i" *»«* 



ORPHAN ASYLUM 
Seventy -fourth Street and liloomingdale Road, 1855 



363 



HISTORY OF XEJi- YORK 



chair is a tribunal of authority, it now has many seats. In the "fifties" it 
centred chiefly in New York, and from liere went the arguments, pro and 
con, on the momentous issues which then swayed the hostile political camps. 
Exciting- as were the national issues of that era. there was much of 
local interest also in the year 1857. The miscellaneous immigration, of 
which mention has before been made, had created crime centres in New 
York, with which the authorities had in vain tried to cope. The "Five 
Points," of New York, in that period had attained to a preeminence of 
dei)ravity and criminality not surpassed by London's "Seven Dials" at its 
worst. Squalid, unkept, noisome, vicious, the region had grown beyond the 
control of the police, many of whom were the hangers-on of ward poli- 
ticians of the baser sort. 
Often there was collusion 
between the police and the 
lawbreakers, and vice and 
infamy invaded manv places 
in the city. The Legislature 
took the matter u]i and 
passed several amendments 
to the charter. The Council 
was remodeled. Seventeen 
aldernianic districts were to 
be represented each by one 
alderman, to serve two 
years; and twentv-four coun- 
cilmen were to be annually 
elected. The mayor, con- 
troller and corporation cotmsel were to be elected by popular vote, and the 
State and municipal elections were to be held on separate days. The man- 
agement of Central Park was to be in the hands of a State commission. 
The most radical reform was that of the abolition of the police system, as then 
in force, and the creation of a Metropolitan Police Board, charge-d with the 
preservation of the peace and the sanitary welfare of a district, comiM-ising 
the counties of New York, Westchester, Kings and Richmond. Besides 
the mayors of New York and Brooklyn, who, luider the law had member- 
shi]) in the board c.v officio, its members were appointed bv the g^overnor, and 
to the first board Governor John Alsop King appointed Simeon Draper, 
James W. Nye and Jacob Caldwell, of New York; James S. T. Stranahan, 
of Kings ; and James Bowers, of Westchester County. 

INLnor Fernando Wood declared he would not recognize the law, and 
defied the commissioners, claiming that the statute was unconstitutional, 




DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM 



THE POLICE RIOT 



363 



and he summoned the meml^ers of the old municipal poHce to stand by 
him in holding the property of the police department against the new com- 
mission and its appointees. Daniel D. Conover, appointed street commis- 
sioner by Governor King to fill a vacancy, came to the City Hall to claim 
his office, and was summarily ejected by the mayor. Conover swore out 
warrants against the mayor, one for violence to his person and another 
for inciting to riot. With these warrants he went, on June i6th, to the 
City Hall with a force of fifty of the new Metropolitan Police. The 
mayor's police attacked the Metropolitans, and a mob of the worst classes 
backed the old police, and with them would have overcome the new men 
if it had not been that the Seventh Regiment, on its way to embark on a 
visit, which the city regiments had arranged to make, to Boston, marched 
down Broadway, and being called upon, halted at the City Hall. General 
Sandford notified the mayor that if he did not submit to the peaceable 
service of the writs, he would use force, and the mayor submitted. 

The Seventh Regiment went on to Boston, but on account of the excite- 
ment the general ordered that nine cit\- regiments should remain in the city 
under arms. The Court of Appeals promptly decided the case against Mayor 
Wood and the Police Commission proceeded to install the Metropolitan Police 
in the place of the old municipal force. But rioting kept up in the streets at 
many places. Two gangs of rowdies, one known as the "Dead Rabbits," from 

Five Points, and another as the "Bowery Boys," came into conflict with 

each other in Bayard Street, 

near the Bowery. Sticks, 

stones and knives were used 

and many on both sides were 

hurt, as well as bystanders — 

men, women and children. 

A small body of police who 

attempted to quell the dis- 
turbance was driven off. 

Paving stones were torn up, 

and drays, trucks and any- 
thing that could be used for 

the purpose was seized, and 

barricades were built at 

various places. The Seventh 

Regiment, still in Boston, 

was summoned by telegraph, and meanwhile the regiments in the city tried 

hard to suppress the disturbances, which abated before evening after six men 

had been killed and o\-er a hundred wounded. Rioting broke out again the 




SOUTH DUTCH CHURCH IN MURRAY STREET, 1837 



304 



HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 



next day at Anthony and Centre Streets, l)nt tlie Seventh Regiment had re- 
turned and the tr()u])le was quelled. The militia kept under arms for several 
days, and (|uiet was restored, it was charged that many of the riotous dis- 
turbances that occurred hail been aided, if thev had not been incited, bv mem- 
bers of the old munici|)al police, but the orgrniization of the Metropolitan 
Police went on. .\nother disturbance occurring- on the 13th and 14th between 
two gangs of rioters, one Irish and the other German, was suppressed by the 
Aletro])olitan Police, who after that greatlv im])roved the order of the citv- 
The United .States experienced another disastrous panic in the autumn of 
1857. It was ])recipitated by the failure, on August 24th, of the Ohio Life and 
Trust Comjjany, which though it had been regarded as one of the .soundest 
and most prosperous institutions of the country, failed for seven million dollars. 

General distrust seized de- 
positors and the business pub- 
lic. The Philadelphia banks 
sus])ended payment, Septem- 
ber _'5th, and this was fol- 
lowed by banks all over Penn- 
sylvania, Marvland, the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and Rhode 
FsLand. There was a run on 
all banks, and the P>owery 
Rank went to the wall. Many 
business houses failed and the 
conditions became so acute 
that the Legislature, on Octo- 
ber i^lh, ])assed a law author- 
izing the banks to suspend 
^\• concerted arr.anpcment, and the 




BAPTIST CHURCH 

Corner Broome and Eliz.iheth Streets 



specie pavments for a year. They did so 
Massachusetts banks suspendetl ])ayment on the same day. 

As winter came on with great severity the sufferings of the poor, already 
great because of the general shuttmg down of factories, were great]\- intensi- 
fied. Soup kitchens were estal)lished ; many men were employed by the city 
and the Park Commission, Init many died of cold .and hunger. Riots were fre- 
quent but were suppressed \)\ the police. 1die Xew York banks suddenly re- 
sumed ]i;ivment on December 14th, and the situation slowh- recovered. Riots, 
however, were of frequent occurrence, .and nnu-ders .and robberies were nu- 
merous. This condition was laid at the door of the city administration by 
mauA" of the cit\-, with ;i consequence that at the December election there was 
a Citizens' P.arty ticket, and Daniel F. Tiemann was elected mayor of New 
^'ork, t.aking his seat in binu;ir\-, i8:;8. 



MR. FIELD'S CABLE BREAKS 



30.5 




OLD SCOTCH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

Corner Grand and Crosby Streets 



The enlargement of the Astor J.ihrar\- 1)y the liherahly uf Wilhani B. 
Astor, son of John Jacob Astor, the original donor, and the establishing of 
Cooper Institute, by Peter Cooper, were two of the notable events of the year. 
Another was the rejoicing 
o\'er the completion of Cyrus 
\V. Field's Atlantic cable. 
There was an illumination at 
the City Hall, and a fireworks 
display at night, and Mr. 
Field was banqueted at the 
Crystal Palace. There were 
manv other festivities ; mes- 
sages were exchanged be- 
tween the Queen of England 
a n d President Buchanan. 
Other messages were ex- 
changed but all at once 
they ceased. The calile had 
broken. It all had to be done 

over again, but it was ten years before Mr. Field's patience and zeal were 
rewarded b}' success. Some doubters did not believe that the messages had 
passed between the two continents, and the newspaper humorists made merry 
at the expense of the cable enterprise. If Mr. Field had not been made of 
stern stuff the cable connections might never have been made. 

In October, 1858, the fair of the American Institute was being held in 
the Crystal Palace in Bryant Park, and on October 5th the building caught 
fire, and was destroyed with all its contents. A little while before that, in 
July, a riot had occurred on Staten Island. The Quarantine Station had for 
some years been maintained on the northern end of the island. There had 
been constant complaint against it on the part of the people resident there, 
who thought it caused disease and death, and knew it kejit their property 
values down. Thev had i)etitii>ned for its removal, but had been able to 
accomplish nothing, though their efforts were repeated: so on the night men- 
tioned, citizens numbering over one thousand assembled and set fire to all the 
buildings. The militia were sent to quell the riot, and succeeded in dispersing 
the mob, but the State soon removed the Quarantine Station, temporarily, to 
the Lower Bay. 

While the exciting discussion of the political questions which were fast to 
bring the countrv into the horrors of civil war filled the thoughts of the people, 
there were no remarkable events in 185*). The city election was held in 
December, and Fernando Wood was again elected mavor. 



3GG 



jiiSTORV OF \i-:jr ]-ork 



In i860, New York had several distinguished visitors, the Due de Join- 
ville tirst. then Lady Frankhn, wife of Sir John FrankHn, who came to thank 
Xew York for the efforts, valuable though fruitless, which had been made by 
some of its citizens to recover her husband and the members of his Arctic 
expedition; but the one of greatest interest was the visit of the young Prince 
of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, and whose death has so re- 
cently been mournetl. He traveled under the title of Baron Renfrew, and his 
manly and unassuming demeanor, added to the esteem which all felt for his 
mother. Queen Victoria, insured him a most cordial welcome. Parades, re- 
ceptions and other festivities testified to the good feeling of our people for the 
young prince. 

The presidential election, the most momentous in our history, soon filled 
the attention of our people to the exclusion of most other matters, and ended 
in the election of ]\Ir. Lincoln as President of the United States. 




mm:- 



SAILORS' SNUG HARBOR IN 1860 



CHAPTER THIRTY -THREE 



NEW YORK CITY DURING THE WAR FOR THE 

UNION-STORY OF THE DRAFT RIOTS 

THE RETURN OF PEACE 

In tlie dissensions between North and South, which preceded the 
Civil War, New York was divided. The city, as now, included among her 
citizens and business men, many who came from other States, just as all 
other cities of metropolitan rank attract to their borders representatives 
of all sections of their respective nations. So, in New York there were 
many Southern men, and there was much Southern sentiment. The busi- 
ness comniunitv of a great financial centre is always conservative, and while 
the Southern press was belligerent and threatening in tone, and Southern 
orators in Congress freely predicted disunion, unless some satisfactory 
solution of their claim, of right to carry their slave property into the terri- 
tories, was agreed upon, the consensus of opinion in the business centre 
of New York was that there would be no war. As to the cjuestion of the 
constitutional right of a State to leave the Union, that was a debatable 
question. Josiah Quincy, as spokesman of the Federalists, had threat- 
ened the secession of Massachusetts, sixty years before: "Peaceably if we 
may — forcibly if we must!" The South remembered this; and constantly 
used the tii quoqiie argument in response to Northern contention that no State 
had a right to leave the Union. But while Southern writers and orators 
were constantly adopting, as their own, the famous taunt of the Massachu- 
setts Federalists, the saying most quoted by those of the North, was the 
famous dictum of the Southern Democratic President, Jackson: "The 
Union must and shall be preserved !" Yet there were many in the North 
who would have been willing to "let the erring sisters go." Lincoln had 
himself declared that the republic could not endure half slave and half 
free; why not, then, let the slave section go ofif by itself with its turmoil 
and its problems, which had been the disturbing element in politics for 
twenty years? There was room on this great continent for two great 
empires. So many argued, and felt. Peace was good for business; war 
would unsettle everything; agitation, even, was a crime; for had it not 
already brought on a crisis? Gold had gone into hiding; commercial credit 
had disappeared, and while the banks \\ere ready with their help for mer- 
chants and each other, they could not keep it up unless something was done to 
relieve the situation. Such was the view of many in the business world, 
which looked for compromise. Meanwhile, the South was drilling and arming. 
South Carolina, on December 20, i860, declared herself out of the Union, and 



:i(i,s 



HISTORY OF XEJf YORK 



her senators wilhdrew from Congress. Buchanan, perplexed, knew not which 
way to turn ; his cabinet was divided in ahegiance, and its members were 
resigning. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, secretary of the treasury, resigned, 
and Philip F". Thomas succeeded him : Lewis Cass secretary of state, went 
next, and leremiah S. Black, of Pennsyhania, attorney-general, took his 
place, lulwin M. Stanton becoming attorney-general; John B. Floyd, nf 
Virginia, secretary of war, after transferring as much military material as 
possible to Southern soil, resigned, and Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, who had 
been postmaster-general, took his place, while Horatio King, of Maine, 
took the post-office portfolio. Thomas, of the treasury, resigned, and John 
A. Dix, of New York, was appointed in his place; and Jac(ib Thompson, 
of Mississippi. sccretar\- of the interior, also resigned. 




■sSt 









r^^n:|.r€F^ 








EARLY VIEW OF AMERICAN MUSEUM 

In these six changes there were two valuable accessions to the I'nion 
cause: Edwin M. Stanton and John Adams Dix. He was of Xew York City, 
though born at Boscawen, N. H., in I7<>^- Entering the army as a cadet, 
in 1X12, he served on the Canada frontier throughout the War of 1812, and 
in 1810 became the aide of General Brown, then in command of the 
Northern l)e])artment. He was sent on a special mission to Denmark, in 
1826, and in 1828 resigned his commission as captain in the arm\-, to 
engage in the study and practice of law, in Coojierstown, N. ^'. He 
became ])rominent in State politics as a Democrat, was adjutant general of 
New Ynvk from 1830 to 1833, and secretary of state of New \'(irk. and 
suiH-rintendant of connnon schools from 1833 to 1840, and a prominent 
member of the so-called "Albany Regencv" : member of the Assembly in 
1842, and of the United States Senate from [S45 to 1841^. When there was 
a division of the Democratic party, in 1848, he was candidate of the Free- 



77//: ir.lR CLOUD LOOMS DARKLY 369 

Soil wing for governor, l)nt was not elected. He had estal)lished himself 
in practice in New York City, and was a man of great prominence and 
influence. 

After South Carolina had declared itself out of the Union, conserva- 
tive opinion in New York was divided. At one extreme were those who 
contemplated as a possibility that New York should become a free city, 
entirely independent of the State or National government, and in a posi- 
tion to maintain a policy of absolute neutrality in the event of the break- 
ing up of the Union. These were represented by the mayor, Fernando 
Wood, who actually advocated that coiu^se in his message to the Common 
C'luncil, January 7, 1861. 

There was another conservative wing, whose members still hoped to 
bring about a peaceful solution of the pending problems, and whose last 
effort was voiced in what became known as the Pine Street Meeting, held 
December 15, i860. Among its promoters were leading citizens of New 
York: Charles O'Connor (who ])resided), John A. Dix, Samuel J. Tilden, 
William B. Astor, James W. Beekman, Edward Cooper, and many others. 
The meeting was very largely attended, and resolutions were addressed to the 
people of the South, fraternal and conciliatory in tone, but firm in Union 
sentiment, as coming from men who had heretofore been known as 
friends of the South, and had voted with the Southern people upon matters 
involving Southern interests. A committee, headed by ex-President Mil- 
lard Fillmore, was appointed to present the resolutions to Jefferson Davis, 
and to the governors of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. 

It was early in January, i86r, when President Buchanan called John 
A. Dix into his cabinet, to take the place of Philip F. Thomas, on his resig- 
nation of the treasury portfolio. One of the first things the new secretary 
set himself to do was to have all the revenue cutters in Southern harbors 
sent north before the hostilities, which now seemed inevitable, should begin. 
So he sent Mr. Jones, a special agent, to New Orleans, Mobile and Gal- 
veston, with instructions to save the revenue cutters then on dutv at those 
ports. Captain Breshwood, commanding the revenue cutter McClelland, re- 
fused to obey these orders, and when Mr. Jones telegraphed to Secretarv Dix 
to that effect, the secretary sent by telegraph the following dispatch : 

"Treasury Department, Jan. 29, 1861. 

Tell Lieut. Caldwell to arrest Capt. Breshwood, assume command of 
the cutter and obey the order I gave through vou. If Capt. Bre.shwood 
after arrest undertakes to interfere with the command of the cutter, tell Lieut. 
Caldwell to consider him as a mutineer and treat him accordingly. If any 
one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot. 

John A. Dix, Secretary of the Treasury.'" 



o7n 



HISTORY OF XRIJ' YORK 



The final sentence of this dispatch thrilled the North. In the nerve- 
less condition of the Buchanan administration, such evidence of virility was 
encouraging-. During- January, iS6i, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana and Texas followed South Carolina in the passing of 
secession ordinances, and on February 4, 1861, delegates from all these 
States, except Texas, met at ?^Iontgomery, Alabama, and ]iroceeded to 
organize the Confederate States of America, electing JetTerson Davis, of 
Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, \^ice 
President. 

After the inauguration of President Lincoln, a few weeks were required 
to get things in working order. Then came the firing on Fort Sumter and 
the gallant defense by Anderson, up to his final surrender. At once opinion 
at the North crvstallized. Indignation at the firing on the flag made manv 

who had hoped for peace 
anxious to join in the war for 
the preservation of the Union. 
Lincoln called for seventy-five 
thousand men, and troops 
flocked to Washington. Mr- 
ginia. North Carolina, Ten- 
nessee and Arkansas ioined 
the Confederacy. 

New York was thrilled 
with the news from Sumter. 
The Legislature appropriated 
$3,000,000; the New York 
City militia regiments volunteered; recruiting of new volunteer regi- 
ments rapidlv went on, and the Common Council at once appropriated 
$1,000,000 for militarv e(|ui])ment and outfit, for which $1,000,000 
of L'nion Defense Fund lionds were issued. The march of the New 
England troops through the city. Ajiril iSth, en route to Washington, 
was an ovation of the most emphatic kind, the entire marching route being lined 
with dense masses of the peo])le, shouting their joy with deafening cheers. 
The news later, that on Ai)ril Kjth, the anniversary of Lexington, the men of 
the Sixth Alassachusetts had been attacked and several killed as they 
marched through the streets of Baltimore, roused the excited peoj^le to 
the pitch of frenzy, and on the next day a n-iass convention which had been 
called to meet in Union Square brought together more than a hundred thou- 
sand people. The meeting was presided over by Hon. John A. Dix, and there 
were eightv-seven vice presidents chosen from the most solid men of the con-i- 
munity. Four sjjeaking stands had been erected, but proved insufhcient. and 




CITY HALL. TRINITY CHURCH AND GRACE CHURCH 



XEIJ- YORK TROOPS TO THE FRO.\ I 



'■: 1 



balconies and roofs were used as additional rostra, from which Colonel Baker, 
Daniel S. Dickinson, Robert J. Walker, Professor ]\Iitchill, David S. Cod- 
ding'ton, and other gifted orators, spoke for the cause of the Union. 

The first of the city regiments to move to the front was the Seventh, 
1050 men, which went on April igth, under command of Colonel Marshall Lef- 
ferts; and they were quickly followed, on Sunday, April 21st, by the Sixth, 
550 men. Colonel Joseph C. Pinckney; the Twelfth, 900 men. Colonel Daniel 
Buttertield: and the Seventy-first, (J50 men. Colonel A. S. \^osburgh. On the 
23d went the Kighth Regiment, c)oo men. Colonel George Lyons; on the 27th 
the Fifth Regiment, 600 men, Colonel C. Schwarzwaelder ; on the 28th, the Sec- 
ond Regiment, 500 men. Colonel George W. Tompkins ; on the 29th, the Sixty- 
ninth Regiment, 1050 men. Colonel Michael Corcoran; and on the 30th, the 
Ninth Regiment, 800 men. Colonel John W. Stiles. These were mustered in 
on the three-months call of the President. Other regiments followed until bv 
May 25th the authorized thirty thousand men had been raised by the State. 
and by July 12th they had been organized into thirty-eight regiments. 

The President, on May 4th, called for volunteers and Colonel Ellsworth's 
regiment. Eleventh. New York Zouaves, was the first volunteer regiment 
from Xew York to reach 

the field; and there quickly __^ ■. j^. 

followed the Twentv-eighth. , " ''^^^P^*^*''-***^i 

Colonel Bennett; Fourteenth, - **pffl*: 5tjs^ ^ 

Colonel Wood, in I\Iay; fol- 
lowed in June bv the Eighth, 
Colonel Blenker; the Tenth, 
Colonel McChesney; the 
Gari]:)aldi Guard, Colonel 
D'Utassy; the Twelfth, Col- 
onel Ouincy; the Thirteenth, 
Colonel Walrath; the Ninth, 
Colonel Hawkins; the Sixth, 
Colonel Wilson, followed by 
the Thirty-eighth. Colonel 
Hobart; the Eighteenth. Col- 
onel Jackson ; the Seventeenth, 
Colonel Lansing; the Thirty- 
seventh, Colonel McCunn; 
and the Thirty-first. Colonel 

Pratt, of the volunteer regiments. Also, of New ^'ork State troops: the 
Seventy-ninth, Colonel Cameron; the Nineteenth, Colonel Clark ; Company 
K of the Nineteenth New ^'ork. Ca])tain Bunting; the Twenty-first, Col- 




BARNUM'S MUSEUM AND ST. PAUL'S CHURCH 



HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 



onel Rogers: the Twenty-sixtli, Colonel Christin; the Twenty-ninth, Col- 
onel Von Steinwehr; the Twenty-eighth, Colonel Donnelly; the First, 
Colonel Montgomery : the Sixteenth, Colonel Davies ; and the Thirtieth. 
Colonel Matheson. ( )n Aiay 8th, General John A. Dix was appointed major 
general of New York, and the other major generalship was given to James S. 
\A'adsworth, who later fell in the Battle of the Wilderness. 

Colonel Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth, who headed the Eleventh (Zouave) 
Regiment, the first volunteer regiment to be raised in New York, was a native 
of Mechanicsville, New York, born in 1837. He went to Chicago as a boy and 
lived there to manhood, later coming to Xew ^'ork. At the call for volunteers 
he raised and organized his Zouave regiment from among the volunteer firemen 
of the city and became its colonel. He took part in the first general move- 
ment of the Federal forces into Virginia, but at Alexandria, on Alay 24, 1861, 
was shot dead b\ a hotel keeper, from whose building he had just torn away 
a Confederate flag. In the North he was regarded as the first martyr to the 
cause of the Union. His body was carried to the White House, in Washing- 
ton, where there were funeral ceremonies, with full military honors and im- 
posing ceremonies. President Lincoln acting as chief mourner; it was after- 
ward brought to New York City, where, after h'ing in state for two days in 
the Citv Hall, it was conveyed for burial to his birthplace. 

Among the important steps taken liy New York in aid of the Union 
cause was the organization, on April 22, 1861, of the Union Defense Com- 
mittee of the Cit}^ of New York, of whom the first members were Tohn A. 
Dix, chairman; Simeon Draper, vice chairman; William M. Evarts, secre- 
tary; Theodore Dehon, treasurer; Moses Taylor, Richard ^I. Blatchford, Ed- 
wards Pierrepont, Alexander T. Stewart, Samuel Sloan, John Jacob Astor, 
John J. Cisco, James S. Wadsworth, Isaac Bell, James Boorman, Charles H. 
Marshall, Robert H. McCurdy, Moses H. Grinnell, Royal Phelps, \\'illiam 
Earle Dodge, Green C. Bronson, Hamilton Fish, William F. Havemever. 
Charles H. Russell, James T. Brady, Rudolph A. Witthaus, Abiel A. Low, 
Prosper M. Wetmore, and A. C. Richards, all of whom ranked among the 
leading professional and business men of New York; and the niavor, chy 
comptroller, and the presidents of the two boards of the Common Council were 
ex-ofticio members of the committee. Later other prominent names were added 
to the committee. It raised funds for arming, equipping and transporting 
troops, and did a \'ast number of things quickly, which the municipalitv could 
only have accomplished verv slowlv. It continued in operation for a vear, 
and before its final adiournment, April 30, 1862, had disbursed more than 
$1,000,000 fur the benefit of New York volunteers, their widows and orphans. 

Another great movement which had its origin in New York was the 
United States Sanitary Commission. It began, as many organizations of help 



UNITED STATES SAXTTARY CO^DIISSION 



373 



and mercy have l)e,e,un, in the work of devoted women, who, soon after the 
Union Square meeting of April 20th, organized the Woman's Central 
Association of Relief for the Sick and Wounded of the Army. Upon 
the advice of Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D., a committee, representing 
that association and some medical relief associations ui Xew York, went 
to Washington to confer with the authorities in the War Department as 
to the needs of the service and the hest means of supplying them, and from 
this conference came the organization of the L'nited States Sanitary Com- 
mission, which, under the general direction of Rev. Dr. Bellows, its presi- 
dent, became the most successful agency of help and comfort to sick and 
wounded soldiers that the world had ever seen. 

Immediately after the 
battle of Bull Run, which 
proved especially disastrous 
to New York troops, Gover- 
nor E. D. Morgan issued a 
call for twenty-five thousand 
troops to ser\e tliree years, 
and by the end of 1861 New- 
York City had put into the 
field over sixty thousand 
volunteers, exclusive of mili- 
tia, and had made loans to 
the general government of 
more than $100,000,000. 

In the December elec- 
tion, in 1S61, George Opdyke, 

a merchant of New York City, was elected mayor, and was, during his 
administration, especially active in such measures as the municipality could 
initiate or aid, connected with the furtherance of the Union cause. Private 
benefactions and elTorts continued along the same line. Mrs. Valentine Mott 
headed an association of ladies which opened, May 2, 1862, a Home for Sick 
and \\'ounded Soldiers in the building at Lexington Avenue and Fifty-first 
Street, which had recently been erected for an Infants' Home, the home 
hax'ing accommodations for from four to five hundred soldiers. Mount St. 
\^incent, in Central Park, was another institution of the same kind. 

The first half of 1862 covered a series of uninterrupted victories to the 
Union arms, but reverses came in midsummer which disheartened many. The 
restoration of the Union, which at the beginning of the war had been looked 
upon as being only a matter of a few months, was now seen to be a task of 
great difficulty. The losses of men by death, disease, capture, and expiration 




BELLEVUE HOSPITAL 



374 HISTORY OF Mill- )'OKK 

of enlistment were very great, and on Jnly 2. iS6j, President Lincoln called 
for three hundred thousand volunteers, which was his final effort to recruit 
the army hv voluntary militarv service. 

Many of those familiar with mililar\- science condemned the \-()lunteer 
system ; not liecause the volunteers did not make the hest soldiers, hut l)ecause 
of the unequal Imrden upon the people from the fact that it imposed no sacri- 
fice upon those indi\'iduals or comnuinities that were not willino^ to furnish 
volunteers for the army. Some places gave up practically the entire popula- 
tion fit for military service: while in other places scarcelv anv volunteered. 
There was f|uite a large popular demand for a draft, while other large num- 
bers of people who were opposed to the war were, of course, equallv opposed 
to any measure which should compel them to participate in it. The reverses 
/ of the last half of 1862 had increased the numbers of the partv in favor of 
letting the South go. These largely believed that the South would win in the 
end (probably with the aid of France, or England, or both), and that the 
sooner the warfare was ended the better it would l)e for both the North and 
South. E\'cn among those who were perfecth" sincere in their desire for the 
success of the Union arms there were manv who did not believe in the levy- 
ing of a conscription. 

In New York State the Republican nriminee was (leneral James S. 
\\'adsw()rth, and the language of the platform was that the war should be 
prosecuted "by all the means that the God of Battles has placed in the 
power of the government."" The Democratic nominee was Horatio Sey- 
mour, an eminent lawyer of Utica, wlio had Iteen governor of the State 
from 1852 to 1854, ruid the platform u])on which he stood favored "all 
legitimate means to supi)ress the Rebellion." Seymour was elected by a 
majoritv of 10,752 votes. 
/ In 1863 Congress passed the Enrollment Act, approved on ^^larch 3. 

The adjutant general of the army had previously notified the State author- 
ities that New ^'ork was deficient 28,517 men in volunteers furnished since 
July 2, 1862, and that of these 18,523 were due from the City of New York. 
Preparations for a draft, under the Enrollment Act, went forward 
rapidly. They were, in New York City and Brookl)-n, in charge of 
Colonel Robert Nugent, of the .Sixt}'-ninth New York \ (ilunteers, who had 
been app<iinted assistant i)rovost marshal general, under whom was a pro- 
vost marshal for each congressional district. 

There was much nnirnuiring, in certain sections of the city, in refer- 
ence to the api>roaching draft. The Enrollment Act provided that the 
draft should be made from able-bodied citizens between the ages of twenty 
/ and fort}'-five years, but any drafted man could procure exemption by / 
paying $300. This was attacked as a fiimsy de\ice to enable the rich to 



EXROLLMEXT FOR THE DRAFT 



375 



/ 



evade service. Late in June, wlieu Pennsylvania was threatened with 
invasion by Lee's Army, the New York City mihtia regiments had been 
summoned to assist in repelHng tlie invasion, so that wlien the order was 
issued, July ist, for making a draft 
in the State, under the Lnrollment 
Act, the only forces in the city to pre- 
serve order, additional to the police, 
were a few regulars in the garrisons 
and the disabled men of the Invalid 
Corps. It was ordered that the draft 
should begin in the city, on Satur- 
day, July nth, and it commenced 
promptly. Though interference had 
been threatened, none of any serious 
quality was attempted, and those in 
charge of the conscription were encour- 
aged in the hope that there would be 
no very serious opposition to the com- 
pletion of their duty. 

But, as events afterward proved, 
Sunday was used by the disaffected 
and desperate to plan what i)roved to 
be the most terrible and desperate 

riot that ever blackened the annals of New York. Some working men who 
had l)een drafted, aided by several political agitators, stirred up an oppo- 
sition to further enrollment under a system which placed, as they claimed, its 
entire burden upon the poor. 

The officers in command of the police were the president of the board, 
Thomas Acton, and the superintendent, John A. Kennedy. On Monday 
morning, small details of police were sent to the enrolling offices, at 677 
Third Avenue (corner of Forty-sixth Street), and 1190 Broadway, two 
doors from Twenty-ninth Street, and at the latter place the drawing of 
names continued until noon, when news of disorder in other parts of the 
city led those engaged in the work to suspend further operations for the 
day. 

At the Third Avenue enrollment office, the doors were opened at nine 
o'clock, and a crowd thronged into the room. Forty or fifty names had 
been drawn when a paving stone came crashing through the window 
from the outside, and at once there was a concerted attack upon the enroll- 
ing officials, who were glad enough to escape itnhurt, except Provost 
Marshal Vanderpoel, who was badly maltreated and carried out for dead. 




OLD ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL 
Third Street 



376 HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

The furniture, records, and drafting- apparatus were destroyed, the build- 
ing- fired, and the entire block was burned, because the mob would not per- 
mit the firemen, who came promptly to the scene, to get near the hydrants 
until the fire was beyond control. 

The mob amounted to many thousands. Early in the day deputations 
had visited the workshops and factories, informing- the proprietors that 
thev would not be responsible for the safety of their establishments unless 
thev closed them, and permitted their men to join the ranks of the rioters, 
if thev so desired. Most of the places were thereupon closed. Thus the 
mob grew. Superintendent Kennedy, g-oing in plain clothes, without 
escort, to size up the situation, was recognized and attacked by the mob at 
Fortv-sixth Street and Lexington Avenue, and would have been killed but 
for the intervention of an influential friend. As it was, he was disabled for 
several days. President Acton, however, established himself at police head- 
(|uarters, in Mulberry Street, and from there, by telegraph, directed the 
movements of the police, who did gallant work in the face of what was, in 
fact, an overwhelming- force, which could have destroyed practically the 
entire citv, if it had been under coherent leadership. From Cooper Insti- 
tute to Forty-sixth Street, Third Avenue was crowded with a lawless mob 
who not only filled the street and roadway, but hung over the eaves and 
filled the windows and doors. 

The mob was especially virulent against the negroes. The draft was, 
in their eves, directed against the poor whites, to compel them to fight for 
the negro; and when an unfortunate memlier of that race was found, the cry, 
"Kill the nigger!" met prompt response, and from many a lamp-post hung 
victims of the race hatred of the mob, who, in their insatiate fury, showed 
no respect for age or sex. The Colored Orphan Asylum, on Fifth Avenue, 
Fortv-third to Fortv-fourth Streets, was the object of a concerted attack, 
and as the hundreds of children were hurried out of the rear door, the mob 
broke in the front doors and set fire to the building in several places at once. 
It was utterlv destroved, in spite of the strenuous etTorts of the firemen, 
under ccnnmand of Chief Engineer Decker, to save it. 

The police managed, at some of the more remote points of trouble, to 
disperse detachments of the rioters bent on mischief, but in Third Avenue, 
stores were looted, and oil Lexington Avenue two ])ri\ate residences, after 
being robbed, were burned to the ground. A detachment, about forty, of the 
Livalid Corps, sent to help in restoring order, was attacked in Forty-third 
Street, and at the command of their ofiicer. Lieutenant Reed, fired blank 
cartridges at the mob, which so infuriated the rioters that they at once 
rushed u])on the soldiers, wrenched their muskets from their hands and 
beat them severelv, killinc: some and severelv injurin"- most of the others. An 



THE DRAFT RIOT 2,ri 



attack, which had been boldly i)lanned, on the Central nfhce of the iiolice in 
Mulberry Street, was attempted by a m(il) of about tive thousand men. but Ser- 
geant Daniel Carpenter (afterward inspector of police) so maneuvered his 
force of two hundred policemen as to attack the invading column simultaneously 
from man}- i)oints on its flank, and by well-directed use of the club, to make 
such a combined charge that the mob fled in dismay, and was glad to take 
some other direction. They broke the windows of the "Tribune" office, in 
Printing House Scjuare. and entered the office. destro3nng the fiumiture. but 
were driven oiT; made a demonstration at Mayor Opdyke's residence; 
btnmed Postmaster Wakeman's house in Yorkville and the Twenty-third 
Precinct police station nearby. About four o'clock the office of Provost 
Marshal iManniere. at iii)0 Broadway, was reached, broken into and set on 
fire. Soon the whole block on the east of Broadwa}', from Twenty-eighth 
to Twenty-ninth Street, was in flames, while the lower floors, which were 
stores filled with costly goods, were looted by the mob. 

Mayor Opdyke. finding that the riot w^as beyond the control of the 
police, called for troops, tipon General Wool, commanding the Depart- 
ment of the East, and upon General Sandford. commanding the National 
Guard. General Harvey Brown, of the national forces, established his 
headquarters in the Central police office in Mulberr}- Street, while Gen- 
eral Sandford. finding altogether seven hundred militiamen, temporarily 
absent from their regiments, got them together in the State Arsenal, at 
Seventh Avenue and Thirty-fifth Street. 

Tuesday morning fotmd nearly every store closed and the streets deserted 
l)y all except the mob. who had during the night burned several more houses. 
On this second day of the riot the mob had more of an organization and 
moved with more ])recision. Tt directed its attention, early in the day, to the 
negro quarters of the town, killing many of the negroes and setting fire to 
many of the houses tenanted by people of that race. 

A little later, however, they found things not all their own wav, for the 
troops were sent from place to place to disperse the mobs. Lieutenant Wood, 
with a hundred and fifty soldiers from Fort Lafayette, coming upon a mob 
of two thousand men at Grand and Pitt Streets, tried to disperse them but 
was attacked with stones and other missiles, whereupon he ordered his men 
to fire, and twelve were killed. Sergeant Carpenter, sent to disperse a mob 
assembled for the purpose of burning the houses on Thirty-fourth Street, did 
so after some difficulty, and his force going from that place met Colonel 
H. T. OT)rien, of the Eleventh New York \'olunteers (then absent from his 
regiment for recruiting duty in New York). He had with him a detachment 
of soldiers and two field pieces. Seeing that the mob was rallying again, the 
police and soldiers returned to the scene and received from the mob a vollev of 



378 HISTORY OF XHW YORK 

paving' stones and other missiles. They fired on the mol), kiUino- several, in- 
cluding;' a woman and two children. The crowd dispersed, vowing vengeance 
on Colonel O'Brien. Later in the day that officer, hearing that his house was 
attacked, went to see about it. and found it open and empty, having been 
looted from top to bottom. Anxious to learn the fate of his family, he went 
to a drug store on Thirtv-fourth Street. The store was at once attacked by 
a mob, and though the projM-ietor begged O'Brien to escape by the rear, the 
fearless but imprudent officer stepped out of the front door to expostulate with 
the mob. He was felled by a blow from the rear and was kicked and pounded 
into an unrecognizable mass, and thus mistreated for about an hour; he was 
still alive when two priests arrived and they were permitted to read the last 
pravers over the dying soldier, and to take him away. They secretly removed 
his bodv that night to the morgue at Bellevue. 

Governor Sevmour came to the city that day (the 14th) and issued a 
proclamation, in which he declared that while any citizen's right to appeal to 
the courts against the conscri])tion would l)e maintained, rioting would be put 
down, and nuist cease, and that the laws of the State would be enforced and 
lives and |)r(ipertv |)rotected at any and every hazard. 

Telegrams were sent calling home the Seventh and other regiments from 
Pennsylvania, and the government also was appealed to for troops. The 
third dav saw many uKire outrages, but the troops and ])olice had better suc- 
cess in (|uelling the disorders, and on the lOth the armv details were only 
needed in two or three cases. It was announced on that tlay that the Citv 
Council had ajjpropriated $2,500,000 toward paying substitutes for any poor 
persons who might be drafted. Archbishop Hughes, roused l)v a charge of 
the Tribune that the mobs were Irish, announced that he would like to talk to 
the jKHiple who had l)een assembling on the streets, and especiallv if anv were 
Catholics, and asked them to meet in front of the Episcopal residence, on the 
17th. Accordinglv a very large crowd assembled and listened to the vener- 
alile archbisho]), who implored them as their friend and pastor to go to their 
homes with ;is little delav as possible, and especially if anv of them were Cath- 
olics, to leave bad associations and respect the laws. The crowd heard him 
with respect and cheered him at several points in his speech (which took up 
about a column of small ty]K- in the papers of the next day) and quietly dis- 
persed when he had concluded. 

The police estimate of the killed was over one thousand, though the exact 
number is not known, because the mob moved and disposed of many of their 
own dead. The killed were mostly rioters and their negro victims, the num- 
ber of the ])olice and niilitar\- killed being comparatively slight. The city 
afterward ])ai(l ;ibont $1,500,000 as indenmitx' for losses sustained during the 
riot. 



THli SAXITARV PAIR 



:j;n 



After the militia reached tlie city, the Seventh and other regiments con- 
tinued guard ckity during several days; and again in August, when the con- 
scription was resumed and completed without molestation. 

The Union League Clul), organized in 1S63, was a very strong factor in 
su])i)ort of the Union cause. One of the ofif shoots of the league was the Loyal 
Publication Society, organized Feliruary 14, 1H63, which issued a series of 
eighty-eight pulilications on subjects connected with the war, or the issues 
of the campaign of 1S64. The Union League raised three regiments of negro 
troops for the war, in December. 1863, and January, 1864. 

In the Decemlier election 
of 1863, C. Godfrey (iunther, 
a New York fur merchant, was - 

elected mayor of New ^"ork 
on the Democratic ticket. 

In the spring of 1864 tli"-' 
United States Sanitary Com- 
mission held a series of fairs in 
all the large cities, for the 
benefit of their work, and the 
most important of these was 
the great Metropolitan Fair, 
held in April, in two special! \- 
erected buildings, one in 
Fourteenth Street, near Sixth 
Avenue, and the other in 
Seventeenth Street, near L'nion 
Square. Many interesting- 
booths were in both of the 

buildings, and the most beautiful and accomplished dames and voung ladies 
of New ^'ork were in charge of the stalls. The fair netted $1,100,000, and 
a similar one, previously held in Brooklyn (in Fel)ruary), realized over 
$500,000 for the commission. 

From the beginning of the war to Octolser i, 1864, New York furnished 
to the war 126,310 men. The presidential election of 1864 came on, the can- 
didates being Lincoln and Johnson on the Republican, and McClellan and 
Pendleton on the Democratic tickets. It had been feared that there would be 
a resumption of rioting, but the election was very quiet. 

The victories which crowned the efiforts of the Union Army, in 1865, 
cheered the people of New ^'ork, and especially when Richmond fell, and Lieu- 
tenant De Pe}'ster, of New ^'ork City, a descendant of one of the oldest and 
most distinguished Dutch families of the city, for the first time raised the Stars 




COOPER INSTITUTE, MERCANTILE LIBRARY 
AND BIBLE HOUSE 



380 



HISTORV OF XEll' YORK 



and Stripes over ihe erstwhile Confederate capital. Cannon boomed, bells 
chimed and flags were displayed everywhere in the city. Lee surrendered on 
April gth, and the jov increased and continued until six days later, when the 
news came of the assassination of the great and good President Lincoln. 
New York, as all other cities of the North, sincerely mourned the dead Presi- 
dent. The route taken in returning the body of Lincoln to its last resting 
place, at Springfield, was i)ractically the same as that he had traveled in the 
other direction when, over four years before, he had gone to Washington to 
assume the duties of the presidency. 

On April 24th, the remains were escorted from the Cortlandt Street Ferry 
bv a great procession. The l)ody laid in state in the City Hall for twenty- 
four hours, during which time, day and night, the ceaseless procession passed 
to give a last look at the corpse of the most honored dead our nation has 
known. ( )n the 25th the funeral cortege took up its mournful yet triumphant 
iourney toward the home town of the great leader, followed from the City 
Hall to the railroad depot In- a ];)rocession five miles in length. Tn the after- 
noon of that day a large assemblv listened, in I'nion S(|uare, to a funeral ora- 
tion bv Hon. George Bancroft, the distinguished historian and diplomat, and 
to an elof|uent eulogv bv ^^'illiam Cullcn Bryant, the gifted poet and jour- 
nalist. 




NORTHWESTERN VIEW OF BROOKLYN 

Frimi luar i't ck '-lip 



CHAPTER T H I R T Y - F U R 

RETURN OF PEACE AND TRADE-ATLANTIC CABLE 

BRIDGE TO BROOKLYN-WESTCHESTER TOWNS 

ANNEXED-THE TWEED RING 

The war was over, and New York City, which had borne its full share 
of the burdens of the contlicl, welcomed back its veterans, wlio now reHn- 
quished, for tlie most part, the niihtary career for the arts and vocations of 
peace. Many who had gone away never came back, but liad died fi)r tlie 
cause of Union, on Southern fields. Some came back maimed from the con- 
flict ; some, matured and steadied by the experience, came back to be leaders 
in the citizenship and business of the city. 

Not all that came to the c\t\ from the South, after war, were from llie 
Union side, though of course, the majority were. But many who had 
fought for the Lost Cause of the Southland also found their wa_\- to New 
^'()rk to seek, in this metropolis, a business career under circumstances 
more favorable to success than was possible in the devastated South. 

The city had changed in many respects as the result of the war. 
Especially noticeable was the fact that the ships engaged in foreign trade 
had ceased to fly the American flag. At the beginning of the war, when 
the Confederates were issuing letters of marque and sending out privateers, 
it was dangerous to appear on the high seas with the American flag flying, 
and so great American lines transferred their ships' registry and their 
offices to Liverpool or London. In 1864 the writer of these lines sailed a 
voyage out of London in the British clipper ship Elphinstone. An 
inquiry of the captain revealed the fact that she was Maine-built. Several 
months later, in Melbourne, the writer visited the ship, which the men were 
repainting. The name of the shi]) had been scraped off to be renewed, and 
the scraping revealed the old name, H. B. Mildmay — Boston. This was a 
common occurrence. The ships had gone to Britain and had not returned, 
because the laws in force after the war made it practically impossible to 
return to American registry. So that many of the old ship-owning families 
who were American, a halt century ago, became and have remained British. 

There had not been any great increase in the population of New York 
City during the war. Newcomers had made their homes in Brooklyn, or 
the New Jersey sul)urbs, because the transportation facilities on Man- 
hattan Island were so poor that few could afl:'ord to li\'e far away from 
the business district. Brooklyn or jersev Cit\-, which could be reached by 
ferry, were much more convenient than could an} j)]ace be, so far up town 
as Fiftieth Street. 



^8-.' 



HISTORY OF XFjr YORK 



The houses were low, so low that Trinit}' s])irc towered up, the most 
cons])icuously tall structure in the downtown district, and the Aster 
House was looked upon as something prodigious, with which the rural 
visitor was expected to be duly impressed because of its great size. The first 
apartment house, a small one, was built on the West Side, in 1S65, and 
two large apartment h(.)uses, the Stuyvesant buildings, were erectetl, one in 
1870, on Eighteenth Street, and the other in 1871, on Thirteenth Street. 
They grew in ]~)opularity and increased in size, until nearly two hundred of 
them were erected, in 1873. I-ooked upon at first as a fad which would 
soon pass away and ruin those who had spent their money in the experi- 
ment, that class of buildings soon became 
general, and apartments have increased year 
l)v vear, until the tenants of private houses 
form a very decided minority of the families 
of the boroughs of Manhattan and the 
Bronx. 

The winter of 1866-1867 was an excep- 
tionally cold one, and as the number of those 
who A\ent to lousiness in New York and 
lived in lirooklyn had liecome very much 
greater than ever before, the interrnptifin to 
ferry traffic was seriously felt by many 
])eople. Many crossed the East River, from 
Xew \'ork to Brooklyn, on the ice, Imt the 
incon\'eniences of the situation em])hasized 
llie need for the bridge, which had been one 
of the (lav dreams of the optimistic for sev- 
eral tlecades. So the question came u]) in 
the legislative sessiiMi of that winter, in 
Albany, rmd three East River bridge liills 
>n jV])ril If), i8()7, incorporated the New 
York liridge Company, which later in the year selected for its archi- 
tect lolm A. Roelding, who had demonstrated his ability liy designing 
an<l building the Cincinnati-Covington bridge across the Ohio, and the 
Niagara suspension bridge, who at once drew plans for the largest sus- 
pension Ijridge that had ever been built. As the East River was a navigable 
stream and subject to I'ederal control, these plans were ajiproved by act of 
Congress, March 3, i8hi), and by the secretary of war. June 21, 1869. The 
great architect died. |ul\' _>_'. r86(). and his sou. Washington E. Roebling, 
who had been .associated with his father in i)lanning the bridge, took up the 
entire work and su])ervised it to completion. 




TRINITY CHURCH 



were enacted. ( )ne of them. 



XEir YORK AXXEXES THE BROXX 383 

The great problem of the city was that of rapid transit, and many 
were the attempts in that direction during the years that followed, of 
which more in detail will be told in a later chapter. As the various routes 
of transportation northward were improved, the trend of population in the 
same direction became more strongly emphasized. In 1873 the area of the 
citv was nearly doubled, being increased from fourteen thousand to twenty- 
seven thousand acres, in round figures, bv the extension of the city boundary, 
to meet, at a distance of sixteen miles from the Battery, the south boun- 
dar}' of the city of Yonkers. This was accomplished through the medium 
of a bill which ])assed the Assembly, annexing to the city a part of West- 
chester County, including the villages of Kingsbridge, Morrisania and West 
Farms. The jocose found much incitement to merriment by this extension 
of the metropolis to the region "up among the goats," but the area then 
annexed is now densely populated in sections, and is becoming a region 
of homes. In that new section of the city at the time of annexation, there 
were wisely reserved public parks on a generous scale, which add most mate- 
rially to the attractions of the borough of the Bronx, which will in a few 
years, in all probability, be the most populous of the five boroughs which 
compose Greater New York. 

In the steps of municipal progress after the close of the Civil W"ar, 
the first of importance was the change from the volunteer to the paid 
system in the fire department. The old system had been exceptionally good 
of its kind, but had many drawbacks. Many brave and heroic deeds had 
been done bv the volunteers who "ran with the machine." But the zeal 
which had at first engendered a friendly rivalry between the companies had 
intensified into animosities which frequently resulted in fighting", where 
there should have Ijeen cooperation. When the city was small, the flower 
of its manhood was proud to attach itself to the fire-fighting force, but with 
the growth of the citv and the consequent increase of fires, the duties of 
the firemen proved too great a tax on the time of those engaged in busi- 
ness, and the personnel of the fire companies deteriorated. The companies 
would not admit improvements, but persisted in dragging out machines Iw 
hand, for years after the introduction of horses in other cities: and in addi- 
tion, the companv houses became, in some cases, loafing places for the idle and 
vicious, and breeding places of disorder in the promotion of the shady 
schemes of the lower class of ward politicians. So on March 30, 1865, the 
Legislature passed the bill providing for a board of four fire commissioners, 
who were to have control of the new Fire Department of the City of 
New York. Charles C. Pinckney, James W. Brown. Philip W. Engs and 
Martin H. Brown were appointed commissioners, and, on ]\Iay 2d, the paid 
fire department was started. There was violent opposition to the law, at 



3S4 



HISTORY OF SEW YORK 




BOOTHS THEATRE 



first, on the part of the members of the volunteer companies, wiio 
attacked the new system in the courts as unconstitutional, but the case 
was f|uickly decidecl by the Court of Appeals, which fullv sustained the new 
law, and soon the department was in working- order, and the opposition 

subsided. The most serious 
fire the department was called 
upon to contend with that 
year was that in Barnum's 
Museum, at the corner of 
Broadway and Ann Street, 
which was burned July 13. 
1S65. The New York Herald 
built upon the site, and had 
its headquarters there until 
its present handsome build- 
ing in Herald Square was 
erected. The modernization 
of the fire-fighting- system in 
New York quickl\- followed 
the change to the paid depart- 
ment. Steam engines took the place of the old hand machines in the citv 
proper, the use of the telegraph was greatly extended, and from that time on 
the department has become more and more efiicient, until it is now without 
a rival as a fire-fighting force. 

In the city election of December. 1865, the Democratic candidate for 
mayor, John T. Hoffman, was elected for the term beginning January 1, 
t866. 

A former chapter has tcjld of the completion of the first Atlantic 
calile through the eft'orts of Cyrus W. Field, of the messages transmitted 
between the two continents and of the breaking of the cable on the very 
day when New York was doing honor to Mr. Field's achievement. Such a 
setback would have crushed a man of less heroic mold, but Mr. Field, in 
spite of contumely, of enmity and derision, j^ersevered. He labored in spite 
of financial depression and ci\-il war, to raise the mone\' to resume the 
gigantic task, and succeeded in reyiying interest. Fhe great steamship 
Great Eastern started with the cable, July 23, 1865, Init although precau- 
tions had been taken which seemed to make failure impossible, a fault in 
the cable, when it had lieen laid tor twelve hundred miles, caused it to sna|i 
and go down, l^ack lo l^ngiand went the great sliip. Three million dollars 
were raised, a new cable was made, and another start was made. July 13. 
1866. This time success came; the two continents were united, and to add 



THE ATLAXriC CABLE COMPLETED 



to the tinal triumph of the undertakinj^-, tlie Cireat Eastern succeeded in 
fishing up from the bottoui of the sea, twi) miles deep, the cal)le il had lost, 
splicing- it and completing it as a second connection between the Old 
World and the Xew. Once more Mr. l-'ield was showered with honors; the 
Chamber of Commerce gave a ])uhlic ban(|uet in his honor; the Thirty- 
ninth Congress presented him with a gold medal, with the thanks of the 
nation; and John Bright, the great English statesman, in an address at 
Leeds, eulogized Mr. Field as "the Columbus of our time." To the faith 
and zeal of this great New York merchant is due the work that has since 
connected the world's ends together and revolutionized the commercial and 
social intercourse of the nations. 

Another important event of 1866 was the organization of a Metro- 
politan Board of Health to be composed of four health commissioners, to 
be appointed by the governor, the health officer of New York and the Metro- 
politan Police Board. Such a board had often been projected, but there 
had always been considerable objection to vestiiig in such an organization 
powers sufficient to make its work etifective. But dread of a visitation of 
cholera had been aroused, because, in November, 1865, the emigrant steam- 
ship Atlanta, from Europe, came into New York with several cases of Asiatic 
cholera on board. As there had been no provision for such cases since the 
destruction of the Quarantine Buildings, on Staten Island, the patients 
were taken to a floating hulk in the bay, which had been used during the 
previous summer for yellow fever patients. \ few^ weeks afterward several 
deaths from the disease occurred on Ward's Island. Cold weather came 
on, and no further cases had appeared, but it was expected to return in the 
spring, and the Legislature created the new^ board February 26, 1866, and 
Doctors James Crane, Willard Parker, Jackson S. Schultz and John O. Stone 
were appointed to membership in the board. 

At once the board set about cleaning up the city, the streets being- 
swept, tenements disinfected, soap rendering and slaughter houses ban- 
ished outside of city limits, and the driving of cattle in the streets in the 
daytime prohibited; and many (ither sanitarv measures were taken. News 
that the steamship England, from Liverpool, after losing forty dead, had 
brought 160 cases of cholera into Halifax, and that two vessels bound for 
New York had been stopped at Bermuda liecause of the disease, spurred 
the authorities to action, and the Board of Health petitioned the govern- 
ment and were granted special authority to provide for the sick and to take 
sanitary measures within the city. They struck a snag when they 
attempted to establish a quarantine station. Staten Island would have 
none of it, and Coney Island, Sandy Hook, and other places, made violent 
opposition to cjuarantine stations or cholera hospital. The steamship Vir- 



.'■I s I ; 



HISTORV OF .\i:ir ]'t)kK 



ginia, fr(.>m Livcr])ool, arrived Ajn-il iSth, with numerous cases of Asiatic 
cholera aboard. They were transferred to a hospital ship, and those wdio 
were well were i)Ut into a steamer fitted up specially for them. ( )n May 
1st, the first case of cholera broke out in tlie cit\-. in an unsanitary tenement 
at Xinetv-third Street and Third A\-enue, and the next day, in a similar 
building at 115 .Mulberry Street. It grew in the number of cases, until 
August, and after that decreased. In a hospital on Second Avenue, also 
at the Battery, the United States Transit Mospital and the Five Points Bar- 
racks manv were cared for. In the city the deaths numbered 460, but the mor- 
tality in the hospitals and penal institutions on the islands was much 
greater, bringing" the total up ti) 121 j. The number was greater in Brook- 
Ivn, and still higher in the Western cnies, wdiere many thousands dietl. It 
disap])eared from Xew York in October. 

Congestion of the downtown streets was a problem forty years ago. 
Alderman Charles E. Loew, as a remedy for this condition, i)roposed the 
erection of an elevated causeway over Broadway, and the structure, as 
planned, was l)uilt across that thoroughfare at Fulton Street. It was 
costlv, unsightlv and useless, for the number of those who would climb to cross 

was verv few. It remained a 
year and then was taken down. 
From 1867 to 1869 was an 
era of speculation in real estate 
and in building; many old land- 
marks were torn away to 
make room for more preten- 
tious structures, and some 
changes that were made at that 
time have since been much re- 
gretted. Among these was the 
sale, in 1867, of St. John's 
Park, which had originally 
been part of the Anneke Jans 
estate, and had liecome one of 
the best of the small parks in 
the lower ])art of the city, but 
which was transferred to the 
Hudson River Railroad for a 
freight depot. Another landmark, the Xew York Hospital, at Broadway 
and Pearl Street, where it had long stood surrounded by greensward and 
statelv elms, was sold, the institution moving up to its present location in 
\A'est iMfteenth Street. I'.esides the activity in real estate and building. 




OLD NEW YORK SOCIETY LIBRARY 



FoRM.rnOX OF THE TWEED RIXG 387 

there were many wild s]jeculations in stocks, in petrolctuii and other 
things. The most notable features of the .s;eneral excitement were the 
lavish schemes and plans for municipal improvements fostered and carried 
out by a ring of politicians who had gained the control of the city gov- 
ernment. John T. Hoffman was elected mayor in 1865, and during his 
administration began the nefarious operations of the "Gang" headed by 
William Al. Tweed. 

The head and front of the "Ring," was William Marcy Tweed, who was 
born in Xew York in 1823, educated in the common schools, and then took up 
his father's trade of chair-making. Not being overfond of work, he devoted 
most of his attention to the volunteer fire department, becoming foreman of 
"Big Six," one of the most popular and politically powerful <if the companies. 
He had much personal magnetism and a knack of attaching to himself a large 
following, and he had soon become a ward "boss." He was elected to the 
Common Council of 1850, a body which, because of some of its works, had 
earned the designation of "The Forty Thieves," and he diligently worked the 
field of patronage, selling offices for monev or to make his following more 
secure and extensive. Having, with a majority of his fellow councilmen, 
granted a street car franchise in disobedience to an injunction, he was 
arrested, but escaped imprisonment, and was elected to a term in Congress. 
In 1857, the Legislature passed a law making the Board of Supervisors the 
governing body of the county, consisting of twelve members, six from each 
party. This arrangement, intended bv an even division of party control to 
secure a businesslike and nonpartisan administration of ptiblic affairs, resulted 
in building up a ring- composed of corrupt men of both parties, held together 
hy "the cohesive power of public plunder." Such has at times been the case 
not only in Xew York, but also in Chicago, in San Francisco, and other 
ring-ridden cities. When Tweed left Congress he became chairman 
of the Board of Supervisors, occupying that office for four terms. He 
had become all-powerful in the Tammany Society, of which he was 
elected grand sachem. 

Tweed's chief associates in the ring were Peter B. Sweeney, one of the 
Tammany leaders, a lawyer of no great ability, and the son of a saloon- 
keeper; and Richard D. Connolly, of Irish birth, but a resident of New York 
from boyhood. He had served as county clerk and afterward as a State sen- 
ator. He had later served as an accountant in a bank, and had some knowl- 
edge of money matters, which was found useful in the financing of the trans- 
actions of the gang. He was of a smooth, insinuating manner, and known to 
his familiars as "Slippery Dick Connollv." 

W ith Tweed at the head of the Tammany organization, with wires out 
everywhere connecting him with manv experienced workers, the operations of 



HISTOR]' OF XJiir VORK 



the gang- were luaile easy of execution; liut tlie}- were coni])elle(l, of course, 
to have numerous confederates, and to intrench themselves in power they 
secured control (if three members of the State judiciary. One of these was 
George G. Barnard, who had at one time been regarded as a reformer, Init 
who e\'entually turned (Hit to be completely in s\'m|iatli\- with the Tweed 
ring. Another judge, Albert Cardozo. was an entirely ditierent kind of a 
man from Barnard, the latter being of overbearing manner, while Cardozo 
w-as a lawyer of great ability, and a man of highest culture and the most 
refined manners, and yet he appears to have been, if anything, the most cor- 
rupt of the three judges of the ring, of whom John H. AlcCunn was the 
third. The latter was of so little learning that he employed various lawvers 
to write his opinions for him. 

Besides the judiciary, the gang secured control of several of the 
editors of newspapers, who were corrupted bv lucrative ])ublic positions or 
by "tips," enabling them to make money by speculation in Wall Street or bv 
advance information in regard to improvements that were made by the city, bv 
which they were enabled to make money b\- speculation in real estate. 

The corruption of the gang was absolute, and extended to all of the de- 
partments of activity connected with the city government. The building of 
the New York City Courthouse, which was limited in cost in the original 
contract to $250,000, was expanded to an expense to the taxpavers of more 
than $14,000,000, of which fully half found its way into the ])ockets of the 
members of the ring and their followers and hangers-on. As appeared in 
the evidence afterwards, the creative genius of the gang was Sweeney, although 
Tweed was the one who manipulated the robberies of the city. Rills against 
the city were increased from forty to sixty-five per cent, more than the real 
amount, and the excess divided among the gang, U]ion methods which were 
made possible onlv after Sweeney became chamberlain and C'onnolly con- 
troller, which was in 1868. In that vear John T. Hoffman, who had been 
mayor, was elected governor of the State, and in his place, under the dicta- 
tion of Tweed as boss, A. Oakey Hall was elected mayor of the city in place 
of Hoffman. Although Hall figured largely in the investigation which after- 
ward came about, there does not seem to be anv proof that he profited in a 
financial way by his connection with it. His ambition seems to have l)een the 
cause of his subservience to the ring, without which he could not have been 
advanced to the mavoraltv, because as jiolitics stood then, Tweed was able 
absolutely to' control the situation. Mavor Hall was a man of excellent family, 
remarkable culture and classical etlucation, a writer of ability, a lecturer who 
met public appro\al, and a lawver of distinction who at the time of his elec- 
tion to the office of mayor was serving as district attorney of the County of 
New York. He had formerly been a Repuljlican, afterward becoming a 



THE TWEED RIXG THRIVES 



389 



Democrat, and finally by the grace of Tweed and Tammany Hall, had 
reached the mayoralty. In the trial of the charges against the ring, he 
was acquitted in court, there having been no evidence of his being a party to 
the taking of the money stolen by the ring, his chief offense being the 
appointment of Tweed to the important position of commissioner of public 
works, in 1870. This appointment came as a result of a change in the law 
which abolished the power of the Board of Supervisors over contracts, by a 
new citv charter which had been introduced by the friends of Tweed and had 
been piloted through the Legislature, receiving the majority of the votes of the 
members of both parties. With this charter, the executive power was placed 
in the hands of the mayor and eleven departments, the heads of which were 

to be appointed by the mayor. 
The offices of street commis- 
sioner and the Croton depart- 
ment were abolished and their 
jiower was gi\-en to a new 
officer, known as the "commis- 
sioner of public W'Orks," who 
was to hold his office for four 
vears. When this charter took 
effect. r^Iayor Hall appomted 
Tweed commissioner of public 
works and placed Peter B. 
Sweeney at the head of the Park 
Commission, made John J. 
Bradley chamberlain, while 
Richard B. Connolly continued 
as comptroller. The Board of 
Audit was to be composed of the mayor, comptroller and commissioner 
of public works (Hall, Connolly and Tweed). This Board of Audit held 
one five minute session and ordered that all outstanding liabilities should 
be collected, delegating their auditing powers to the county auditor. James 
Watson, who afterward audited all of the bills, sometimes carrying 
the audit around to the dift'erent members of the board for their sig- 
nature, and sometimes auditing them without that formality. Within 
less than four months from this meeting of the Board of Audit the 
sum of $6,312,000 was paid out of the city treasury, of which $5,710,130 was 
for fitting up and furnishing the new Courthouse. One of the writers 
about this period makes an estimate that the carpets purchased by the city for 
the Courthouse would ha\e carpeted Union Square three times over. The 
many peculations of the ring became a public scandal, and several news- 




OLD NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



3:mi history of new YORK 

papers, notabl}" the Tribune, Times and Harper's Weekly, published strong- 
articles aq-ainst the waste of the people's money; one of the most notable 
features of the campaign being the cartoons of Thomas Nast, who made 
nutch of Tweed's jeering reply to criticisms, "What are you going to do 
al)0Ut it?" 

The exposure of the ring came through \A^illiam S. Copeland, a clerk 
who had been placed in the auditor's office through the recommendation of 
Sheritif James O'Brien. Copeland was looking up some records in the office 
one day, when he came across a secret list headed "County Liabilities." This 
list seemed to Copeland to be very suspicious, so he made an exact copy of it, 
which he carried to his patron. Sheriff James O'Brien. C)'Brien saw at once 
that the list indicated crooked work on the part of the ring, and he thereupon 
attempted to use it as a means to compel the ring to \)c\y a claim which he 
held against the city. By the advice of Sweeney, payment of O'Brien's claim 
was refused, and the sheriff' left them, threatening to publish the list in the 
New York Times. After thinking over the matter a while, the ring members 
concluded that it would be better to try to pacify O'Brien, and in the after- 
noon sent over Watson to the Bertholf's Hotel, sporting headquarters in Har- 
lem Lane, to negotiate with O'Brien. The sheriff' was accidentally detained, 
and on his way home Watson was thrown from his carriage, which had run 
into another vehicle, receiving injuries so severe that he died a few days after- 
ward. Around the death l)ed of Watson flocked the members of the ring and 
their agents, for the twofold purpose of preventing any damaging confession 
and also trving to secure the transfer of a large amount of property belong- 
ing to them which Watson held in his name; but as he never again regained 
consciousness, his widow succeeded to the property. O'Brien continued to 
press his claim on the gang, but as he got nothing out of them, he carried 
the fraudulent accounts in his possession to the Sun, which did not Iniy them, 
and afterwards took them to George Jones, proprietor of the New York Times, 
telling him to use them as he would. The publication of these figures caused 
intense excitement in the city, mass meetings were held, and a Committee of 
Seventy was appointed to investigate the frauds. William F. Havemeyer, 
Samuel J. Tilden, Joseph H. Choate, Charles O'Connor, Richard O'Gorman, 
and many other prominent citizens, took up the matter, while the ring, which 
had become thoroughly alarmed, made ineff'ectual off'ers of large bribes to 
editors and others endeavoring to stop the attacks made upon them. Finally 
they thought to straighten up matters by lading the whole blame upon Con- 
nolly, who was asked to resign, but he refused to do so. Judge Barnard 
issued an injunction against Connolly, and soon after, on September lo. 1870. 
the comptroller's office was entered and a large number of vouchers were 
taken. This act, while it was profitable to all of the members of the gang, by 



TWEED CONJ'ICTED AND JAILED 



destroying" much evidence against them, was used by the others against Con- 
nolly, in order to lay the entire blame u])nn him. Mayor Hall wrote to Con- 
nolly. September 12, 1S70, saying that he did not haye ])o\ver to remoye the 
head of any department, but he would ask him as a fayor, under the circum- 
stances, to resign. Mr. Connolly went to Mr. Tilden for adyice, on Septem- 
ber 15th, and was told by him that while he could not be remoyed until 
conyicted, there was in the charter a iiro\ision by which the comptroller could 
appoint a deputy to act in full power during his absence, and induced him to 
appoint Andrew H. Green as such deputy. Then the mayor endeavored to 
remove Connolly in order to, at the same time, get his deputy out of the way; 
but Charles O'Connor upheld Mr. Green's title, and the gang concluded that 
it would not be safe to interfere with him. Mr. Green stopped payment to all 
public officials who were in arrears and refused payment on any of the exor- 
bitant bills that were brought in; and with the aid of the evidence in the 
comptroller's office enabled Mr. Tilden td expose the system of the ring for 
division of plunder, which showed that Tweed received twent\'-four per cent., 
Connolly twenty per cent., Sweeney ten ])er cent., and Watson and Woodward 
each five per cent, of the stealings. Connolly, Sweeney and many of their 
associates fled to Europe, while Tweed remained, and was arrested and 
lodged in the Ludlow Street jail. He was indicted, February 10, 1872, for 
forgery and grand larceny, but the jury disagreed. On the second trial, No- 
vember 5, 18^3, he was found guilty of all of the fifty-one counts of the indict- 
ment, and on November 22d, he was sentenced to twelve years in the peniten- 
tiary and to pay a fine of $12,300.18 for each of twelve counts of the indict- 
ment and $250 for each of the other thirty-nine counts. 

He remained on Blackwell's Island while his case was under appeal, until 
June 13, 1875, when a decision was made that the court erred in sentencing 
Tweed on so many counts for the same ofTense and ordering his release. He 
was taken to court June 22, 1875, and gave bail for $18,000 on the remaining 
criminal indictments, but on his release under the bail bond he was arrested 
again on a civil suit for the recovery of $6,000,000, which had been charged in 
the "County Liabilities" and was held to bail in the sum of $3,000,000, which 
he was unable to give. He was locked up in the Ludlow Street jail and while 
there arranged with some of his friends to plan an escape. \\'hile he was out 
with Sheriff O'Brien, on December 4, 1875. taking an airing, he persuaded 
his keepers to permit him to visit his wife, on Madison Avenue, and from there 
succeeded in making his escape. He passed through many hardships in getting 
away, his health being bad and his corpulence of body also being a great im- 
pediment: but he lived in concealment at Vigo, Spain, until 1876, when he 
was discovered and brought back again to the Ludlow Street jail. Meanwhile 
the civil suit had resulted in a verdict against him for $6,537,117.38, prin- 



3<)-> 



HISTORY OF Xllir YORK 



ci])al and interest, lie lived in the jail until, his health Ijeconiin^' worse, he 
(lied in that institution, April 12. 1878, at the age of 55. 

The ()])erations of the Tweed Ring, during the five years of its domination, 
added over $100,000,000 to the bonded debt of the city, doubled its annual 
ex])enditures, and cost the taxpavers the sum of $i6o,000,000. 

As the result of the Tweed exposure there was an agitation for a reform 
in politics, and in December, 1872, ^\'illiam V. Havemeyer, who had been pre- 
viously twice elected mayor of Xew York, in 1845 and 1848, was again selected 
for the head of the city government. He did not, however, live out his term, 
l)ut died of apo|)lexv, in the mayor's office, in 1874. 

An amendment of the city charter, passed June 13, 1873, abolished the 
Board of Assistant Aldermen, which had been revived in i86(), and in its place 









OLD CUSTOM HOUSE 



constituted a new Common Council of twenty-one aldermen and changed the 
citv election ti> come on the same day as the State election, on the first Tues- 
day after the first ?^Ionday in Xovember. Under that provision William H. 
^^'ickham was elected mavor in 1874. 

In iS7_> there occurred the greatest strike that there had ever been up to 
that time in the historv of Xew ^'ork Citv, which, beginning with the effort 
of the house painters to have their working days reduceil to eight hours, spread 
to the carpenters and bricklavers, and finally inchuled many other classes of 
workingmen, so that in its worst ])hase there were forty thousand men idle, 
and it was estimated that $5,620,000 was lost in the strike. The workingmen 
were not successful, but fin;dl\- returned to work without receiving any of the 
benefits for which the strike liad been inaugurated. 

In ii'^7,v a great ])anic struck Xew \"ork Citv, and all other cities, result- 
ing chiefl\- from excessive railroad de\-elopment and large s])eculations, which 



BLOWING UP ROCKS AT HELL GATE 393 

had greatly increased the debts of many corporations; and when, in May, 1873, 
it was found impossible to place an issue of American Ijonds in Europe, 
there came an immediate stringency in the market — banks failed, railroads 
went into bankruptcy, and there was a general lack of confidence all over the 
country. In September, 1873, the failure of the Canada Southern Railway, 
the Northern Pacific Railway, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway caused 
the suspension of three of the leading banking" firms of the city, those of 
Robinson, Cox & Company, Jay Cooke & Company, and Fiske & Hatch. 
Soon after, the Union Trust Company failed, and on September 20th, thirty- 
five of the largest firms in New York suspended. The situation was one of 
disaster, the Stock Exchange remained closed from September 22d to Septem- 
ber 30th, and the number of houses that failed received new additions month 
by month. After a time there was some slight recoverv, but business did not 
become really active in New York for several vears afterwards. 

New York actively participated in the exhibits that were shown at the 
Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and one of the immediate results of that exhibi- 
tion was the oiTer by the great French sculptor, Bartholdi, that he would, if 
the proper base was furnished for it, present to the people the Statue of Lib- 
erty Enlightening the World, and some vears later, in New ^'ork harbor, the 
statue was placed, and is one of the most treasured monuments of the repub- 
lic. By the same sculptor also was the statue of La Fayette which now stands 
at the south border of LTnion Scjuare. and was presented bv French residents 
to the city. 

King Kalakaua, of the Hawaiian Lslands, visited New York in 1875, 
being the first reigning monarch that ever set foot on American soil. In the 
centennial year of 1876, the Emperor and Empress of Brazil were visitors 
in New York. 

In 1876, the presidential election was a verv exciting one, the contestants 
being Rutherford B. Hayes, as the candidate for President of the Republican 
party, and Samuel J. Tilden, as the candidate of the Democratic party. The 
dispute as to which of these had been elected w-as especially acute in New 
York, because Tilden had received a large majority of the votes in his State, 
and the decision in favor of Hayes was by no means popular here. At the 
same election Smith Ely was elected mayor of New York, and served with 
ability in that office until 1878. 

One of the great engineering feats of that period was the blowing up of 
Hallet's Point Rocks at Hell Gate, in East River, one of the most extensive 
operations of its kind ever executed, which was successfully carried out at the 
end of ten years of hard work under the supervision of General John New- 
ton. Fifty-two thousand ]wunds of ex|)losives were fired off at one touch of 
a button bv General Newton's little daughter, sreatlv reducing the obstruc- 



HISTORY OF Mill- YORK 



tion lo navigation in Mast River. This explosion occurred on September 24, 
iSyfy. The many fears that had been entertained of great destruction of prop- 
erty from the explosion all ])roved to be groundless. 

The Seventh Regiment of the Xational Guard, which from its organiza- 
tion has been the leading military estalilishment of Xew York Citv, and which 
formerly had its armory at Tompkins Market, found those premises too small 
and inconvenient for regimental use, and in the autumn of 1877. the corner 
stone of the new Se\-enth Regiment Armorv, on the block Ixumded })\ Lexinsf- 
ton and Seventh Aveiuie and Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Streets, was laid. 
The Seventh Regime-nt is the C(intinuation of an organization made in 1824, 
being the outgrowth of the Eleventh Regiment of State Artillery, which con- 
sisted of two battalions, one of artillery and one of infantry. On May 6, 1826, 
the infantry battalion was organized as a separate regiment under the title of 
the "Twent}-se\enth Regiment of Artillerv." but it was long known ;is "The 
National Guards," a title which afterwards liecame common to the entire mili- 
tary force of the State. The name of the Seventh Regiment was bestowed 
u])on it. July 27, 1837. by Governor ^'oung. It has always attracted to it 
young men of g(io(l families, and its services were called for manv times in the 
]M-eservation of public peace. It was the first regiment to leave Xew York for 
the Ci\-il War, and when it needed a new armory, the subscription for the pur- 
pose was very liberal, and the present armory was occupied on April i, 1880. 

An event which created considerable excitement in the city was the dese- 
cration of the grave of A. T. Stewart, in St. ^Mark's churchyard. 'Mr. Stewart 
had been the leading merchant of Xew ^'()rk, and probably its most wealthy 
citizen at that time. Upon his death, April 10, 1S26, 'his remains had been 
temporarily interred there, pending the completion of the mausoleum in St. 
John's Cathedral, at Garden City, Long Island, for which his widow had sup- 
plied the building fund as a memorial to her husband. The thieves escaped 
with his liody. but were disapi)ointed in their effort to procure the reward 
which thev expected. 

In 1878, the trains of the Metropolitan Elevated Railwav began running 
on the Third Avenue and Sixth Avenue routes. A further account of this, 
and other ot the rapid transit facilities of Xe\v "^'ork, will be found in a subse- 
(|uent cha])ter. 

In Xovember, 1874, Sanuiel J. Tilden, one of the foremost citizens and 
greatest lawyers of Xew ^'ork, was elected to the governorshi]) of the State. 
In 1870 he was nominated bv the Democratic jjartv to the ]:)residenc\- of the 
United Stales, but in the sul)sec|uent election there was a dispute as to whether 
Governor Tilden or (jovernor Rutherford R. Hayes, of ( )hio, the Republican 
candidate, had been elected, and the country was in considerable turmoil for 
several months until the matter was finalK' left to an electoral commission of 



EGYPTIAX OBELISK I\ CEXTR.^L PARK 395 



fifteen members, which decided, l)y a vote of eight to ^^e\"cii. that Hayes had 
succeeded in the election. 

In November, 1876. Lucius Roliinson was elected governor under a law 
enacted in 1874, extending the governor's term from two to three years, and 
in 1870 Alonzo B. Cornell, Republican, was elected. 

It will be remembered that in the early part of this history reference was 
several times made to a dispute about the exact boundary line between the 
States of New York and Connecticut, and it will be interesting to note that the 
matter was finally decided in 1880, when a Joint Boundary Commission, ap- 
pointed by the Legislatures of the tw(i States, awarded to New York a small 
strip, 4.68 square miles in area, called the "Oblong Tract," and finally settled 
the boundary cjuestion. 

On January 22d, there was a great addition made to the attractions of 
Central Park, by the erection of the Eg}ptian Obelisk, which was brought from 
Alexandria to New York b\- the steamer Dessoug, under the command of Com- 
mander Henr}- H. Gorringe, LT.S.N., which sailed from Alexandria, June 
I2th, reaching New York, June 20, 1880. This great monolith, which dates 
back to the days of the ancient Pharaohs, is now one of the unique ornaments 
of New York's great park. It is supposed to have been made in the years 
between 1501-1565 B. C, and erected at Heliopolis, whence it was removed 
to Alexandria in the 3'ear 22 B. C. Its total height is ninety feet, the shaft 
itself being sixty-nine feet high and weighing 443.000 pounds. The total 
expense of removal and erection of this shaft, amounting to $103,732, was 
defrayed by William H. \'anderbilt. 

In the earlv eighties there was considerable political turmoil, due to the 
division of the Republican partv into factions, known in the parlance of that 
day as "Stalwarts" and "Half-breeds." In 1880, the Republicans nominated 
James A. Garfield for President, and Chester A. Arthur for \"ice President 
of the United States. In the convention, howexer, there were 106 members 
who from first to last \'oted for the nomination of General U. S. Grant for a 
third term as President. The opposing faction was under the leadership of 
James G. Blaine, who had been the speaker of the House of Representatives. 
The votes had fluctuated among various candidates and finally centered on 
Garfield, who received the nomination. The party leaders, in order to secure 
harmony, offered to the leaders of the so-called Stalwart faction the choice 
of vice president, whereupon General Arthur, then collector of the port of 
New York, was named by Senator Ciinkling, who was the recognized head 
of the Stalwart wing. After the inauguration of President Garfield, James 
G. Blaine was appointed .secretarv of state and became a dominant figure in the 
administration. Through his influence and in o])])osition to the wishes of Sen- 
ators Conkling and Piatt, of New >'ork, William H. Robertson was appointed 



396 



HISTORY OF Xtiir VOKK 




z J: 

< ''- 

^ B 

05 

< -3 



SEXATORS COXKLIXC JXD PL ATT RESIGX 397 

to the collectorship of the |)ort of New York, and after vainly attempting to 
prevent the confirmation of Robertson, Messrs. Conkling and Piatt resigned 
their seats in the Senate, May i6, 1881, expecting, it was supposed, that they 
would he immediately reelected by the New York Leg^islatnre, then in session, 
and therel)y secure an endorsement of the position they had taken in regard 
to the nomination of Robertson. As it turned out, however, thev were dis- 
appointed in this expectation, for the Legislature, though Republican in both 
houses, elected as their successors men who represented the other wing of 
the Repul)lican party, Warner Miller and Eldridge G. Lapham, who were 
selected, after a heated contest in the Legislature, on July 17. 1S81. The death 
of Garfield, at the hands of an assassin, made General Arthur President, on 
September 22. 1881. 

The notable death of that year was that of Thurlow Weed, long known 
as one of the politicians and journalist of the State, who died on November 
22. 1882. 

After the death of Mayor William F. Havemeyer, in 1874, S. B. H. 
Vance was acting mayor until after the fall election, at which William H. 
Wickham was elected. He was succeeded by Smith Ely, in 1877; he by Ed- 
ward Cooper, in 1879, and he by William R. Grace, in 1881. Franklin Edson 
was elected in 1883, and William R. Grace was elected for another term, 1885- 
1886. 

As a result of the dissension in the Republican party, Grover Cleveland, 
a Democrat, was elected governor in 1882, making such an excellent record 
in that office that he was nominated for President of the United States, by the 
Democratic party, at the National Convention in Chicago, on July 8, 1884. 
He was elected President the following November, defeating James G. Blaine, 
who was the nominee of the Republican party. There was great excitement 
over the election in New York City, and the result was so close in the State 
that for a time there was some doubt as to who had carried this State, and 
with it the country. 



CHAPTER 



T H I R T Y - F I V E 



THE PAST THREE DECADES-CREATION AND 
PROGRESS OF THE GREATER CITY 




Beginning with the opening to traffic of the East River bridge, May 24, 
i<S83. there 1:)egan a marked expansion of the population of New York toward 
Brooklyn and its snburhs, and from that time manv investors, who had fore- 
sight, began to see that the nnion of the two cities was inevitable. That was 
not to come, h()we\-er, nntil fifteen vears later. 

Prominent among the events of 1884, affecting the city, was a financial 
sensation, in May, which attracted international attention. The failure of 
James R. Keene, who is said to have lost four millions of dollars, was imme- 
diately followed by the col- 
lapse of the Marine Bank, the 
^Metropolitan Bank and the 
firm of Grant tS; \\'ard, with 
wliich firm General Grant was 
said to iKu-e been connected. 
General Grant, as it after- 
ward appeared, had not been 
actively associated in the 
(il)eratiuns of the firm, but 
was really tJie victim of 
Ferdinand Ward, the active 
member, who had been 
engaged in various oper- 
ations of what we have lately come to regard as "Frenzied Finance," but, at 
the same time, the loss fell largely upon the ex-President. General Grant 
borrowed $150,000 from William H. \"anderbilt, in the endeavor to avert the 
crash, and lost all of his savings. Svmpathv for the general and his family 
was widespread, and tiiey endeavored to satisfy their creditors by mort- 
gaging all of their ]ir(>])erty. Although Mr. Vanderbilt desired to cancel his 
loan. General Grant declined to accept that offer. The general afterward 
recouped his fortunes somewhat bv writing" The Personal ?\Iemoirs of Gen- 
eral U. S. (irant, which had a \ery large sale. In the legal proceedings 
arising fmni the failures, James T. Fish, president (.)f the Marine Bank, and 
Ferdinand Ward, active member of the firm of Grant & Ward, were found to 
have acted together in \arious fraudulent transactions and were arrested, con- 
victed and each sentenced to ten years imprisonment at hard labor in the 
Sing Sing prison. 



THE GARGLE ESTATE 

Sixtieth Street and Tentii Avenue 



DEATH AND BURIAL Of GEXERAL GRANT 



399 




THE CASTER ESTATE 
Formerly near Thirty-sixth Street on F^exington Avenue 



An Arctic expedition, sent out under the aus])ice.s of the New York 
Herald, l3y James Gordon Bennett, Jr., its proprietor, in the steamer Jeannette, 
had come to grief, and a rehef expedition had recovered the remains of Lieu- 
tenant Commander George W. De Long, U. S. N., who had charge of 
tlie expedition, and others. 
Largeh- attended funeral cere- 
monies over the l)odies were 
held in Xew York City on 
February 23, 1884. Another 
Arctic expedition, which had 
been under the command of 
Lieutenant ( now Major Gen- 
eral) A. \V. Greely, also was 
rescued in this year l)y a relief 
expedition, under the com- 
mand of Captain ( now Rear 
Admiral) Winfield S. Schley. 
Tjie Greely expedition had 

been sent out, in 18S1, to establish one of a chain of thirteen circumpolar 
stations. The partv of twentv-five reached farther north (S^t,' 24') than any 
previous record. Lieutenant Greely discovered a new land north of Green- 
land, and crossed Grinnell Land to the Lolar Sea. Two relief expeditions 
having failed to reach the party, he retreated south to Cape Sabine, where, 
the relief still failing, most of the members of the party perished of starva- 
tion. Onlv seven survivors of the partv were found under the third (Schley) 
expedition, which brought them back, as well as the corpses of several of the 
dead, to Xew ^V)rk. 

Grover Cleveland, who had been elected President, resigned the governor- 
ship of Xew York on January 6, 1885, and David Bennett Hill, the lieutenant- 
governor, became acting governor. In the X^ovember election of 1885 he was 
elected for a full term of the governorship. He was again elected in 1888, 
and on Januarv 21, i8qi, was elected L^nited States senator from X^ew York, 
serving until 1897. 

General U. S. Grant did not long survive the financial trouble into which 
he had been forced bv the unprincipled acts of Ferdinand Ward, but died July 
2^, 1885. at ]\Iount [McGregor, near Saratoga. He was buried with imposing- 
ceremonies, and afterward the magnificent mausoleum in Riverside Park, for 
which Congress appropriated $250,000, and a similar amount was raised by 
popular subscription, was erected, and there his remains now rest, and by his 
side, those of his wife, who died several vears later. In the Grant fvmeral 
procession. General William T. Sherman, who was the second greatest Union 



HISTORY OF Mlir YORK 



ciinimanck'r of the Ci\'il \\ ;ir, rode side hx side with the Confederate Gen- 
eral, Joseph 1'".. Johnston, who had twenty years l)efore surrendered his arniv 
to Sherman at Durham Station, X'ortlt CaroHna. 

The corner stone of Bartholdi's statue of Liberty Enhghtening the ^\'orld 
was laid with Masonic ceremonies, on August 5, 1S84, on Bedloe's Island, in 
New ^'ork Harl)or, and was formally un\eiled on October 22. 1886. The cere- 
monies on the latter occasion included an imposing naval parade and a large 
land procession. The ceremonies were attended b}- President Cleveland and 
his cabinet, the governors of many States, members of the Diplomatic Corps, 
and many distinguished American guests, also a deputation from France, in- 
cluding M. Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor. Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, 
Admiral Jaures, General Pellissier, and others. Addresses were made by 
Senator Evarts, President Cleveland, Chauncey IM. Depew, and M. Lefaivre. 

Mention has been made of the "America's Cup," originally called the 
"Queen's Cup," which was won by the schooner yacht America in an interna- 
tional competition under the offer of the Royal Yacht Squadron of England, 
in 1 85 1. Since then there have been challenge contests from English yacht 
owners in 1870, 1871, 1876, 1881, 1886, 1893. 1895, 1899, 1901 and 1903. 
The race in 1886 was with the Boston sloop Mayflower as defender of the 
cup, defeating' the English cutter Galatea in two consecutive races over the 
Sandv Hook course. In 1893, Lord Dunraven offered his yacht, \'alkyrie 11, 
as challenger and was defeated by the American yacht Vigilant. Two years 
later Lord Dunraven again challenged with his yacht A'alkyrie III, against 
the American vacht Defender, and after being defeated in one race, won the 
second, but was deprived of the victory because of a foul. The Englishman 
claimed that he had been cheated, and refused to race again, charging the 
American \achtsmen with unsportsmanlike conduct, and visited this country 
to press the charge. His complaints were dismissed and he was dropped from 
the list of the members of the New York Yacht Club, under whose auspices the 
race had been held. The last three races have been contested by Sir Thomas 
Lii)ton with his vachts Shamrock I, in 1899: Shamrock II, in i()Oi ; and Sham- 
rock III, in riK)3- Sir Thomas made a gallant effort each time and his yachts 
were ablv sailed, but were found not to be quite capable of the speed attained 
by the contesting" American yachts, though the contests with Sir Thomas have 
all been characterized by the highest tv])e of international courtesy and good 
feeling. 

( )n March 11 to 14, [S8S, the entire Eastern seaboard was visited by a 
blizzard which was more disastrous in its results than any that ever visited 
New A'ork (,'it\- in historic times. At one time the snow-laden wind blew 
at the rale of fortv-six miles an hour. Streets and railroads were blocked, 
telegraph wires were blown down and many of the business peojile of New 



THE GREAT SXOll'STORM AND COXKLIXG'S DEATH 



401 



York, who lived in the suburbs, fouud it entirely inipossil)le to reach their 
homes. The streets were impassal)le, in many places, even in the downtown 
districts, and amony" those who died from the effects of the storm, the best 
known was former Senator Roscoe C'onklinj^-, who, after se\-eral hours spent 
in endeavoring" to reach Ids hotel from his office, went to his bed exhausted 
with his eft'orts and from that developed a case of pneumonia, from which he 
(lied, .\pril i8, iS88. Senator Conklino- \vas one of the ablest lawyers and 
most disting-uished statesman of his day. He was a native of Albany, Xew 
^'ork, but had made his home in Utica, where he was elected mayor in 1858, 
afterwards l.)eing- in Congress, by consecutive elections, from i85(j to 18(17, in 
the House of Representatives. He was elected to the Senate in Januar\-, 1867, 
and reelected in 1873 and i87(j. He resigned from the Senate in 1881, l)e- 
cause of his dissatisfaction with the a])poinlment of A\'illiam 11. Robertson as 
collector of the port of New York, b\- President Gartield. and after that 
engaged in the practice of law in New N'ork City. He was especially promi- 
nent in Congress in connection with the reconstruction measures after 
the Civil War. and as one of the statesmen most intimate with General Grant, 
during his two terms as President, and the leader of those advocating the 
renomination of Grant for a third term, in 1880. After his retirement from 
the Senate, he was especially prominent in the work of the State Senate Inves- 
tigating Committee, appointed for the pur])0se of disclosing the fraud and 
l)ril)erv in the granting to Jacob Shar]) of the Droadwa}' Horse Railway fran- 
chise bv the Board of Aldermen in 1884. .\fter the taking oi the testimony, 
lasting about three months. 
Mr. Conkling. together with 
Clarence A. Seward, made 
arguments resulting in the re- 
peal of the Broadway Railway 
charter, and afterward, in 
1887, Jacob Sharp and sex'eral 
aldermen were convicted and 
sentenced to the penitentiarv, 
for bribery in collection with 
the procurement of that char- 
ter. 

At the presidential elec- 
tion in 1888, Benjamin Harri- 
son, of Indiana, and Levi P. Morton, of Xew \'ork City, were elected Presi- 
dent and \'ice President of the United States, on the Rei)ublican ticket, after a 
strenuous campaign, in which President Cleveland sought reelection, and Allen 
G. Thurman, of ()hio. was Democratic candidate for the vice presidency. 




OLD DUTCH FARM HOUSE 
Former Corner of .Seventh .\\enue antl l-'iftictli 



402 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 



Jn iSSy. from April 2yth to May ist. was held the centennial of the 
inauguration of Georg-e Washington as President of the United States. Presi- 
dent Benjamin Harrison took part in the ])roceedings, and was landed in a 
1)1 lat in the same wav and at the same place, at the foot of Wall Street, where 
the first President had landed one hundred years before; and among the 
features ni the occasion was a great naval parade and an imposing land pro- 
cession in which there was an especially fine military display. Several gover- 
nors of other States took part in the parade, as well as a large column of cliil- 
dren from the ])ul)lic schools of New York. 

There was held in the mayor's otifice, in iSqc;. a meeting in the interest of 
a world's fair, to he held in honor of the ([uadricentennial of the discovery 
of America l)v Christopher Columbus. Alany of the ])rominent citizens and 
large capitalists in Xew N'ork became interested in the endeavor to secure 

the selection of Xew York as 
the i)lace for holding the 
World's Fair, Init finally, in a 
contest among several cities, 
it was decided by Congress to 
have the exposition at Chi- 
cago. 

Tn iS<)0, the corner stone 
n\ the Washington Memorial 
.\rch in A\'ashington Square, 
Xew \'()rk, was laid with ap- 
]irnpriate ceremonies, on May 
30th. This arch had its in- 
ception in the celebration, in 
i8M(j, of the centennial of Washington's inauguration, one feature of which 
was a temporarv arch, as part of the street decoration of the occasion, which 
spanned Fifth Avenue, on the north side of Waxerly Place. The structure, 
which was designed l.)y Stanford White, the architect, was so generally 
admired that arrangements were made to ])erpetuate it in marble at \\'ash- 
ington Sc|uare, at the southern end of Fifth Avenue. The main work was 
completed April 18, iSijj, and the cost of the structure was $128,000, 
which was raised by ])opular subscription. 

Another important centenary was obserx'cd in X'ew ^'ork City on Feb- 
ruar\- 4, 1890, being that of the establishment of the Su])reme Court of 
the Cnited States, wddch hehl its first sessions in Xew ^'ork City. 

Abram S. llewitt, one of the most distinguished citizens of X"ew' 
^'ork, both in business and in i)ublic lile. was elected and served as mayor 
for the three-\ear term co\ering tlie ^■ears from i88r) to 1S88. inclusive, 




Former Corner 



THE KEYSER ESTATE 
i)f Fourth (I'arkt Avenue ami Finlietli Stret-t 



THE COLUMBIAN CELEBRATION 403 

and he was succeeded by Hugh J. Grant, elected on the Tammany ticket, 
and serving- from i88g to 1892. 

On January 29, 1891, a banquet was held at Delmonico's, given by the 
Board of Trade of New York, in honor of Honorable William Windom, 
secretary of the treasury. It was turned into a tragedy by the sudden 
death of Secretary Windom, upon the completion of his speech at the 
banquet. Another noteworthy death of the year was that of General Wil- 
liam T. Sherman, who died in this city, on February 14th. 

At the November election, in iSgi. Roswell Pettibone Flower, Demo- 
crat, of New York City and Watertown, New York, was elected governor of 
New York, for the years 1892 to 1894, inclusive. 

The most exciting event of that year occurred on December 4th, 
when a Boston lunatic, named Norcross, entered the Wall Street office of 
Russell Sage, carrying a handbag, and demanded of that famous financier 
the immediate payment to him of $1,250,000. Upon meeting with a 
refusal, he threw the handbag, which contained explosives, to the floor, 
and in the explosion which ensued, the lunatic and a bystander were 
killed. Mr. Sage was slightly, and several others severely injured, and the 

building was wrecked. 

The four hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus in 
America, October 12, 1492, was celebrated with imposing military and 
civic ceremonies, October loth to 12th, 1892. The Columbus column 
and statue at the southwestern entrance to Central Park, was unveiled 
on October 12th, when, in the absence of the mayor, the speech of accept- 
ance was made by General James Grant Wilson. 

The year 1892 was one of great political turmoil. The presidential 
election of that year was between President Harrison, as Republican 
nominee, for reelection as President, with Whitelaw Reid. of New York, 
as his running mate, against Grover Cleveland, ex-President, and Adlai 
A. Stevenson, of Illinois, for Vice President, on the Democratic ticket. 
The election was complicated by a large defection from both parties in 
western States, which had previously been Republican, but which, in the 
election of 1892, were lined up in a fusion with the Democrats of those 
States, in favor of James B. Weaver, who was the candidate of what was 
called the People's Party. Cleveland and Stevenson were elected. 

In New York, Rev. Dr. Charles A. Parkhurst began, in 1892, his 
crusade against the city administration of New York, denouncing the city 
officials as "a pack of administering bloodhounds." His views were endorsed 
by a mass meeting at Cooper Union, but did not bear practical political fruit 
until some years later, as Thomas L. Gilroy, the Tammany candidate for 
mayor, was elected for the term covering the years 1893-1894. 



404 



HISTORY OF Xliir VORK 




OLD COUNTRY INN 

Croton Cottage 

Former Corner of Fifth Avenue and Fortieth Street 



On St']itcnil)L'r 20, i8(;2, the bronze statue of Horace Greeley was 
umeiled in < Ireeley Square. On l)ecem1)er 27, i8g2, the corner stone of 
the heautiful Protestant Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, the Divine, on 
IMornint^'side Hei^-hts, was laid with ajijiropriate ceremonies. The Iniild- 

ing". which was planned upon 
a scale of stately grandeur, is 
not vet completed, but is still 
progressing" and will, wlien 
finished, lie exceeded li>' no 
structure in the countr}- in 
architectural lieauty. 

The panic of 1803 was 
one of the most severe in the 
history of the country. At 
that time, it was attributed, as 
economic crises usuallv are, 
to causes entirelv domestic: 
some saying that it was caused 
])y the sih-er legislation of Congress, others attributing it to the fear of changes 
in the tariti', and others to various causes originating within our own borders. 
That these various situations singlv, or altogether, may have had a contribu- 
tory effect in augmenting the severity of the crisis may well be true, but 
for fundamental causes there were the usual preliminaries: world condi- 
tions of excessive speculation, and too great an expansion of business plants. 
"Boom" times induce large investments of fixed capital in additional 
buildings, machinery, and the like, which, Inhlt to meet an anticipated 
demand, are unproductive if the demand diminish. This was esiiecially 
llie case in the years from 1SS8 to iX()2. \ot only was production of com- 
uKidities and increase of ef|uipmeni much overdone. Inn all over the 
central and far West there was uni)recedentecl acti\it_\" in real estate 
speculation, as well as in speculati\e o])erations on the exchanges in 
stocks, grain, cotton and other commodities. Public expenditures also 
went to un])recedented ligures. This |)eriod introduced us to that luxu- 
rious no\-elt\-, a "billion-dollar Congress." and there \vas a general spirit of 
adxenture exerywhere prevalent. 

P>ut these conditions existed not only here, but abroatl. Atistralia 
es])ecially was doing the same thing that we were doing in tliis country 
— laying out jjaper towns and additions to cities, increasing" production, 
and specul;iling in ;dl wa_\s tliat men do, who expect to make a fortune 
overnight. The Paring Prothers. tlie great T,ondon banking house, was 
found, Xo\ember 24, iS()o, to be i n great financial stress, with liabilities 



Tllf. r.lXIC OF iSq^ t"." 



of £21,000,000, and was only saved trimi failure l)y the timely assistance 
of the Bank of lui^land, the Bank of France, and otlier i^'reat establish- 
ments. 

The Baring- difhcnlties tended to greatly reduce the supply of money 
for speculative pur])oses in the luuMpean markets, and soon there began to 
be felt a scarcity of nione}-. Australia, which had had such a fever of 
expansion and s]jeculation, found itself practically l)ankrupt, and in that 
country, during the latter ])art of 1891 and the year iS(;_', nearly every bank 
closed its doors, manv of them never to o])en again. 

In the United States the same causes produced like results, and during 
1893 and iSq4 many thousands of banks and business enterprises went to 
the wall. The gold reserve in the treasury had fallen to a low figure, and 
Mr. Cleveland, and his secretary, Mr. Carlisle, replenished it with large 
bond issues. New "S'ork suffered with the rest of the cnimtry, but ])roved 
that its financial instituticns were exceptionally sound. There was, how- 
ever, a period of about three years of monetary stringency, complicated 
with serious coinage and currency problems. 

On March 11, 1893, Governor Flower signed the act, passed by the 
Legislature of Xew- York, authorizing the jnn'chase of Fire Island for quar- 
antine purposes, thus settling a (juestion which from early days had 
caused much local agitation in Xew York and its suburbs. 

As a part of the quadricentennial celebration, connected with the 
AA'orld's Columbian Exposition, Xew ^'ork held a naval review on April 
27, 1893, and a large street parade on the following day, in which ten 
nations participated, and on ^Iny [8th, the Princess Eulalia was received 
in X^ew York as a representati\e of the Spanish government, with appro- 
priate ceremonies. As a part of the same celebration, the \"iking ship 
from Denmark was welcomed in Xew A'ork harl)or on June 17th. 

The unveiling of the beautiful statue of Nathan Hale, the work of 
the sculptor. ^lacMonnies, occurred ou Xovember 25, i8cj3. The statue 
was erected under the auspices of the Sons of the Revolution of X"ew 
York, and is one of the chief ornaments of our City Hall park. 

In the election of 1893, there had been notorious frauds at Gravesend, 
Long Island, conducted in an open and shameless manner, and with much 
intimidation of respectable voters, by John Y. McKane, the Democratic 
boss of that cHstrict. His actions aroused nmch indignation, and lead- 
ing in securing his prosecution was William J. Ciayn(jr, a Brooklyn lawyer, 
who was elected to the Supreme bench at that election, and who pursued the 
case with such ability, that McKane was convicted, and on February 19, 
1894, was sentenced to serve six years at hard labor in Sing Sing prison. 
The case was appealed, but the Court of Appeals confirmed the convic- 



406 



HISTORY or Miir VORK 



tion, November 2j, 1894. Judge Gaynor's term expiring I )ccember 31, 
1907, he was unanimously reelected for another t(iurteen-year term, and 
served in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, until elected, in 
the Novemlier election of 1909. to his present otifice as mayor of the city of 
New York for the term expiring December 31, 1913. 

From early days there had been much talk of bridging" not only the 
East River, but also the Hudson, and finally a com])any was formed and 
a bill was introduced into Congress, authorizing the bridging of North 
River, connecting New York with New Jersey. This bill passed Congress 
and was signed b}- President Cleveland, in June, 1894, and the bridge was 
authorized ]\\- the State in 1895, but it has not yet been built, although the 
Company which has the matter in hand is still in existence. A bill which 
passed the Legislature in it)Oi, greatly enlarging the company's powers, 
was vetoed bv ( i(i\"erniir ( )(lell. 

The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Parkhurst luning made pulilic charges 
against the jjolice nf New York City, a resolution was ottered in the New 
York Senate, by Senator Clarence Lexow, of New York City, on January 
24, 1894, to investigate the charge. The resolution was i)assed unani- 
mously, and Senator Lexow was made chairman of the committee. It 
met on March <;, i8()4, in the Courthouse in New York Citv, and began 
the investigation with William A. Sutherland as counsel for the com- 
mittee, until April 131I1. when John \\". (iofif appeared as counsel. At the 
end of June the c<immiltee adjourned until September loth, and continued 

in session almost C(mtinuousl3' 
until Decemljer 29th, when it 
finally adjourned. The evi- 
dence confirmed the charges. 
The examination and testi- 
mony of the seven hundred 
witnesses made 10,576 printed 
pages. The report was sub- 
mitted to the Legislature, Jan- 
uary 18, 1895. Previous to 
this, on December 14, 1894, 
Police Captain Creeden con- 
fessed to having paid $15,000 
for his captaincy, and before 
that. Captain Ste\enson, of llie jxilice, had been convicted oi receiving a bribe. 
As the result of the investigation. Captains Stevenson, Cross and Doughertv, 
and Chief Deverv, were dismissed from the service. The chief witness before 
the committee was Cai)tain (now Inspector) Schmittberger. As the result of 




OLD RESIDENCE 
Former Corner of ^ladisoii Avt-nue aiid Fourth Street 



CREATJOX OF GREATER .V£ff' YORK 



40: 



the Lexow investioation, there was an exciting' election lur nia\iir, in 
November. 1894. the RepnbHcans and independent Democrats combining 
against Tammany, resulting in the election of William L. Strong, the 
Republican candidate, who held the office of mayor of Xew N'ork during 
the years from 1895 to 1897, inclusi\-e, being the last mayor of the City 
of New York previous to consolidation. 

On May 18, 1894. l-li^ Constitutional Convention met al Alban\ , and 
adopted the present Constitution of the State of New \'ork, it ha\ing been 
found that the older instruments of organic law were not sufticiently 
adapted to modern conditions, so that a new statement of fundamental 
principles of legislation seemed to be necessary. For several years the 
question of the consolidation into one greater city of New ^'ork, r5rookl\n 
and other municipalities, had I)een agitated, and in iS(;o the Legislature 
created the Greater New ^'ork 
Commission, of which Andrew 
H. Green was appointed the 
president. The other mem- 
l)ers of the commission in- 
cluded the mayors of New- 
York City, Brooklyn and 
Long Island City, the State 
and surveyor, the 
of New 
^'ork, and nine other persons 
appointed by the go\-ernor. 
^^arious acts were from time 
to time submitted to the Leg"- 
islature, bttt failed to pass, and finally the commission was required to report 
to the Legislature by February i, 1897, by bill, a charter for the enlarged city 
and a scheme for securing equality of taxation and valuation. 

The charter, as prepared by this commission and submitted to the 
Legislature, provided for the consolidation with New York City, on Jan- 
uary I, 1898, of all municipal corporations and parts of such corporatioris (other 
than counties) within the territory covered bv the counties of Kings and Rich- 
mond, Long Island City, the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, and 
that part of Hempstead, in Queens Count}-, west of a line drawn from Flushing-, 
between Rockaway Beach and Shelter Island, to the Atlantic Ocean. It 
provided for the retention of the local governments within these towns, 
except where changed by the Legislature, and provided for the election of a 
mayor of Greater New- York, and other numicipal officers of the greater city, 
at the general election in November, 1897. 



attorney-genera 




THE OLD AUDUBON ESTATE 

Chi the Banks of the Hudson 



40S HISTORV OF XEIJ' YORK 

When the i;rcater city was created, it had a pdpulatiun of 3,100.000, 
an area of 359 square miles, taxable pro])erty valued at $2,583,324,329, and 
a debt of $170,000,000. The Greater New York bill was signed by Gov- 
ernor ]\I()rton, ]\Iay i, 1896, vetoed by Mayor Strong. April 9, 1897. but 
passed by both houses, April 13, 1897. 

During- i8(;6. after an active endeavor on the part of the reform ele- 
ment to procure legislation which should in some measure minimize the 
evils of liquor traffic in Xew ^"ork City, a compromise bill was introduced 
h\ Senator fohn Raines, of (Ontario County, which proposed to regulate 
the selling of liquor on Sunday by permitting it only in hotels: luit the 
definition of a "hotel." under tlie bill, has really resulted only in increasing 
the number, without im]>ro\ing the tone, of the establishments where 
intoxicating liquors mav l)e sold on Sunday. A certain t}-pe of saloon, 
known \)\ the name of "Raines Law Hotel."" has come to represent the 
most disreputalile sort of resorts now in the city, and at the same time 
the illegal selling of liquor in the regularly licensed saloons has been very 
little, if in any degree, diminished. 

At the general election of November 18, 1896, Frank S. Black, of 
Troy, was elected governor, and Timothy L. AVoodruff, of Brooklyn, was 
elected lieutenant governor, having been nominated by the Republican 
ticket. 

During the same year the gold reserve in the I'nited States Treasury 
having Ijeen greatlv depleted, arrangements were made with Xew Y(»rk 
banks bv which $20,000,000 in gold was deposited b>- the banks in the sub- 
treasurv to protect the government reserve. 

In the presidential election of i8i)(>, there was the greatest excitement 
and the most widespread interest that had ever l)een develo])ed at any 
election in this countrv, unless it may liave been the election of i860. The 
advocates of the gold standard, on one hand, and of the free coinage of 
silver on the other, were very strenuous, although in the East, in all of 
the large commercial centres, the a(l\-ocates of the gold standard were 
ver\- largelv in the majority. The meetings of the various jiarties were 
largelv attended, and among the greatest iwlitical demonstrations that were 
ever made in this countrv were "The Sound ]\Ioney Parades"' held in New 
York. Chicago and other large cities. The final result was the election of 
William McKinlev. of Ohio, as President, and Garret A. llo])art as \'ice 
President, b^' a \er\' large majority o\-cr William Jennings Bryan, of 
Nebraska, and Arthur Sewell, of Maine. Democratic candidates for Presi- 
dent and \'ice President. 

A most interesting celel)ration. from a historical standpoint, was that 
lield Mav <■), iS()7, l)eing the Bi-centennial jubilee of Trinity Church. 



77//; I-IRST MAYOR OF GREATER A7:7C YORK 



ll)!l 



At the election <if iXc^j, the important (|uesti(in was the selection of its 
first mavor l)v the Greater City of New York. The candidates were Robert 
\'an W'vck, on the Democratic ticket; General Benjamin F. Tracy, on the 
Republican ticket; Seth Low, on the Citizen's Union ticket; and Henry George, 




STEINWAY HALL 



the faniiius .^ing'le-tax ])hilosopher. on what was called the Jeitersonian ticket. 
Four clays before election, October 29, i8(;7. Henry George died very sud- 
denly. He had made a niar\'elous campaign, and it was thoug-ht by many that 
he would have won the race if he had li\'ed until election day, but although the 
party transferred the nomination to his son. Henry George, Ji'-, the Demo- 
cratic candidate. \'an \\'_\-ck, was elected by a substantial majority. 



410 HISTORY OF \l-ir ]'ORK 

During- the administration uf Maynr Strono-, there had Ijeen a consid- 
eral)le nnnil^er of ch.an.i^'cs in llie pnhce force, which was for the first part of 
that a(hninistratinn under chars^e ni Theodore Roosevelt, as poHce commis- 
sioner. One of the first thing's dune l)_v Mayor \'an W'vck in the \\a.y of 
chan.i^'e was the summary dismissal of the police commissioners, Phillips and 
llamilton, and Chief of Police jMcCttlhigh, on Alay 21, 180S. 

The year of iS()8 was that of the Spanish-American \\'ar, and several 
of the Xew ^'ork re.g'iments went to the conflict, the first heing- the Sevent\-- 
first Re,q'inient, which marched to camp at Hempstead, Long- Island, on the 
President's call for troops, April 2(), i8(j8, and left for the front on May 14th. 
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, who had heen jjolice commissioner ttnder Mayor 
Strong-, and had been appointed, in 181)7, assistant secretarv of the navy, re- 
signed that ])osition when the war with Spain was declared, and with Dr. 
Leonard Wdixl, an armv sttrgeon, organized the First Regiment of United 
States \'okmteer Cavalrv ("'Rough Riders"), which was recruited from the 
ranches of the West. Surgeon \\''ood. because of his superior technical knowl- 
edge, was made colonel, and ]\Ir. Roosevelt lieutenant colonel, of the regiment. 
That regiment went to Culia, participated in the fighting in front of Santiago, 
Cuba, and Mr. Roosevelt was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment for 
gallantrv at Las Guasimus. 

The war was over within a few months, most of the troojts returning to 
the United States, and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, General Joseph \Mteeler, 
the Rough Riders, and the Idiird United States Cavalry, landed at [Montauk 
Point on August 15, 1898; and five days later there was an imposing naval 
parade in Xew York harbor of Admiral Sampson's victorious Santiago fleet. 
Admiral Cerxera, the Spanish naval officer whose fleet had been destroyed on 
Jul\- 3d b\- a part of Aditiiral Sampson's fleet, under command of Rear 
Admiral Schley, arrived in Xew York on September 8, 1898. On October 
12, 1898, the battleships Oregon and Iowa sailed from Xew York for Manila. 

One of the notable deaths of the year was that of Colonel George Edward 
Waring, the famous sanitarv engineer, born in 1833, who died in X^ew York. 
October 2(;. i8()8. Colonel Waring had for a long time been at the head of 
the sanitary arrangements of Xew ^VJrk, and under his sui)er\'ision the present 
verv thor(jugh system of street cleaning and sanitation, which makes X'ew 
York one of the cleanest of the large cities of the world, were inaugurated. 

At the election in 1898, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, of the Rough Riders, 
was elected governor of the State of X^ew York. 

The Xew ^'ork Legislature, in 1899, elected Chauncey M. Depew, Repub- 
lican, distinguished as a railway administrator and as an after-dinner orator, 
to the oflice of L^nited States senator from X^ew York, in succession to Edwin 
Murphv. jr.. of Troy, Xew ^'ork. 



I'lliir OF THE BUSIXESS DISTRICT 



411 




BROAD STREET. LOOKING NORTH 



412 HISTORY OF XEll' YORK 

The year UjOO saw the beginnin.i:,' of ini])()rtant niit\'enients in connection 
with the question of rapid transit, the CDntract for the construction of the New 
York Rapid Transit tunnel being awarded to John B. McDonald, on January 
6th of that \'ear. 

(Governor R(K)sevelt, in tlie same year, a|)pointed the Xew York Tenement 
Commission, which instituted important reforms in connection with the build- 
ing laws and sanitary arrangements that refer to the tenements in New York 
City. 

Tlie presidential election of njoo \vas again l)et\\een W illiam McKinlev, 
on one side, and William Jennings Bryan on the other, although the issvies 
were somewhat dilTerent from those in iSi/i, and the election principally 
turned upon the (|uestion of the relations of the Cnited States to its insular 
possessions, and the ([uestion of the future of the inhaliitants of the Philippine 
Islands. The contest for \'ice President was lietween Governor Theodore 
Roosevelt, of New ^'ork, Repu])lican, aufl Adlai Stevenson, of Illinois (former 
Vice President), on the Democratic ticket. AlcKinlev and Roosevelt were 
elected, but the assassination of President AlcKinle}-, on September 14, i8()i, 
\vhile in attendance at the Pan-American Ex])osition at Buffalo, made Theo- 
dore Roosevelt, a citizen of New ^'ork, F'resident of the P'nited States, which 
office, h\ election to the same position in KJ04, he continued to hold until March 
4, 1909. One of the features of the camjiaign of 1900 was the Republican 
"Sound-Monev" parade, held November _^(1, tliree davs l)efore the election, and 
which was the most imposing parade ever held in New \ ork as a part of a 
])olitical campaign. 

The offer of Andrew Carnegie, on May 13, looi, to contribute $5,200,000 
to liuild sixty-five branch libraries for New \'ork City, provided that the city 
would furnish sites and maintenance for such branches, was accepted l)y the 
citv. At the election in November 6, igoo, Benjamin B. ( )dell. Repulilican. 
was elected governor of New York for the term beginning January, 1 901, and 
on January 21st, the governor transmitted to the Legislature the report of 
the New ^'ork City Charter Reyision Commission, with a message urging 
munici])al economy. The Legislature also passed a New ^'ork Police Com- 
mission Bill wliich, among other things, contained a clause bestowing upon the 
governor the jiower of removal of the police commissioner. This bill being sitb- 
mitted to Mayor Wan \\'yck, he vetoed it on h^bruary 17, 1901, upon the 
ground that the clause giying to the governor the power of removal was un- 
constitutional; liut the Legislature passed the Police Commission Bill over the 
mayor's veto, and it was signed l)y Governor ( )dell and became a law Feb- 
ruary 20, 1901. 

A bill creating a l)i-partisan Bureau of Llections for New York City was 
passed I)\' the Legislature, March 13, 1901. 



.S7:77/ I. oil' BECOMES M.l)'i>l,' 413 

The Xew \ (irk Charter Revision r)in, iiax'ing" lieen passed bv tiie Legis- 
lature and sul)niitted to Mayor Van W _\ck. was vetoed l)y him, but on April 
22(\ was passed by the Legislature over that veto and beeanie a law, and has 
continued to be operative to the present time, having been passed as the result 
of developments which had made the original charter of Greater New York, 
passed in 1897, seem inadequate for the needs nf this great nuinicipality. The 
1901 charter, however, is still regarded as deficient in nianv respects, and is 
now (1910) in the hands of a C(^mmission for the jiurpose of revision. 

On May 13, 1901, was established the celelirated Hall of Fame of the 
New York L^niversitv, which has continued to hold a prominent place in 
national interest. 

There is no summer in Xew York City that there is not some (la\- that 
the average citizen will declare is the hottest ever experienced, but, so far as 
results are concerned, July 20, ii)oi was the most disastrous dav in the num- 
ber of deaths from heat that the city ever knew, two hundred having died 
from the efifects of the heat on that day. 

The Metropolitan ]\Iuseum of Art was greatl}- enriched bv the death, on 
July 5, 1901, of Jacob S. Rogers, a locomotive manufacturer of Paterson, New 
Jersey, who bequeathed his estate, amounting to $5,000,000, to the museum. 

In the numicipal election which was held in Novemlier, igoi, Seth Low. 
the fusion candidate, was selected as ma_\-or of New York for two years, i(j02- 
1903, over Edwin ]\L Shepard, the Democratic candidate. Ah". Low repre- 
sented a reform movement which had been in.augurated as the result of dis- 
satisfaction with the acts of the \'an \\'\ck administration and of the domina- 
tion of politics bv Tamman\- ilall; and while the maiorities were small, except 
in Brooklyn, where Seth Low had formerlv been a verv po|)ular mavor of 
that former city, Mr. Low received a majoritv in each of the borotighs, and 
with him were elected the other reform officials, elected on the same ticket, 
all of whom entered ofifice on January i, it)02. 

The new mavor had l)een president of Columbia University for se\'eral 
years, and in his place, tqion his resignation, the trustees of Columbia L'ni- 
versity selected Professor Nicholas Murrav lUitler as the head of that great 
educational institution, on January 6, ii;02. Columbia I'niA-ersity has since 
made rapid strides in its importance and membership, and is now the most 
largely attended university of the Ignited States. 

There were numerous disasters in i<pj, one of which was a collision in 
the New York Central Tunnel, on Januarx- Xth, in which seventeen persons 
were killed, and another disaster occurred in the Xew Xnvk Rapid Transit 
Tunnel, on Januar\- _'7th. through an explosion, by which many were killed and 
injured and much proj)ert_\- was destroyed. The disastrous Park Hotel fire, in 
which seventeen ]i\-es were lost, aLi^ occurred that \ear, on l'ebruar\- 22d. 



414 HISTORY nP -V/i/f YORK 

A iKiialile event of the year was the visit of Prince Henry of Prussia, 
Avho had come to take part in the ceremonies connected with the launching 
and christening- <if the German EmperDr's new yacht Meteor, whicli had been 
built here. The \isit extended from February 21st to ]\Iarch 15th. Among 
the notable incidents of the visit was the christening of the yacht by Miss Alice 
Roosevelt, daughter of the President, on February 28th. and a dinner given in 
honor of Prince Henry, known as the "Cai)tains of Industry Dinner, at which 
one hundred of the largest capitalists and heads of great American industries 
were in\-ited to meet the Prince. 

At the numici])rd election, in 11J03. Colonel George B. McClellan, son of 
the Union general uf the same name, was elected mayor of New York, to which 
office he succeeded on January i, n)04. IMavor Pow, who was again the can- 
didate on the Fusion ticket, had a slight majority in the borough of Richmond, 
but all of the other boroughs gave the ]ireference to IMcClellan. 

On October 5, 1004, Mayor McClellan caused a sensation by removing 
the entire board of the municipal Civil Service Commissioners from office, and 
also at the same time demanding the resignation of William P. Schmitt, com- 
missioner of parks for the Borough of the Bronx, and appointing an entirely 
new Civil Service Commission. 

One of the tunnels under the Hudsnn River. Ijetween Xew ^'ork and 
Xew Jersey, was c<im]ileted March 11, i()04, although it was not open for 
traffic until tlie CDinpletidu of connections on both sides. 

llie chief e\ent of the year was the oijening of the great subway on Octo- 
ber 27th. ]\layor McClellan ran the first train from the Citv Hall station. 
Afterward the road was o])en to the ptiblic on that da\' and passengers to the 
estimated numlier of 150.000 rode over the rails between the hours of 7 p. m. 
and midnight. 

The idea of an underground railroad for Xew York was first broached 
officially in iScjo. when Mayor Hugh J. Grant appointed a commission, headed 
by Atigust T>elniont, to suggest plans for rapid transit. Tn 1872 the plan was 
re])orted on. and abandoned b}- llie commission after an expenditure of $136,- 
000. In iS()7 the Sujireme Court appointed another commission, and in 1899 
the commission adxertised for bids for Iniilding a sul)wav route. On Janu- 
ar_\- i(>. H)00. the contract was awarded to John B. McDonald for $35,000,- 
000. The time for ihe com])]etion of the road was four and one-half vears. 

< Ml March 25. ii)00. Mayor Van W'yck turned the first shovelful of earth, 
witli a silxer sho\-cl. in front of the City Hall, marking the commencement 
of all work on the subway. After that the work was continuous except as 
interru])leil by strikes, and the completion of the road, as originallv laid out, 
from ( )iK' Hundred and b^)rty-se\-enth Street to the Citv Hall, was onlv one 
month .and two days more than the four and one-half vears sti])ulated from 



HUDSOX TllRMIXAL BUILDIXG 



415 




HUDSON TERMINAL BUILDING 



n(; iiiSTORV 01- .v/r/f ]-ori< 



March J5, Kjoo. Extensi(ins have since l)een made extenchn^- the system into 
the Corouglis of the I'.rdux and [!ro<)kd_\n, and stiH other expansions of the 
lines are contemi^Iated. 

One of the exents of 1905 was the lihzzard wliich occurred on Jaintarv 
25th. which, though not so sex'ere as the one that had lieen recorded for 1888. 
was sufficiently so to stoj) all surface tra\-el. 

One of the most notalile e\-ents of kjo^ was the life insurance investiga- 
tion of that year, which resulted in a marketl chan^X' in the management of all 
the large life insurance companies and the discovery of much that was unsound 
in the methods used by the companies, and the jM-osecution for illegal practices 
of several of the principal insurance officers. ]\Iany of them were forced to 
resign, and the Legislature, in \i)0(\ recei\-ing the rei)orts of the Armstrong- 
Insurance Commission, eiicacted laws to prevent the |)ractices which had been 
discovered in the course of the investigation. 

The mayoralty contest of i(;05 was one of the most exciting that ever 
occurred in tlie history of Xew ^^^rk. George B. McClellan was a candidate 
for reelection on the Democratic ticket. William ^1. hins was the candidate 
on the Republican ticket, and \\'illiam Randolph Hearst. proi)rietor of the 
New York Journal, the Xew \"ork American, and a number of other news- 
papers in various parts of the country, was n(iminated l)y a party he had him- 
self organized, known as the "Alunicipal ( )wnership League." Mr. Hearst is 
a man of \-er_\- great wealth, and had organized a A'ery effective campaign 
machine: and Ijeing himself a man of great energy, visited every section in 
the city, with his si)eakers. in support of himself and his platform, which was 
very profuse in the promises of what would be accom])lished in the case of 
Mr. Hearst's election. Lie drew \-er_\- largely from the vote of both of the 
old parties, receiving a substantial mai(.)ritv over ?\lcClellan in the liorough 
of Brooklyn and a small majority also in Queens, while McClellan carried the 
Boroughs of Afanhattan. the Bronx, rmd Richmond. After the election a con- 
test was started by Hearst, who claimed that a recount woitld show that he 
was elected, and the figures were so close that man\' beliex'cd that this claim 
was true. Even McClellan does not appear to ha\e Ijeen any too sure about 
it, for he interposed manv ol:)Stacles in the wa\- of ;i recount. The mayoralty 
contest was not finallv decided until |une 13, njoS. when in the Supreme 
Court the recount was ended b\- an instructed \-erdict. hnding that George B. 
McClellan had been elected mavor of Xew ^'ork 1)\' a ])luralitv of Jj^)i. 
which, however, was 863 less of a maioritv over Hearst than was originally 
shown in the official returns. This election was one of special importance, 
because it was the first one under the new law gi\ing a four-year term to the 
ma\dr of Xew \'ork. so that McClellan had secured one two-year and one 
four-vear term, makiu"' six A-ears in all. 



THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIOX 41T 

During the year i()o6 tliere occurred, in June, one of the most sensa- 
tional murder cases in the history of Xew ^'ork: the shooting of Stanford 
White, tlie most famous of American architects, by Harry K. Thaw, in the 
Madison Scjuare Roof Garden, in June of tliat year. It is not necessary to go 
into the details of this recent crime, which resulted in the acquittal of the de- 
fendant on the ground of insanity, and his incarceration in the asvlum for the 
criminal insane at Alatteawan. \'ast sums of money were spent in defense of 
Thaw, whose family was one of the wealthiest in Pittshurgh, and numerous 
attempts were made to secure his release from the asvlum on the plea that he 
is now sane, but uniformly without success. 

In 1906, ^Ir. Hearst again appeared in politics as a candidate for gov- 
ernor, this time l)eing nominated not only Isy his own party, which had changed 
its name to "Independence League," but also securing the Democratic nomi- 
nation. Very man_\- of the Democratic \-oters of the citv and State, however, 
would not vote for Hearst, who had the }ear before been acti\-elv denouncing 
their party and its candidates, while the Republicans had the advantage of an 
exceptionally strong candidate in Charles E. Hughes, one of the ablest 
lawyers of X'ew \'ork City, who had been at the head of the great insin^ance 
examination of 11)04. ^f''- Hughes was elected b\- a ])luralitv of nearlv fiftv- 
eight thousand votes over Hearst. 

The important events of 1907 included the meeting in Xew York, on 
April 14th, of the National Arbitration and Peace Congress, and the pas- 
sage of a bill in the Legislature, signed by the governor, June 6, 1907, 
creating a Public L'tilities Commission, to have supervision and regulation 
over the various railroads. This has resulted in various reforms in con- 
nection with the o|)eration of street railroads, subwavs and elevated rail- 
roads in Xew York City. 

On June 20th, Mayor ^IcClellan turned the first sod in the construc- 
tion of the Catskill Water Supply System, which, when completed, will 
greatly enlarge the water resources of this great metropolis. 

On September 13th, the Lusitania, of the Cunard line of steamers, 
from Liverpool, completed her maiden trip from Queenstown in five days 
and fifty-four minutes, this being the largest steamship ever built, up to 
that time, with a gross tonnage of 32,500 tons, and 70,000 indicated H. P., 
with a length of 790 feet and breadth of 88 feet and a depth of 60^2 feet. 
This vessel and her sister ship of the same dimensions, the ]\lauretania, 
have since been running regularly between Xew York and Li\-erpool, and 
have several times reduced the record. The fast time record is now held b}- 
the r\Iauretania, which left Queenstown September 26th. and arrived in 
X'ew \ ork, September 30, 1909, in four da\-s, ten hours and fifty-one 
minutes. 



418 HISTORY OF XEIJ' YORK 

(Jn (.)ct(il)er 17, KjO/. the first regular wireless despatch over the 
Atlantic Ocean for commercial purposes, was received in Xew York. 

On October 21, 1907, there was great financial disturbance in Xew 
York, owing to the suspension of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, 
which was followed between then and the 30t]i by the sus])ension of several of 
the banks, and caused a financial stringency in the city for several months. 
The suicide of Charles T. Barney, on November 14th, was one of the 
incidents of the troubles that followed, and several prosecutions for the 
violation (if the banking laws were started against various ofticials. 

On January 9, 1908, the East River tunnel, from Manhattan to Brook- 
lyn, was open to traffic as a part of the Interborough Rapid Transit Rail- 
road, and has since been in operation, and on February 25th, the first of 
the tunnels under the Hudson River, to Xew Jersey from Xew York, was 
open to traffic by the Hudson and Manhattan Railway Company, of which 
William G. McAdoo is president and executive. 

The Knickerbocker Trust Company reopened for business on March 
26, 190S, having been reorganized and strengthened, and placed under new 
management. 

The Old Free Academ}- of New York, the origin of which has been 
heretofore mentioned, and which several years after had received col- 
legiate powers, and changed its name to the "College of the City of New 
York," had so grown that new premises were required, and the new build- 
ings on St. Nicholas jilace, at One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Street, were 
built, and were formallv opened on May 14, 190S. 

On May 30, 1908, the body of George Clinton, the first governor of 
the State of New York, arrived in New York, arrangements having been 
made for its removal from the city of \^'ashington to Kingston, X'ew York, 
where the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of 
Kingston took place on the 31st instant. The body was received in New 
York City with a])propriate honors and forwarded to its final destination. 

In 1908 occurred another ])residential election, \\'illiam H. Taft for 
President, and James S. Sherman for \'ice President, being the candidates 
uiion the Republican ticket, and William Jennings Bryan for the third 
time was the Democratic nominee, with Jacob S. Kern, of Indiana, as his 
running mate. The Republican ticket was elected: and Charles E. Hughes 
was also a successful candidate, reelected to the office of governor of New 
York, which he resigned to take effect in October, 1910, having been 
appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Ignited States. 

In 1909 occurred several centenaries, notably those of Abraham 
Lincoln, Edgar Allen Poe. Charles Darwin and Alfred Tennyson, all of which 
were celebrated in Xew York. 



THE CITY COLLEGE 



419 



o 
r 

r 

K 

o 

K 
O 

H 
I 
W 




4v'0 HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 

On ]\Iarch 13th. news caaif frum Palermo, Sicily, that Lieutenant 
Petrosini) had l)een assassinated in that city, prestnnably by the members 
of what is known as the "Black-hand Society." This was an association 
of Italian criminals, many members of which had foimd their way into the 
L'nited States, and believed to be responsible fur many murders and other 
atrocities. The usual method of the Black-hand was to send threatening 
letters to some person supposed to be wealthy, usually of their own nation- 
ality, threatenino- death, the abduction of some child, or some atrocity, in 
case of non-cnm])liance with their demands for mnuey. Lietitenant 
Petrosino had been untiring- in the work assigned to him of the detection 
and punishment of members of this murderous society, and was in Italy 
in inirsuance of his ofticial duty, when he was assassinated. His body was 
returned to Xew \'ork and committe 1 to the earth with militarv honors. 

An im])ortant event of the year was the opening, on ]\larch 13th, of 
the new Utteensborough l:)ridge, conne:ting Xew \'ork, at Fift_\'-eighth Street, 
with Long Island City. 

On Tulv 6, ii)08. Commander Pear\-, U.S.X.. the arctic ex])lorer, left 
X'ew York in the steamer Roosevelt, on anr)ther ])olar ex])edition to the Xorth. 
with an e(|ui]iment which seemed to assure him success in reaching the 
Xorth Pole. ( )n Septemlier i, 190 ), a Danish ship touched at the 
Orkneys, in the Xorth of Scotland, ha\-ing on Itoard Dr. Frederick A. Cook, 
an explorer who had left Xew York in \uoy. who telegraphed from there 
th.'it he had reached the Xorth Pole on A])ril 21, 1908. and had afterward 
undergone a winter of terrible ]>ri\ations in the frozen regions of the 
X'orth. A few days afterwards he reached Copenhagen, where his 
announcement of the discovery of the X'orth Pole was full}- credited and 
honors heaped upon the exidorer. On Se]neml)er 9th, howe\-er. Com- 
mander Pear\-. who had reached Indian Harbor. Labrador, on his return 
voyage, announced that he had discovered the Xorth Pole, in April. 1901). 
A week later I'ear\- sent another des;)atch, relating to the claim of Dr. 
Cook, declaring that Cook had not reached the X'orth Pole, and imme- 
diateh- a contro\-ersv began o\-er that stibject. Dr. Cook arrived in Xew 
York City, on September 21st, and received an uproarious welcome. After 
that he lectured in various ])(;>ints of the countr}- in regard to his dis- 
cover^-, publishing in serial form, in the Xew York Herald, what pur])orted 
to lie a narrative of his adventures in reaching the pole. Peary afterward 
arri\-ed, and his accounts were so specific and so well attested, that there 
was practicalh- no doulit aliout the fact that he had reached the X'orth 
Pole. Still many, and probably a n-iajority, of the people believed the 
storv of Dr. Cook, on the strength of which he was awarded the freedom 
of the cit}- b\- the Pioard of Aldermen, on ( )ctober 15. i<;oij. Later dis- 



ATTEMPTED ASSASSIXATIOX OF MAYOR GAYS OR 



4-n 



cuveries in regard to the ductur weakened imlilic npininn, and liis so-called 
records, which were sent to the L'niversitv (^f Copenhagen, in December, 
were examined by that body, which funnd that the_\' did not at all estaldish 
his claim. Before this decision was made. Dr. Cook and his family dis- 
appeared from view. So although it is undoubtedly true that Dr. Cook was 
somewhere in the far Arctic region at the time, his accoimts of having 
reached the pole are thoroug'hly discredited. The scientific world now fully 
recognizes the claim of Commander Peary as the first discoverer of the 
Nortli Pole. 

In the municipal election, in November, 1909, the Democratic nomi- 
nation was given to Judge A\'illiani J. Gaynor, of Brooklyn, who had a long 
and honorable record as a jurist and a ])olitical reformer. The Repub- 
licans and several indei^endent (irganizatious had. i^revious to (iaynor's 
nomination, united in the selection of Otto H. Bannard. i)resident of the 
Xew York Trust Company, as the fusion candidate for mayor. William 
R. Hearst, who had previously expressed a desire to support judge Gaynor 
if he should be nominated on an inde])endent ticket, declared himself 
against that gentleman, after he had received the Tammany nomination, 
and himself became a candidate for the ma^'l:>ralt^•, making many 
speeches, principally directed against Gaynor. judge (laynor received 
over 250,000 votes, Bannard over 177,000, and Hearst over 104,000, so that 
Judge Gaynor was elected mayor, while for the other numicii>al offices, 
Mr. Bannard's running mates on the Fusion ticket were elected. Mr. Gaynor 
began his administration so nmch to the citv's general satisfaction, that the 
attempt to assassinate him, by a discharged dock employee, in August, 1910, 
shocked the world. Fortunatelv he recovered from his wound. 

One of the vastly important events of 1909 was the completion of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad terminals, so that an inspection train was run through 
under the Hudson River, from Harrison. Xew Jerse}-. to Xew \'ork City, 
o\-er the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. This pa\-ed the wa}- for the oi^ening 
of regular train service over the Pennsylvania lines direct to Thirtv-second 
Street and Seventh Avenue, Xew ^'ork, which began on September 8, 1910, 
trains now running into the magnificent new terminal station of that company. 




McKnr,. Mead & (I lnu\ rl n-lnl eels 
THE NEW PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD STATION 



423 



HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 




TRINITY BUILDING 



Francis H. Kimball, Architect 



CHAPTER T H I R T Y - S I X 



NEW YORK HARBOR AND THE HUDSON RIVER 
THE HUDSON-FULTON CELEBRATION 

As a harbor and conunercial centre N^ew York j)ossesses unsurpassed 
advantages of situation. It is located in latitude 40° 42' north, and longitude 
70° west of the Meridian of Greenwich. The rocky island of ^Manhattan 
rises abruptly from the waters of a landlocked harbor, uiion whose l)road 
surface might float the combined navies of the world. 

About eighteen miles south of the Battery liegin the entrance channels 
to the Lower Bay: the South. Main, Gedney and Ambrose Channels, the lat- 
ter only completed about Kp/. and being the deepest of all, and used by the 
greatest of the modern "leviathans of the deep." The Lower Bay is connec- 
ted with the L'pper Bay and Newark Bay 1)y the Kills around Staten Island. 

To the east of the island of Manhattan the East River connects the 
Upper Bay with Long Island Sound, which affords a route safely protected 
from the Atlantic for vessels bound from New York to the cities of Southern 
New England. On the north of Manhattan Island the FTarlem Ship Canal 
connects the East and North (Hudson) Rivers. 

At ebb-tide there is a depth of twenty-one feet of water on the outer liar 
between Sandv Hook and Long Island, and the tidal wave rises and falls but 
six feet. The port is open to navigation all the year round, even when the 
Chesapeake and Delaware Bays are frozen over. 

The Lower Bav has eighty-eight st|uare miles, and the L^pper Bay four- 
teen square miles of anchorage, a total of 102 square miles. The water front 
of the city has been greatly impro\-ed for the purposes of a harbor by its great 
system of jetties and docks. There is a total of 47S miles of water front and 
seven hundred miles of wharf room. 

To the interior stretches the Hudson River, navigated l)y some of the 
finest vessels that ever floated on inland waters, and connected for freight 
purposes bv the great canals which, before the railroad became a fact, had 
been opened to form a line of traffic comnumication between the great lakes and 
the Atlantic Ocean. Of the Erie Canal the Legislature authorized the final 
survey on April 13, 1806: work was l^egun at Rome, in Oneida County, July 
4, 1817, and the first boat, the Seneca Chief, left Buffalo October 26, 1825. 
and arrived in New York City November 4, 1825. The second of the canals 
of importance is the Champlain Canal, begun in November, 181 7, and opened 
September 10, 1823. It connects Lake Champlain with the Hudson River 
and the Erie Canal. Many other canals in the State add their quota to the 
traffic which has its southern terminus in New York Citv. 



4-.' I HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

\\'hcn liudsdii came thrnugh the Narrows and crossed the hroad Upper 
Ray, his first idea was that he had fotind the passage to Cathay, that had l^een 
the (h"eaiH nf tlie adventtirers from the davs of Cohinil)iis. He missed Cathay, 
hut fotind a greater land His voyage up the Hudson has l)een fully described, 
from his own narratix'e. in the first part of this volume, and that river was the 
most important disco\'erv of his \-ovage. It was that river, with the possi- 
bilities that it (i])enc(l fur trade with the aljorigines, that made his discovery 
es])ecially valuable to civilization, and that catised the settlement of Xew Xeth- 
erland a decade later. The commercial Dutch, fully alive to the value of water- 
wavs as trade thoroughfares, founcled the settlement which has expanded to 
the present New York, because of the usefulness of the river as a business 
highway. The historic imjjortance of Hudson's discoverv has never been 
questioned, and the ])ro])osition that there should be a tercentenary celebration 
of the discovery held in np<; was, therefore, ;i most ap])ropriate one. 

It was not the tercentenary of the citv, but of the river, for the citv was 
not founded for se\"eral years after the Half-Miion sailed up what Hudson 
called the "Groot Rivier" or Great River. Mven that was not its first name, 
for the respective Indian trilies, which were verv numerous, wdiose villages lined 
its shores, each called the river by their indivitlual tribal names, as the "Shate- 
muc," "]\Iohican" and "Cahohatatea." The first Dutch settlers named it 
■"Mauritius'" in iKinor of Prince Maurice of Nassau, then at the head of the 
United Netherlands, while the English, in the earliest maps of the regiini made 
by them after the discovery, indicated it in those maps as "Hudson's River," 
that l)eing the basis of their rather shadowv claim to the region, because 
Henry Hudson, though at the time master of a Dutch ship, was an English- 
man. After English sovereignty was established the name '"Hudson River" 
Iiecame the permanent one. From the first, however, both under the Dutch 
and the English, the residents of the City of New ^'ork have, tn this dav, used 
the alternate name <if '"North River" almost as fre(|uentlv as the jiroper name 
of that great stream, because tlie stre;im or strait nn the other side of the 
island is named "'East Ri\'cr." 

The prop()sition that there should lie a great celebration commemorative 
of the three hundredth anniversarv of the discoverv of the river by Elenrv 
Hudson was made as far back as moi, b\- Eben Erskine Olcott, and at that 
time and afterwards, bv comnuuiications to newspapers and b\- ])ersonal advo- 
cacv, he impressed his views u])on ])e:)j)le of influence. In igo2 he called 
together a number of prominent citizens at an informal dinner at the Univer- 
sity Clul), where the first discussion of ])lans for the proposed celebration took 
place. 

]\Ierui\vhile there was develo])ed a desire to ])roperlv celebrate another 
event connected with the i ludson River, scarcelv second in imi)ortance to the 



HUDSOX-FULTON CELEBRATIOX COMMISSIOX 



A2'^ 



original discovery of tlie river itself, and even 
more general and international in its bearing, 
this being" the centenary of steamboat naviga- 
tion, beginning with the '^nccessfnl voyage of 
Robert Fulton's Clermont in 1807. This, too, 
was a iiroposition so full of merit and desir- 
abilitv that it appealed to a large number of 
people as favorablv as did the ])r()position to 
celebrate Hudsdn's discovery. It did not seem 
possible, however, to properly honor both 
events on two sejxirate occasions so close 
together as 1907 and 1909, and for this reason 
it was finallv decided to merge the two anni- 
versaries in one celebration, the planning and 
execution of which was finally accomplished liy 
the appointment, by the g-overnor of the State 
of New York and the mayor of the City of 
New York, of the Hudson-Fulton Celel)ration 
Commission, which was incori)orated in i<)o6. 
Before it came to this point there had been 
much etfective and ]iatriotic preliminary work, 
first liy .Mr. Olcott. the original proposer, and 
afterward by other gentlemen in association 
with him, leading up to the final organization 
of the commission. 

During the first two hundred years in the 
history of the Hudson River there was com- 
paratively very little change in the method of 
its navigation. Prior to the historic period the 
Indians had navigated it with their bark 
canoes, but the white men who came used sails, 
as well as oars, in traveling up and down the 
river, after the first trip of Hudson's Half- 
Moon. The navigation of the river increased 
in volume, and the vessels used showed some 
improvement in construction, but it took the 
invention wrought out bv bTilton's genius to 
give new life to the commerce, first of the 
Hudson River, and afterward of the world. 

The earliest steamers on the Hudson were 
very crude in design, but the ])roblems of steam 
navigation have very largely been worked out 



ll* 




jf Win _ ill' rr Srr ■ii »'ii m 




THE SINGER BUILDING 



426 HISTORV OF XEIF VORK 

first on that stream ; and it is on the Hudson River that navigation as applied 
to inland waters has reached its highest development. To Commodore Alfred 
van Santvoord, more than to an\- other man since Fulton, is due the wonderful 
development of the Hudson River as a highway of travel. To him is due the 
transition from the old-fashioned, uncomfortahle, dingy and unsightly steamers 
of the early day, to the magnificence of the modern floating palaces, like the 
Hendrik Hudson and the Robert Fulton, representing the highest ideal of 
art and beauty as applied to naval architecture. On these steamers one mav 
now tra\'el with the utmost speed, comfort and luxury, while viewing the 
l)eauties of the "verv good land to fall in with, and i)leasant land to see," 
which so delighted Henry Hudson three hundred years ago. 

The scenic beauties of the Hudson have been extolled by travelers from 
Hudson's day to this, and while Manhattan Island has had a wonderful trans- 
formation from the hillv forest that Hudson saw to the present wonderful citv 
of loftv and sky-scraping buildings, the reaches beyond the city and northward 
to Albanv are still scenes of beautv which make the Hudson justlv regarded 
as a parallel and peer to the far-famed Rhine. Fortunately the spirit of con- 
servation ancl scenic preservation has taken strong possession of the public 
mind in our day, and measures are on foot to preserve and accentuate the 
scenic attractions and historic memorials of the Hudson. The new project 
of the Great Highland Park, now made certain bv act of the Legislature, is 
one of these most worthv measures. 

The Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission was composed of more than 
seven hundred prominent citizens of the State of New ^'ork, among whom 
were included, ex officio, the mayors of the fortv-seven cities of the State, and 
the presidents of thirty-eight villages along the Hudson River. The joint 
interest of the State of New Jersey in the celebration was recognized by Gov- 
ernor Hughes by the appointment of fifteen citizens of New Jersev among the 
members of the commission. The expenses were paid from a State appro- 
priation and a large private fund. 

The officers of the commission were: General Stewart L. Woodford, 
])resident; Herman Ridder, ])residing vice president; Andrew Carnegie, Hon. 
Joseph H. Choate, JMajor General Frederick D. Grant, U.S.A., Hon. Seth 
Low, J. Pierpont Morgan, Hon. Levi P. [Morton, Hon. Alton B. Parker, John 
E. Parsons, General Horace Porter, Hon. Frederick W. Seward, Francis Lvnde 
Stetson, Hon. ( )scar S. Straus, William B. van Rensselaer, and General James 
Grant Wilson, \ice presidents; Isaac N. Seligman, treasurer; Colonel 1 lenry 
W. Sackett, secretar\-, and Dr. F.dward Hagaman Hall, assistant secretary. 

The celebration was l)roadl\- jjlanned and was executed upon the largest 
and most generous scale. Tlie two events to l)e commemorated were recog- 
nized as being local in onl\- a \erv restricted sense. The discoverv of Llud- 

■m 



THE \AVAI. CP.LF.B RATIO X 



son and the invention of l'"ulton were of world-wide significance, and all the 
nations were therefore invited to participate in the proceedings, and responded 
by sending some of their greatest fighting ships to take part in the great naval 
parade which oi^ened the two weeks of pageantry. 

The date of the celebration was set for the two weeks from September 
25 to October t;, icjoc), the principal events during the first eight days occur- 
ring in Greater New ^'ork and upon the Hudson River opposite the city. In 
the following week the celebration continued at the Hudson River cities from 
Yonkers to Troy. 

The o])ening dav, Saturday, September 25th, witnessed the most impos- 
ing displav of vessels ever gathered in the harbor of New York, or in this 
country, and never excelled in diversitv in any place, or on any occasion, in 
history. Holland, with due realization of the important connection of the 
Netherlands with the history of New ^'ork, and whose flag was the first to 
fly over the waters of the Hudson, had gone to great pains to produce a 
replica of the Half-Moon, which l)ecame one of the two leading features of 
interest of the entire celebration, the other Ijeing an exact reproduction of the 
Clermont, with which Fttlton revolutionized the entire art of navigation and 
began a new epoch for the commerce of the world. 

In the Naval Celebration, flying the flags of all of the great powers as 
well as those of numerous countries of lesser importance, was collected what 
was probably the greatest fleet of war vessels that was ever mobilized. The 
naval Aessels anchored at convenient distances apart, midstream of the North 
River, extending from Forty-second Street to a point above Spuyten Duyvil, 
numbering about one hundred sea fighters. 

The ranking officer of the Naval Celebration was Sir Edward Hobart Sey- 
mour, G.C.B., admiral of the llritish Fleet, which was represented by the flag- 
ship Inflexible, largest of the warships assembled in the river, the Drake, the 
Duke of Edinburgh, and the Ulack Prince. Germany also sent four of her 
great vessels, the Bertha, Bremen, Dresden, and Viktoria Luise, the latter 
being the flagship of Grand Admiral \'on Koester. France, Italy, Holland, 
Mexico and Argentina were also rejiresented among the warships, wdiile the 
American Fleet was under the general command of Rear Admiral Seaton 
Schroeder on the battleship Connecticut (flagshi])). 

Besides the war vessels more than one thousand other craft, including 
steamboats, private steam yachts and tugs took part in th.e ])arade, which 
formed at about one o'clock in the afternoon at a point midstream, between 
St. George, Staten Island, and Bay Ridge. Previous to the formation of the 
parade, beginning about 10. ,^0 a. m., the Half-Moon and the Clermont, accom- 
panied ])y a ])art of its escort s(|uadron, assembled in the Kill \'on Kull and 
maneuvered along the Staten Island, Bay Ridge and Brooklyn shores, giving 



428 HISTORY OF XlUr YORK 



opportunity to many tliousands on Staten and L(in,L;- Island to see tliese two 
most remarkal)le vessels. The Half-Mnon. (.lin-jng- the ceremonies of the day, 
was manned by a detail frum the Netherlands' cruiser Utrecht. The parade 
'if vessels, includini^^ all excejit the war vessels, was under general command of 
Captain Jacdh W. .Miller, chairman of the Commission Committee for the Xaval 
Parade. It was divided into eight squadrons, as follows: First Squadron, 
seagoing and coastwise merchant vessels; Second Squadron, steamboats ply- 
ing the inland waters of the I'nited States, including ferrvboats; Third Squad- 
ron, steam yachts; Fourth S(|uadron, motor l)oats; Fifth S(|ua(lron, tugs and 
steam lighters; Sixtli Scpiadron, all sailing craft, and such other vessels as 
a|)i)lied for anchorages, lietween Seventv-second Street and One Hundred and 
'I hirtieth Street, Hudson Ri\'er, during the ceremonies; Police and Public 
Safety S(|uadron, ])olice, wrecking, fire and hosi)ital boats; Escort S(|uailron, 
Half-Aloon, Clermont, naval militia vessels, steam launches, cutters, small 
boats and government craft, such as torpedo boats and submarines detailed by 
the United States naval authorities; Patrol Sc|uadron, United States revenue 
cutters and other government. State, nninicipal or i)ri\-ate vessels, ordered or 
authorized by the secretarv of the Department of Commerce and Labor; 
."^cout S(|uadron, fast steamers and m itor boats to act as dis]iatch \'essels 
under orders from the commanding officer oi the na\'al. parade. An incident of 
the ]iarade which was not on the program was the collision between the Half- 
Moon ;nid the Clermont, which while it caused no damage, led to the attach- 
ment of a tug to the Half-Ab)on, to take it to the reviewing stand at the foot 
of One Hundred and Tenth Street, its arrival there being greeted bv a salute 
in which all of the great fighting vessels participated, which was beyond ques- 
tion the greatest cannonading ever heard in New ^'ork harbor. 

It is said tliat this celebration brought to New N'ork the largest crowd 
that e\'er was within its burders, including one nnllion out-of-town visitors. 
This estimate is on the basis of reports from the hotels, which entertained six 
lumdred thousand of these \-isitors, while it is doubtless true that at least two- 
thirds as many were either entertained in pri\-ate houses or came early in the 
morning rnid left at night. 

A large part of the ])ar;ide was rejieated at night with the added feature 
ot illumination of the shijjs, while the ri\-er was made still more brilliaiU by 
a great elewated battery ni forty searchlights of five hundred thousand candle- 
1 lower each, which ]il;iyed u]) and down the Hudson from early dark till after 
midnight. 

rile display of ve^^seL in the dav parade was especiallv significant when 
compared with the !Ialf-Moon and the Clermont. A'iewed from the river, 
from the deck ot one of the steaml)oat- ]iartici])ating in the parade, the im- 
l)ressiiin o| progress was es])ecially emphatic; for the great liners at their 



BRILLIAXT ILLUMIXATIOX OF THE CITY 429 



piers and docks, on each side of the ri\er, were all bedecked for the occasion, 
and the display of buntin"- \vas the most ])rofuse that was ever collected at 
one time in anv place in the world. The ]iarade represented the entire space 
of time and progress from Henry Hudson's Half-]\Ioon to the oiant dread- 
nanght Inflexible, and from the inmy Clermont to the mammoth Cunarder, the 
Lusitania. The illumination of the ships at night was a wonderful spectacle, 
the great Inflexible as well as ships of the German and American navies be- 
ing outlined in mvriads of electric lamjis. 

A feature of the celebration whicii extended through the first week from 
Saturday to Saturday, inclusive, was the brilliant illumination of the city, 
which exceeded in magnificence anything which has ever been attempted at 
any place in the world, including not only the illumination along the river, but 
also along ]^)roadway and other business thoroughfares, and along the line of 
march of the various land parades which were held several times during the 
week beginning Monday, September 27 th. Especially brilliant was the Cotu^t 
of Honor, extending from Fortieth to Forty-second Street, in an artistic de- 
sign which covered the entire roadway at that i)oint with a blaze of lights. 

In connection with the celebration there were several exhibitions, includ- 
ing displays representative of the histjry of the citv during three hundred 
years, made at the American IMuseum of Natural Historv, the Brooklyn In- 
stitute, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the College of 
the City of New York, and the art exhi]:)ition in the Metropolitan ]\lttseum of 
Art. consisting of i)ictures of the earh- Dutch and Flemish schools and other 
pictures representative of historical subjects. 

On Monday, September 27th, there was gi\'en, in the Aletropolitan (Jpera 
House, a formal reception to the \-isitors to the city, presided over by General 
Stewart L. Woodford, president of the Hudson-]-\ilton Celebration Commis- 
sion, and begun with an address of welcome by Mayor McClellan to the 
guests. Among the most distinguished of the guests were Admiral Seymour, 
Admiral \'on Koester, Admiral Le Pord, of the French fleet: Jean Gaston Dar- 
boux, the French representative; J. T. Cremer, Dutch delegate; Youssef Zia 
Pasha, representative of Turkey; Sehor Don Pio Bolanos, from Xicaragu:i, 
and Don Esteban Carbo, of Ecuador, as well as other representatives of for- 
eign nations, who made brief responses to the welcoming speech of the mayor. 
From the Kaiser, Admiral \'on Koester brought congratulations, and com- 
mented on the fact that this was the tirst time that the celel)ration of a single 
city had been made an international festival. One of the most interesting- 
features in connection with this reception was the presence of the veneral)le 
author of the "Battle H}inn of the Republic," ^Irs. Julia Ward Howe, who 
read an original poem, written for the occasion, which related to the achieve- 
ments of Hudson and l-'uUon. Other features of that dav (^fondav) were the 



430 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




THREE GREAT PARADES 431 



dedication of Palisades Park by Governors Charles E. Hughes, of New York, 
and Franklin Fort, of New Jersey; and the laying of the corner stone of the 
monument to Henry Hudson, at Spuyten Duyvil, by Governor Hughes, with 
an appropriate address. In the afternoon four hundred officers of visiting- 
warships were entertained on Ciovernor's island, by [Major General and Mrs. 
Leonard Wood. 

The Plistoric Parade of Tuesday, Septemljer 28th, was a l)rilliant and 
inspiring pageant. The line of march extended from One Hundred and 
Tenth Street at Central Park West, south to Fifty-ninth Street, thence east 
to Fifth Avenue, and south to Washington Square. Participating in the 
parade were nearly twentv thousand people, for the greater part in costume, 
and there were fiftv-four floats, representing the history of New York City 
and the surrounding country in four periods: Indian, Dutch, colonial and 
modern. The modern division, however, 1)rought the history down to no 
later events than the first Erie Canal boat and the introduction of Croton 
water into the city. The pageant was led by Mayor George B. McClellan 
and Herman Ridder, chairman of the Carnival and Historical Parades Com- 
mittee, accompanied by a platoon of police. On each of the three great parade 
days there was a detail of four thousand four hundred police to keep order 
along the line of march, along which the stands, the sidewalks, the windows, 
the parapets, and every availaljle nook and corner from which a view of the 
parades could be obtained were filled with a crowd estimated to be in excess 
of two million people. 

On Thursday was the occasion of the great Military Parade, which was 
unique in the history of parades in America because of the large representa- 
tion of foreign forces in the line. Admiral Seymour, with his blue-jackets 
and marines, led the line of march, after the preliminary police platoon to 
clear the way, followed by detachments from the German, Netherlands, French 
and Italian fleets. After these came United States Coast Artillery, United 
States Marine Corps, West Point Cadets, Naval Militia, the National Guard, 
after whom came a small but interesting companv of Argentine Cadets; and 
ending up the line of march, the Regulars in khaki uniforms. There were 
twenty-five thousand men in line in this parade, all excellently drilled, the Ger- 
man sailors and marines making the finest appearance among the foreigners, 
while among the American forces the West Point Cadets and our own Sev- 
enth Regiment were especially admired for the excellence and ])recision of 
their marching and evolutions. 

On Saturday there was another parade, che Carnival Pageant, which 
occurred at night. It was brilliantly illuminated and was participated in 
by man_\- of the civic societies and social organizations of the city, and in addi- 
tion to brilliant costumes and a verv large number of allegorical floats, was 



4; 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



conspicuous for its liberal use of lights, ])r(_ilial)ly the most profuse ever used 
on a similar occasion. 

(Jn Friday. October ist, the naval parade proceeded up stream, visiting- 
points from ^'onkers to Xewburg, and on this up-river trip thev were accom- 
panied bv the steamer Roosevelt, in which Connuander Peary went to the 
North Pole, the commander himself, with Captain Ikirtlett, master of the ves- 
sel, being" on board in the ])arade to X'ewburg. 

The remainder (.^f the celebration was all at up-river points, closing on 
October (jth. In the city, l)eside the special events enumerated, there were 
many others, notal)lv aeroplane flights by \\'il!)ur Wright and Glenn Curtiss, 
who, on Wednesday, September 2()th, made ascents from Governor's Island, 
'Mr. Wright especially making a trip which attracted much attention, because 
he circled several times around the Statue of Liberty. There were also local 
celebrations and parades in the r)ronx and in Brcxiklyn r)Orough, and a large 
number of jirivate receptions and festivities in which the foreign visitors were 
the honored guests. 

The Hudson-h'ulton Celebration was a valuable and etlucational enter- 
prise, and did much to impress the ])eopIe of the City of Xew York, and the 
man\' thousands of visitors to it. with the fact that the city has a history 
worth V of stud\', and has accomplished more in the way of municipal growth 
than ever did an\' other citv in the brief s])ace of three centuries. 




iff, t fih '^k 



mrnn 




Mi-Ktm. Mi;ul cT ll'hilc. .liil.iU-cli 
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE NEW PENNSYLVANIA 
RAILROAD STATION 



CHAPTER THIRTY- S E T E N 

GROWTH AiND DEVELOPMEiNT OF COMMERCE 

TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 

AND PUBLIC UTILITIES OF THE CITY 

Commerce, in a new country, follows the line of least resistance, and the 
most ob\-ious tiling" for the first white settlers of Xew Xetherland to do was 
to trade with the Indians for the commodity which, when bought and ship- 
])ed to Euro])e, would he most sure of a market. So that the settlement at 
the south end of Manhattan Island, which soon came to be called Xew Am- 
sterdam, was first known as a shipping place in the fur trade. 

Beaver skins were brought in bv the Indians and continued to be the 
staple of export trade in the colony fi:)r ^ears; yet the business was paltry in 
comparison with modern trade figures. Restrictions were placed upon trade 
])y rules which the Dutch \\\\st India Company made for the ])urpose of secur- 
ing a monopoly of the trade of its province, but at the best it was not possi- 
ble to send manv furs to the X'etherlands, in the earlier days, for the ships 
available for the trade were scarce and infrecjuent, and few were of greater 
capacity than one hundred tons burden. 

Supplies, except those i)rocure(l from the Indians, came chiefly from Hol- 
land, although several i)ri\-ateers were in commission and occasionally brought 
in prizes of captured Si)anish vessels. In i')43 a privateer owned in X'ew Am- 
sterdam brought in two Spanish prizes laden with tobacco, sugar and el:)ony. 

The trade with the Indians was largely barter. Certain cloths, hatchets, 
kni\-es and other articles of cutlery and hardware, as well as many trinkets, 
were readilv accepted bv the Indians. For use as money only wampum (white 
and black) was current until, during the administration of Pieter Stuyvesant 
as director-general, that governor made lieax'er skins current at eight florins 
($3.^0), l)y an ordinance in 1657. Wampum still continued current, although 
from time to time ordinances had to be made, and proclamations issued by 
the governor, regulating the use of wami)um, which on account of its increas- 
ing quantity, several of the merchants hesitated to receive. E\-en after the 
English occupation of the colonv, wampum was legalized by act of the Assem- 
bly, November 7, i6g2, which was followed by a proclamation of the gover- 
nor, which fixed a talkie of exchanges, making six white wampums ec|ual to 
three black wampums, three black w"am|)ums equal to due stiver, and twenty 
stivers equal to "one g'uilder or six-])ence, current monev of this province." 
Payments under ten shillings could be made in loose wampum, without au}- 
restriction, according to these taljles of value, while sums of money amount- 
ing to more than £5. if paid in wampum, were not legal tender unless the 



434 HISTORY OF NEIV YORK 

wanipuin was strung upon a thread, with a paper attached certifying the vahie 
of the wampum so strung. Between ten shilhngs and £5, loose wampum 
could l)e used, wrapped in paper packages containing not more than ten guil- 
ders or five shillings worth of wampum, in each paper, the value indorsed on 
the package and signed liy the person paving. Even as late as October, 1671, 
an act of Assembly speaks of eight stivers in wampum as equal to two silver 
two])ences, and four stivers as eciual to one silver penny. 

The persistence of wampum as ciu'rency was due to the fact that the 
Indians would not accept coin, and beaver remained an important article of 
commerce, which could onlv he procured from tlie Indians by the use of wam- 
pum as currency, or by merchandise as barter. It was also a great conven- 
ience to the settlers, clumsv as it was. for there was practically no money in 
the countrv in the earlier davs, and at no time before the Revolution was 
there an adecjuate sup|)lv of coin for the purposes of commerce. So besides 
wampum, beaver skins were current at fixed prices, and the first order men- 
tioning the currencv of the province after the English occupancy was given 
by Governor Richard Nicolls, in February, 1665, which said: "The Payments 
for g-Qods imported shall be paid as formerly in Eever Pay at 8 guilders or 
i^sh. 4d. a Bever." After being the principal currencv of the country for 
approximately a century, wampum and beaver were finally deposed from their 
monetary elevation and various coins came into general use. 

With the merchants coin was always acceptable. The absence of a set- 
tled currency, or an established coinage, was a great disadvantage, and while 
the supplv was scant, it reiiresented practically all nations of the world. One 
of the popular coins was the "Joachim sthaler," a coin issued by the Counts of 
Schlick, at the village of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, under authority of the 
emperor. Charles A', these coins being noted for their constancy as to weight 
and fineness, being of 451 grains, troy weight, and called liv the Dutch 
"daalder." from whence came the English word "dollar," used for the same 
coin. These coins l)ccame very ])opular in all countries because their uni- 
formity of weight and (piality ke])! their \alue steady, and Charles \", who was 
also king of Spain, caused coins to be struck in the mint at Seville, contain- 
ing four hundred grains of fine silver, to be the equivalent of eight Spanish 
reals. These coins, first known as "Seville pieces of eight," soon also came 
to be known, because of the design of two coUunns or "Pillars of Hercules," 
as "pillar dollars," and later, more commonly, as "milled pieces," or "Spanish 
milled dollars." The two [lillars and a scroll forming the letter "s" vipon 
these coins, were the origin of the "$," which became the commercial sign for 
the piece of eight, and afterward for the United States dollar. The Spanish 
milled dollar was the most widely circulated coin of the later Seventeenth and 
Eighteenth Centuries. It was current all over South and I'entral America, 



THE NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE 



435 




436 HISTORY OF XRU' YORK 

the islands of the Spanish Alain, the colonies of North America, and the 
Orient, and so lar^e was the coinage that few dates of the Spanish silver 
pieces are to this da}- rare enough'to make them command a premium with the 
coin collectors. 

After the Xetherlands threw off the S])anish yoke there was coined in 
Holland a dollar of less value, which, from the device upon it, became known 
as the "lion dollar." A larger ci-)in, a crown, issued h^' the Dutch province 
of Guelderland for trade in the East, bore a poorh' executed cop\- of the same 
de\"ice, so crude that manv mistook the lion for a dog, and it liecame jjopu- 
larl}- known as a "dog dollar." It weighed 402 grains. (Jther coins came 
into the colon}-, including Peru\-ian and Alexican dollars, all kinds of Euro- 
pean coins, and, after the English cajiture, the English ])ounds, shillings and 
])ence became standard. Dutch traders in the cit\- and ])rovince kept their 
accounts in guilders, ])Ul when the\- su])|ilied the go\-ernment with goods thev 
Usually ex])ressed the xaUies in ])ounds. 

When ]iirates Ijegan to make Xew ^'ork their home port, and especiallv 
during the term of Governor Eletcher, there was a large addition to the cur- 
rency in the shape of Aral)ian gold. With the great diversitA' of coins was 
a dis])ariLy of \-aluation in the several colonies; and Governor Cornliurv, in 
writing to the home authorities in Engdand, complained that the piece of eight, 
weighing seventeen pennyweights, went for six shillings sixpence in New Vork 
and for seven shillings sixpence at Philadelphia, "so that no heav}' money is 
to be found here." 

The coinage of n-ioney was regarded I)_\- England and all other nations as 
a sovereign prerogative, and the right of setting and ascertaining the rates 
of foreign coins in the royal provinces in America was claimed by Parlia- 
ment, which, in 1704, passed an act proxiding that in those provinces, after 
Januar\' i, 1705, no "Se\-ille, pillar or Mexican" dollar should ])ass over six 
shillings, current money, and that Peru ]Meces, dollars or other foreign silver 
coins, of whatever weight or alloy should he regulated according to weight 
and fineness in proportion to the rate fixed for the Seville pieces. This regu- 
lation proved disastrous to the trade of New ^'ork, for Pei-ins\-lvania. which 
was a ])ro])rietary colony, still valued the milled dollar at se\-en shillings six- 
pence and lighter mone\- in proportion, so that New \'ork was soon drained 
of its coins. Eord Gornbury and the Gouncil being petitioned bv the mer- 
chants, and finding their representations true, suspended the operation of the 
act and trade rexixed, but another thing which greatlv hindered exchaiiges 
\xas the custom, ver\- prexalent in the neighboring colonies, of cli])])ing and fil- 
ing foreign coins. 

The Assembh- tried to remed\- matters b\- passing an act, October S, 
170S, fixing the \alue of ])illar or Mexican dollars, not clipped or defaced, at 



COIXS J.\ COLOXIAL X ElV YORK 



437 



eight shillings, Spanish reals at 
ninepence each, double reals at 
eighteen pence and half reals at 
fdurpence-halt-penny ; all defaced 
coins of these mintages at eight 
shillings an ounce ; Perti whole and 
half pieces of eight at six shillings 
eightpence per ounce and lion dol- 
lars, not defaced, at five shillings 
sixpence. This act, which reqnired 
the royal assent to be valid, was 
vetoed, and the Lords of Trade, 
under an act of the British Parlia- 
ment, issued a proclamation that 
the ounce troy should not pass for 
more than six shillings and ten- 
pence farthing. The disputes con- 
tinued, but violations of the restric- 
tions were very common. The 
matters were finally adjusted 1.)}- a 
decision of the Xew York Court of 
Chancery, which referred the mat- 
ter to Cadwallader Colden as mas- 
ter, and adopted a report submitted 
by him December ii, 1724, fixing 
the rates of the foreign coins cur- 
rent in Xew York at six shillings 
for Seville, pillar and [Mexican dol- 
lars, and other coins at proportion- 
ate rates. 

The Spanish real, valued at 
fourpence-half-penn_\- English, was 
for a long time the smallest coin 
current. Governor Hunter calletl 
attention to the need of copper 
coins in 1715. Tn 1722, William 
Wood, of Wolverhampton, Eng- 
land, having by briberv of the 
Duchess of Kendal, one of the mis- 
tresses of George I, secured a roval 
license to do so, be^-an the coinage 




lilUJU 



II 




THE METROPOLITAN BUILDING 



438 HISTORY OF XliW YORK 

of tokens of a CDiiijjosition he had iiiNciited, of which Iwentv ounces avoir 
dupois were to contain nne pennyweigiit truv of \-iry-in silver, fifteen ounces 
avoir(hii)ois of fine hrass and the remainder "hnck" (speher). He made half- 
pence, pence and t\\o|)cnces of this composition, for Ireland, hut >uch disturl)- 
ance was created there that the privileg'e for Irelaml wa^ recalled in VJ2^. 
Wood continued, however, to make for America his "Rosa Americana" pen- 
nies, half-pence antl farthing-s of the same composition until I7,^,v when he (|uit 
coining- them hecause there was no demand for them. The\- were well made, 
but the quality of the metal \\as so base that the\- met with little fa\-or, and 
Wood was accused of "having the conscience to make thirteen shillings out of 
a pound of brass." 

Merchants im])orted regular copper coins from England, which passed 
ctirrent at twice their English \alue, a half-penny jiassing for a pennv, and 
as this made the importatii^n profitable, the copper half-pence became verv 
plentiful. In il^,^'^ the Assembly ])assed a law to prevent the further impor- 
tation of copper money, which made it a felonv to bring into the colonv more 
than ten shillings at a time. This law did noi |)re\ent importation, for the 
copper coins continued to increase in numljer until, in 1754, the merchants 
agreed not to receive or jiass c<ipper half-pence at anv other rate than four- 
teen to the shilling. A mob assembled in protest against this action and a 
riot seemed imminent, Init ])rompt action of the authorities pre^■ented disorder. 

Numerous private tokens were current from time to time, including, as 
one of the first, a coin with an eagle on one side and on the other the words 
"New Yorke in America," said to have been struck in Holland about 1705, in 
lead, brass and tin. Co]i])er tokens made in Xew Jersey were in use at vari- 
ous times, manv pieces which were made of baser metal to imitate British half- 
pence, and other worthless tokens, made to imitate the New Jersey coppers. 

Bills of credit issued by the Province of Xew York, for various ])urposes, 
entered into the currency dttring the administration of Governor Cornbury and 
later governors, but there were many counterfeits, until after the conviction 
and execution of ( )wen Sullivan for the ofifense in 1754. In 1771 the colony 
issued forty-four thousand liills, in denominations from ten shillings to ten 
pounds, printed by Hugh Gaine, which was the last colonial issue. The 
signers of this issue were Theophvlact Bache, Sanutel \'erplanck, Henry 
Holland and Walter Franklin. Although these hills contained the legend, 
'■ "Tis death to counterfeit," manv counterfeits did, in fact, appear. During 
the Revolutionary War and afterward issues of New ^'ork State l)ills were 
made in 1776, 17S1 and 1786. 

During the Revolution. New ^'ork Cil\- was Un- the greater ])art under 
English occuji.ancy, ;md therefore had little to do with the Continental "'shin- 
plaster" currency, which collapsed entireh'. 



iOMMHRil-: 1\ Si:i'IL\ riiliXTH CEXTfR)' 4:;'.t 

AfttM" the treat}- of peact- with Eni^land there were numerous eopper 
tokens issued hy private parties, some of them very well executed, which 
passed current until such time as the national mint sh(.)uld he in operation. 

There was an issue of corporation notes, dated Decemher jO, 1814, to 
supply the need for small chanoe, in denominations of one, four, six, nine and 
twelve and one-half cents. 

"Hard-times tokens," which passed as cents, were issued in se\'eral \-arie- 
ties in 1S35, and war tokens of several hundred styles, appearing in the first 
years of the Civil War, also passed as cents to a consideral)le extent. 

Though the money of New Netherland and Xew ^'ork was, as we have 
seen, an uncertain and fluctuating (juantity, and an awkward medium of 
exchange, there was always an active trade g'ling on except so far as the 
interference of the home authorities (Dutch and English) interposed re- 
strictions. h^\en these did not always restrain, as we have seen in the 
accounts of piracy and illicit trade under Fletcher and the other predecessors 
of the Earl of Bellomont, and even his \-igorous eftorts to pre\-ent these prac- 
tices did not entirely end them. 

Statistics of trade under the Dutch occupation are meager. It was 
stated that during the administration of W'outer van Twiller the exports to 
the Xetherlands reached 134,953 florins ($53,981 ), representing the vakte of 
I4,8()i hea\-ers and 1413 otters. There was from the first an inhihition of 
foreign trade for the merchants of Xew Amsterdam, but there was much 
smuggling, and the Chamber of Accounts reported to the West India Com- 
pany a net loss to its revenues of h\e hundred and fifty thousand guilders. 

In 165 1 a discrimination of sixteen per cent, dut}- was ordered on all 
importations from English-American colonies into Xew Amsterdam, while 
exports from thence to those colonies were free of dutv. 

Flour was the first manufactured jiroduct of importance in the citv. 
There was a town windmill in what is now Battery Park in Stuyvesant's 
time, and in 1678 Andros reported that about sixty thousand bushels of 
wheat were yearly exported. He also said that the English Acts of Trade 
and Navigation A\-ere not ^'ery well obser\-e(l in the colonies for lack of means 
of enforcement. 

There had lieen a considerable growth in traile in 1686, when Governor 
Dongan reported to the home government that Xew York and Albanv li\-ed 
wholly upon the trade with the Indians, England and the West Indies. The 
Indian trade, which had been at a low ebb when Andros re])orted, the 
French having secured its diversion to Canada, had revived under the ar- 
rangements which Dongan had wisely made with the Indians, which had 
induced them to bring their commodities to Allrany. The Seneca Indians 
had brought ten thousand beaver skins there in 1685. There was a consid- 



440 



HISTORY OF .V£[I- 1-07?A' 




MILLIARD BUILDING 



HIXDRAXCES TO A7: H ' ]'()KK\\ TRADE 441 

erable ex]iort of "rtuiir. l)rt'ad, pease, pork and sometimes horses," to the West 
Indies, the returns from there 1)eing" chielly rum and molasses. To England 
the shipments were chietlv beaver and other skins, whale oil and some tobacco. 
( )n all products from Europe or the West Indies ( exccjjt such i)art of the 
latter where the commodity was produced ) which did not come direct from 
luigland, a customs duty of ten per cent, was collected. 

Besides regular trade, ])rivateering added to the gains of Xew ^'ork mer- 
chants, nearly all of whom were interested in one or more privateer ventures. 
During- King William's War many of the old privateers had become pirates 
and buccaneers. The\- not onlv frequented New ^'ork and disposed of their 
bootv here, but, lieing liberal spenders and givers, they met with every 
encouragement, including, in some cases, the personal friendship of Governor 
Fletcher. Bellomont. his successor, did much to do away with this scandal, 
greatly to the disgust of the merchants whose gains were reduced. 

Among the instructions to Bellomont was one not to permit the other 
colonies to obstruct the trade of Xew York and Al])any, or any innovations 
within the "river of Xew ^'ork,'" nor any goods to pass up that river without 
ha\ing i)aid duties at X'ew York. He was also instructed to give due 
encouragement to the Royal African Company of England, which was a slave- 
trading company. 

A monopoly of the bolting of t^our and the baking of bread for ex])ort 
was given to a few leading merchants of Xew ^'ork, and retained by them 
over the strenuous objections of other towns in the province until the Assem- 
Iily passed an act destroving the monopoh- in 1604. 

The trade of X'ew York was further decreased after the beginning of 
Queen Anne's War with France and Spain, which lasted from 1702 to 1713, 
as it not only cut olT the trade with France. Spain and Flanders, but also 
with the Spanish West Indies, which had been a large consumer of flcmr 
made in X'ew York. A^essels bound from this port were in some cases seized 
by French jirivateers when scarcely out of sight of Sandv Hook, and the 
entire period of the war was one of reduced trade. The one branch of busi- 
ness which improved during that period was that in slaves, a slave market 
having been opened at the foot of Wall Street in 1710. 

Successive governors had tried to im^jrc^s u])on the Lords of Trade the 
fact that, if encouraged, the Province of X'ew York could supply the mother 
country with all kinds of naval stores, such as pitch, tar, resin, turpentine, 
flax and hemp, as well as with masts and timbers of all sizes, of excellent 
f|uality. ])ut could get no encouragement until after the Peace of Utrecht, in 
March, 171 3. Queen Anne died the following year and General Robert Hun- 
ter, then governor, again raised the ([uestion about naval stores, which re- 
sulted, not long after, in a considerable trade in those commodities, following 



442 HISIORY OF Xinr YORK 

the ininiigration of the Palatines, who engaged in that industry as related in 
a previous chapter. 

Alassachusetts had far outstripped Xew York in population, and the trade 
of Boston was very much larger than that of the Citv of Xew York, but dur- 
ing- Hunter's tiitie there was a considerable increase of industr\- and trade, 
especially in shipbtiilding, as it was during this period that \\'illiaiu Walton 
established his large shipyards, which were located on the East River, above 
what is now the foot oi Catharine Street. A report made by Governor Hun- 
ter, in 17JO, speaks of a large trade in cargoes to England of tar, whale oil, 
and whalebone, as well as manv other commodities, while flour, pork and 
other provisions were shi])ped to the West Indies, and horses to Surinam. Cura- 
coa and St. Thomas: but in spite of these new departments of trade the 
average of export to Great Britain for three years had amounted to only about 
£50,000 a year, while the imports from there were f 16,000, the balance of 
trade being £34,000 in favor of Xew York. The vessels belonging in X'ew 
\ ork were small, and were mostly engaged in coasting and West Indian trade, 
and the shipping interest of Xew York, at that time, was less than that of 
any other of the colonies except Pennsylvania. 

The commerce improved after that, both in the (juanlity of commodities 
sold and the places included in the trade of the city. A report of trade made 
bv Governor Clarke showed, in addition to the usual imports and ex- 
ports, a trade to Ireland in flaxseed and staves, and imports from there of 
linen canvas, while from the British colonies and ^^'est Indies were received 
rtim, wine. lime, sntift. sulphur, straw plait, hides, deerskins, cochineal, 
negroes, mahogan\' and ebonv. ICxports to Continental Europe inchided grain, 
hides, elk and deerskins, ox-hams, Spanish snuff, logwood, indigo, cocoanut, 
foreign produce and Ittmljer. From Eiu^ope and the English foreign settle- 
ments in .\merica they received salt; from Africa, negroes (though less than 
fornierh-), and from Canarv Islands and Aladeira, wines. X'ew York received 
from the north and south parts of the American continent cider, oil. Idubber, 
hops, flaxseed, flax, liricks, sealskins, wrought tin. and brasiery. Governor 
Clarke reported a falling oft-' of imports from foreign [ilantations of molasses, 
rum and sugar, because of the duties laid on those commodities by the British 
sugar acts of 1733. amounting to frmr shillings per hundred weight on sugar, 
sixpence per gallon on molasses and svrups, and ninepence per gallon on rum. 
There were, however, imi)orts fr(-)m the foreign plantations of snuft', Spanish 
tobacco, indigo, logwood and other dye stuft's, cocoanuts, cotton and wool. 
There were exports of grain, beeswax and staves to iMadeira and the Azores; 
li_) the English districts north and south of the Pr(-)vince of X'ew \'ork and the 
West Indies, i)rovisions, chocolate, lumber and European goods; and to the 
nctitral port^, .St. Thomas. Curacoa and Sm-inam. prc-ivisions. Itimber and 



COMMERCIAL GROWTH OF THE CETY 443 

horses witli prox'cndcr. This was a longer hst of conunercial exehanges than 
in any previous report. The same report said that the country people made 
their own homespun of wool and flax, and that there were manitfacttn'cs of 
linseed oil, hats made (_)f heaver fur, lampblack, and also rei^orted estal)lish- 
ments engaged in the industries of sugar-baking and retining. and two rum 
distilleries. These later institutions had increased to three in 1746, and to 
six in I74<), in which year there is also a report of the shipping- registered in 
New York as 157 vessels, agg-regating 6406 tons, navigated by 1228 seamen. 
There was a steady, though not very rapid, increase of trade for several years, 
until the i)assage of the Stamp Act, causing the nonimportation agreements of 
1765, the effects of which, commercially and politically, have been fully set 
forth in a previous chajiter. 

During the Revolutionary |jeriod, as New York w^as for nearlv the whole 
time in the hands of the British, the trade of the city was chiefly in the im- 
porting and selling of supplies for the use of its inhabitants and of the Brit- 
ish Army, which had headquarters here; Init there was very little traffic with 
up-river points, wliicli were held nearly the whole time by the Patriot Armv. 

After the treaty of peace with England, New York began to develop its 
trade relations upon broader lines, freed from hampering restrictions, royal 
decrees, and navigation acts. There was a period during the war between 
[•England and France when the English Orders in Council, and the decrees 
of Napoleon, laid restrictions upon American trade with those countries ; and 
the embargoes laid by [Madison and Jeft'erson upon commerce also affected the 
trade in New York \er}' seriously, as also did the acts of Great Britain in 
connection with the impressment of American seamen. But after the War of 
1S12 there was a rapid revival in the commerce of New York, to which the 
introduction of steam navigation, coastwise and oceanward, greatly contrib- 
uted. The completion of the Erie Canal added enormously to the importance 
of New York as a commercial centre, and by the third decade of the Nine- 
teenth Century, New ^'ork had jiassed Philadelphia and Boston and taken 
first jilace as a centre of commerce and nax'igation in the United States. In 
the fourth and fifth decades of the century came the development of the clip- 
per ship, in which America outstripped the world, and extended the commerce 
of New York into all seas. 

In another ])lace in this \olume the eft'ect of the Civil War upon the mari- 
time commerce of New ^'ork has been mentioned, and after the war New 
^ ork never regained the place it had held as the registry port of ships engaged 
in foreign trade. But its commerce has steadily increased, although that 
with foreign couiUries is almost entirely carried on in foreign bottoms. The 
coastwise trade, however, which by law is restricted to vessels flying the 
American flag, has increased steadilv. 



444 HISTURV OF XEJl' YORK 

The total nicrchaiulise inipiirts ni the L'nitcd States fur lyog, free and 
dutiable, as^^gregated a value of $1,311,1)20,224, and of exports $1,638,355,593. 
Of this total, $771 j, 308,1^44 ini])()rts were received at, and $607,239,481 exports 
were s]hp])ed fnnn the jmrt (if Xew \ cirk. 

\\ ith the commercial supremacy of the cit\- came also financial leader- 
shij), in which the ]:)recedence in Xew ^'ork on the Ainerican continent has 
long l)een indisinitable. and its place in the financial world is second onlv to 
that (if l.dndon. It would he impossible, within the sco])e of this historv, to 
go with anv i)retense at detail into the facts connected with the development 
of Xew \"ork's financial su])eriority. The metropolitan character of the citv 
is in no direction more definitely fixed than in its preeminent rank as a finan- 
cial and lianking centre. 

This might he illustrated in manv ways, but perhajis in nothing more 
stronglv than by a statement of comparative exchanges of the clearing 
houses of United States cities, the total clearings of all the clearing' house 
cities in the country for the year H)og having been $158,559,487,500, while 
those for Xew \'(irk alone aggregated $99,257,662,400, or about two-thirds of 
the whole. Compared with the three next largest clearing Ikiusc returns, the 
amount for Chicago, which stood second, was $13,413,973,100; Iloston, 
$8,232.()92, 1 00: and Philadelphia, $6,615, iO(), 300. 

The X'ew \'ork Stock Exchange bears a relation of superiority in volume 
of busine-is to the exchanges of other cities in America comparable to that 
shown in clearing house returns. There was established in 1792 a loose 
organization of twenty-four brokers of Xew "^'ork, who met under a cotton- 
wood tree (3])posite 60 Wall Street and signed an agreement, the original of 
which is still extant, regulating rates of commission. The brokers thus or- 
ganized held meetings irregularlv at the Tontine Cottee House, at W all and 
\\'ater Streets, and it was not until 18 17 that a more formal organization, as 
the X"ew York Stock Exchange, was made. The first meeting place of the 
board was in the Mercliants" Exchange, occuiiying a site which afterward 
became that of the Xew \'ork Custom House, and is now covered by the 
Iniilding of the Citv Xational Dank of Xew ^'ork. It moved to Beaver and 
AVall Streets in 1853, and about 1865 to a building which occupied the site 
now covered b\- the handsome marble structiu'e which is now its home. It is 
a voluntary association and is not even incorporated. The number of mem- 
bers is aliout eleven hundred, and the memberships, technically designated 
"seats," pass by sale and transfer from a member or his legal representative in 
case of decease. The seats in the exchange have sold as high as $95,000. 
Its transactions are of enormous volume, covering all i)rincipal stocks and 
securities. Eor tin- \ear Kjoi) the amo.mt of stocks handled on the exchange 
was 2\f).ji<j,i)0() shares, and of l>onds $1 ,30(),42<j,ooo. 



THE STOCK RXCHAXC.R BUILDIXG 



445 




NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE 



446 HISTORY OF XEJJ' YORK 

Among the many influences which were potent in fixing the commercial 
destiny of New York the improvement of internal communication was a very 
important one. though outside of the river traffic to Albanv there was not, 
except the close neighboring settlements in New Jersey and Long Island, any 
regular comnninication other than a liorseback express to Boston, and the stage 
line to Philadelphia, until Clinton's wise policv created the Erie Canal, and 
with it communication bv water with ButTalo and the Great I^akes. 

The greatest inipetus to trade after that came with the railroads, first 
\\illi those of local im])ortance reaching up into Westchester and other neigh- 
boring counties, and afterwards with the great trunk lines, of which the first 
to enter the city was the Erie Railroad, which was completed to Dunkirk on 
Lake Erie in 1S51. It w.as chartered with the idea of being to the southern 
tier of counties what the Erie Canal had been to the northern counties. The 
road had been l)uilt under very great disadvantages, and its construction had 
been halted by financial trouliles and a receivershi]>, but, after its completion 
in 185 1, it added very greatlv to the trade of New "^'ork. This was the only 
one of the great trunk lines that was originallv chartered as such, the other 
tlirough systems each having been the result of consolidation of various 
local roads. 

The second trunk line to be completed into the city was the New ^'ork 
Central and Hudson River Railroad, which was a consolidation of ten or more 
railroads, each locally organized Ijetween Bufifalo and New 'S'cirk, and united 
into one system, November i, 1869, bv the consolidation of the New ^'ork 
Central Railroad and the Hudson River Railroad. Jt now com])rises lines in 
New ^'ork, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts (including the West 
.shore Ivailroad), aggregating 3882.28 miles operated. What is known as the 
New \ ork Central System extends beyond these lines to the West, including" 
the Lake ."^hore and Alicbigan Southern System, the "liig l-'our" System, 
Michigan I'entra! System, "Nickel Plate" Road, and man\- others, gi\-ing the 
New ^^jrk Central connections, under the same general managemeni, with 
Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati. Indianapolis. St. Louis, and all the 
most im])ortam points of the I'entral West. The Grand Central Station, begun 
in i8()(j and completed in 1871, was long the finest in the city; was remodeled 
in i8(j9, and taken down in 1910 to make room for the much larger structure 
]»Ianned to take its place, annexes to which, fronting on Lexington .Vvenue, 
had already lieen l)uilt for the acconnnodation of the general otfices of the 
comi)any. The electrification of the company's lines within a radius of twentv- 
five to thirty nfiles of the city is one of tlie most notable engineering works 
of modern times. 

The Pennsylvania Railroad Comjiany, the third trunk line to reach the 
city, was organized in its present form by the consolidation of the original 



THR PEXXSVLJ'AXIA SYSTEM 447 

Pennsylvania Railroad, first opened from Philadelphia to Pittshurgh, Fehruary 
15, 1854, with the United Railroads of New Jersey, which was a combina- 
tion of five independent railroads in New Jersey, and became a part of the 
Pennsvlvania Railroad in Jnne, i.^^/i, giving to that road a direct through line 
from Philadelphia to Jersey City, connected by ferries with the stations of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad in New York City. The great Pennsylvania System, 
which now extends to all the great centres of population and commerce in 
the middle States in the Mississippi Valley, has greatly increased its connec- 
tion with the trade of New York by its wonderful enterprise in the building 
of its great tunnels under the Hudson and the East Rivers and under the 
City of New York, and the Inhlding of its magnificent terminal station at 
Seventh Avenue and Thirty-second Street in New York City. By its acf|uire- 
ment of the Long Island Railroad as part of the system this railroad comjiany 
has given to Brooklyn and Queens Boroughs, as well as Manhattan, direct 
conimunication with all parts of the continent, and has secured control of the 
most complete terminal, yard and shipping facilities of any railroad entering 
the metropolis. 

The Long Island Railroad Companv was chartered in 1834, and was first 
built from Jamaica to Hicksville, but in 1844 had reached Greenport. which 
is at present the eastern terminus of its main line. It acquired much impor- 
tance in that early day. because it formed the first railway mail route between 
New York and Boston, the mails then being transferred by steamboats from 
Greenport to the Connecticut shore. The company afterward acquired other 
lines on Long Island bv purchase and lease, the svstem now comprising the 
Main Line from Long Island Citv to Greenport, 94.74 miles; Long Island 
City to Montauk, 115. 13 miles; owned branches amounting to 106.48 miles; 
leased branches 63.75 miles; and the New York and Rockaway Beach Rail- 
way 11.74 miles, reaching- all important points in Long Island, and possessing 
great value to New York, as the means of liringing to the metropolis the 
extensive farm products of the island, besides operating a valuable suburban 
service from New York to the numerous \-illages and seaside resorts on the 
island. This important system has become a part of the Pennsyh-ania Rail- 
road with which it now has direct connection bv way of the ne\\'ly constructed 
tunnels under East River into the Pennsylvania Station at Seventh Avenue 
and Thirty-second Street, greatlv increasing its usefulness and value. 

The Philadelphia and Reading Railwav and the Central Railroad of New- 
Jersey, which is owned b\- the Philadel|)hia and Reading, together constitute 
another of the important railroad systems reaching New ^'ork, with tracks 
extending from Jersey City to many points in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
and is one of the favorite lines of travel between New ^'ork and Philadelphia, 
witli hourlv trains. 



4IS fllSTORV OF XEir YORK 

riirou^ii a traffic arrangement with the I'hiladelijhia and Reading, the 
Raltininre and ( )iiiii Raih-oad Company has an entrance into Xew York, having 
its own terminals at the northern end of Staten Island, and forming one of 
the most important commercial links between Xew "S'ork and the South. 

rile Delaware. Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which was organized 
first in 11^53. gained an entrance to Jersey City and Xew \"ork in 186S, by 
its lease of the Alorrison and Essex Railroad, and by extending its lines to Buf- 
falo and Oswego on Lake Ontario, it Iv.^came not only a great coal road reach- 
ing the anthracite fields of Penii'-ylvania. but also a competitor of the Erie and 
other lines from points on the X'orthern Lakes for pa'^senger as well as for 
freight traffic. 

The A\'est Shore Railroad and the Xew York. Chicago and St. Louis 
( "Xickel Plate" ) Railroad were both originally built as competing through 
lines to the West, Intt were afterward absorbed l)y the Xew York Central Sys- 
tem. 

In the earl_\- days of the city when all the peoi)le in Xew York lived in 
walking distance of the City Hall on Wall Street, the trans])ortation problem 
was of no puljlic importance, although the "'people of qualitv" ke]it their pri- 
vate carriages. As the chx grew. howe\-er, the f[uestion of means of con- 
veyance between home and business assumed greater importance and led. in 
1S30. to the estaljlishing of a line of stages, the first of which ran from Bowl- 
ing Green to Bleecker Street. Rival lines were soon established and the 
stages became \-er}- numerous, each claiming to ha\'e the most elegant 
vehicles, which were given attractive names, such as George \\'ashington. 
Lady \\'ashington, DeWitt Clinton, Ladv Clinton, and the like. The villages 
of Greenwich and Yorkville were the northern termini of some of these lines, 
and larger vehicles were soon demanded, to meet which demand omnibus 
lines were estal)lished. 

The Xew Yr)rk and Harlem Horse Railroad, the first of it'^ kind in the 
world, was organized in 1S31, and made its first tri]) from Prince to Eour- 
teenth Streets on X'ovemljer 26, 1832. the line soon afterward being extended 
to Harlem Bridge. John Stevenson, who Imilt the first tram car run on that 
road, established, in 1^36. a large car manufactory in Harlem. 

As the city grew the horse-car hn^*s were extended in exerv direction, 
and although horse cars ha\'e I)een discarded in nearly every other important 
city in the world, a few still remain in X'ew ^'ork, though whether they are 
retained as historical mementos or for some other reason does not seem to 
be very clear. By far the larger number. howe\'er. and all the principal lines, 
are now operated by electric traction, the wires of the svstems being laid 
underground in ^Mrmhattan. while in the other l)oroughs the trolley system is 
in use. On several of the lines the cable svstem was used for several vears. 



BEGIWIXGS OF RAPID TRAXSIT 449 



but those roads were later electrified. There have been many changes in 
mvnership of the lines in Manhattan, and at one time thev were all combined 
under one management, giving the ])atrons the adwantage of transfers between 
all the lines, but legal complications destro_\-ed the combination and the lines 
reverted back to the old companies, so that many trips which could formerlv 
be made with one fare now require two or more. A'arious improvements in 
service and convenience have been introduced during recent \'ears, however, 
one of the most im])ortant being the ]iav-as-\-ou-enter stvle of cars. 

From the primiti\-e conditions of the earlv horse-car davs of Manhattan 
Island to the a])])arentl_\' insatiable demands for urban and interurban rapid 
transit of the ])resent, marks a rapid and transforming change. 

Given a water-bound city shaped like a flattened cone, with millions of 
people crowding the entire surface, the larger ])arl of \\liom huve to be car- 
ried daily by land to and from a very small area in its narrowest end; add 
to this other millions from outside the cit}- who are being dail\- brought in vari- 
ous ways across the water to the same congested area, and there are pre- 
sented transportation ])roblems of llie most ditTticull kind. 

After the horse railroad made its initial success the lines multiplied and 
the roads became numerous. Many thought the Ijusiness would be overdone, 
but when people found there was some way other than walking they began to 
spread out along these lines of transjiortation. Idle metro]:)olitan growth was 
such that the transportation system never caught u]) with the constant demand 
for more. The wide end of the flattened cone — Manhattan Island — filled 
with people who loaded down the surface cars and found them all too slow, 
while beyond the Harlem lay a larger and wider territory waiting for means 
of transit to the growing activities of the lower end of the island. 

The demand for ra])id transit became loud and insistent. The surface 
being preempted, the solution seemed to be in elevated roads, for which the 
outcry began a year or so after the Ci\'il ^^'ar. C)ye\- fort\" ])lans were sub- 
mitted to the Xew ^'ork Legislature in ]H()y. The s\stem ]iroposed bv 
Charles C. Harvey was that which met the widest a])i)r()\al. and that inventor 
was granted permission to build an ex])eriniental track from Cortlandt Street, 
through Greenwich Street and Xinth .V\-enue to Thirtieth Street. The con- 
struction of this road was begun m iS()7, and it was opened for operation in 
1X70, the cars being o])erated liy an endless chain driven by stationary engines 
located at four different points along the line. 

()l)eration by endless chain pro\-ed a failure, and the nioti\-e i)ower was 
therefore changed, in 1871, to a dummy engine, the e(|ui])iiient in that year 
consisting of one dummy engine and three ])assenger cars. The road in that 
year passed into the hands of a new corporation, known as the Xew York 
Elevated Railroad Companv. 



450 HISTOKV OF XliW YORK 

In the session <>i 1S71-1SJJ a charter was t^Tanted 1)_\' tlie Lej^'islature of 
Xew York fur another elevated road, known, from its ])roiector. Dr. Rufus 
H. Gill)ert. as the "Gilbert" road, which was to be a ])neuniatic tube, suspended 
from loftv arches, the trains of which would be out of sight and practically 
noiseless. The pneumatic idea proving impracticable, the company planned to 
make the proj^osed tube without a top and construct a steam road through it, 
in which the train would still be out of sight of residents and those in the 
streets. Fttrther thought seeming to make the trough seem of little value, it 
was decided to change the ])lan to that of a simple elevated steam railroad 
similar to that already in operation on Greenwich Street. ]\Iuch public oppo- 
sition and a verv large amount of litigation followed the announcement of this 
change of ])lan. 

The rapid transit prol)lem was taken up by the Legislature in 1875, ^^'^^ 
the Husted Act was passed, providing for the appointment of a commission 
to decide if a s\-stem of rapid transit for Xew York was needed, and, if so, to 
establish the proper routes, such commission to be appointed by the mayor of 
Xew N'ork. [Mayor Wickham a])i)ointed to that commission Joseph Seligman, 
Lewis Ij. r>rown, Cornelius LI. Delamater. Jordan L. Alott and Charles J. 
Cauda, who, meeting first on July 13. 1875, and continuing their work 
through the summer, reported in favor of steam railways u])on Xinth, Sixth, 
Third and Second Avenues, assigning them to the Gilbert road and to the 
Xew N'ork Elevated Railroad Company, which was then operating the little 
road on Greenwich .Street. 

I'ollowing the award of the commission the work of construction was 
renewetl, although litigation and injunctions hampered progress, but the New 
York Elevated had, bv 1876. so extended its road that it advertised that it 
was running "fortv through trains ]X'r day" l)etween the Battery and Fifty- 
ninth Street. Cvrus W. Field secured a controlling interest in that company 
in 1877. and under his executive initiative the road was ra])idly i)ushed toward 
completion, especially after a decision of the Court of Ap])eals which declared 
constitutional the charters of that road and of the Metroj^olitan Elevated 
Railroad Com])anv, and dissolved all the injunctions which had been issued 
against the two corporations. 

The Metropolitan Elevated Road was the name chosen for the Sixth 
Avenue road, after it had jiassed from the control of Dr. ( hlbert. It was 
opened from Rector Street to the end of Sixth A\eiuie, at Central Park, 
on June 5, 1878. The Third Avenue road was completed to Forty-second 
.Street and opened on August 26, 1878. The two comjianies were consoli- 
dated in i87() under the title of the Manhattan Railway Company. In 
1880 the Second Avenue line was completed and opened to Sixty-seventh 
Street, and soon thereafter the four lines had reached Harlem. 



ELEVATED ROADS AXD THE SUBWAY 451 

The Suburban Rapid Transit Railroad Company built a road from One 
Hundred and Twenty-ninth Street, in Harlem, crossing a bridge and running 
through the villages of Mott Haven and ]Melrose to Central Alorrisania, at 
One Hundred and Seventv-first Street and Third Avenue. This was 
acquired by the Manhattan Company in 1891 and extended to West Farms 
and Bronx Park, and now forms the elevated railway system of the popu- 
lous and rapidly growing borough of the Bronx. 

For the nine months ended September 30, 1S72, during which period 
three and one-half miles of elevated railway line were operated, the total 
number of passengers carried was 137,446. The number became more than 
proportionately larger as the mileage of the line increased, even while 
steam continued to be used as the motive power. The elevated lines 
changed to electricity in the years 1902 and 1903, and since then the 
growth of the passenger traffic from year to year has been very great. 

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1909, the Interborough Rapid 
Transit Companv operated thirty-seven and sixty-eight hundredths miles of 
elevated railway, with an equipment consisting of 916 motor cars, 675 trailer 
cars, and fifty-two service cars, a total of 1643 cars, with one main power 
station and seven substations necessary for the operation of the road by elec- 
tricity, and carried 276,250,196 passengers. The number of employees in the 
service was 5634; the total amount paid in wages, $4,121,896. The thirty- 
seven and sixtv-eight hundredths miles of elevated railway line represent an 
investment of approximately $96,000,000. The number of passengers car- 
ried by the elevated railroads for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, 
was 293,826,280. 

The greatest move in the direction of rapid transit for Xew York was 
matle b}' the creation of the suliway system. Mention has been made in a 
previous chapter of tlie ])uilding of the first stibway, and the completion 
of the railroad from City Hall to One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street, 
October ly, 1904. 

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which has occupied and 
operated the subway from its inception, and which also acquired from the 
]\Ianhattan Elevated Railway Company the elevated railroads, has thus 
controlled the entire rapid transit system of ^Manhattan and the Bronx 
since the autumn of 1904. From the opening of the subway for operation, 
October 2j, 1904, to the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1905, a period of 
about eight months, the number of passengers carried was 'J2.~22,S(;)0, and 
the mileage operated was sixteen and ninety-six hundredths miles. 

Since then a continuous policy of extension has been carried out. To 
the north the Broadway extension has been carried to the Yonkers line, 
and the line on Lenox Avenue branches off beyond One Hundred and 



452 



HISTORY OP XJlll- YORK 




> 

< 
X 



u 



o 
> 



['J.ST TR.n-FlC OF IXTHRHOKOUCH SVSTI'.M 453 

Tliirt}--flftli Street, throii.^h ;i ttmnel under the Harlem River, to West 
Farms and Bronx Park; while south from the Brooklyn Bridge station 
the line has heen extended to South Ferry, between which station and 
Bowling" ( ireen a line branches off to the entrance of the East River 
tunnel, through which are run through trains to Brookhn, at Atlantic 
Avenue, from which point extensions are planned. 

For the iiscal year ended June _^o. 1909, the total nund)er of passen- 
gers carried in the subway was 2j;S,4_:50, 146, and the mileage operated 
was twenty-hve and sixt}-three hundredths miles. Idle eqttipment, June 
30, 1909, consisted of 514 motor cars, 30; trailer cars and thirty service 
cars, a total of 853 cars. The cost of the road and e(|uipment was 
$91,531,333. The number of employees was 3642. and the total amount 
l)aid in wages was $2,735,790. 

The subway was originally planned to carry four hundred thousand 
passengers per day, but during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910, the 
average number of passengers carried daily was over seven hundred thou- 
sand per day, the t(^tal number of passeng'ers for the year being 
268,962,115. To accommodate increased travel there was inaugurated a 
systematic lengthening of station platforms along the entire system to 
admit of the use of longer trains, by which means an increased carrying 
capacity can be obtained. 

The total numlier of passengers carried for the fiscal year ended 
June 30, ii)Oi). by the Tnterborough System (elevated roads and subways) 
was 514,680,342; and for the fiscal rear ended June 30, 19TO. was 
562,788,395. " 

The extension of the ra])id transit systems of the city was, in the fall 
of 1910, engaging the attention of the cit^' authorities, the Pttblic Service 
Commission and the several companies identified with the problem of 
extending the transit facilities to the districts most needing them in the 
\arious boroughs. 

Even more important than rapid transit to the ( ireater City is a suffi- 
cient supply of pure water. Reference has been made in a former chapter 
to the earlier service in this direction, and to the iovotis celebration of the 
citizens of New ^'ork when the water sui)])l\- from the Croton watershed 
was turned on. That system has since been frequently extended, but the 
most imjiortant of all of the arrangements made for secttring a better and 
more adequate water stt]ipl}- for Xew ^'ork is involved in the new Cats- 
kill water su])ply project, which proposes to bring into this citv a verv 
large additional supply of ])ure mountain water from fotu^ distinct water- 
sheds in the Catskill Mountains, to be developed in the following order: 
I, the Esopus; 2. Rondout ; 3. Schoharie; 4. Catskill Creek; \\ith a total 



454 HISTORY OF XJIJI' YORK 

estimated xield of about se\en hundred million gallons daily. The cost of 
the project, including filtration plant and main delivery acjueduct to the 
five boroughs, is estimated at $161,857,000. The water from the Esopus 
watershed, which has an area of 255 square miles, will be stored in the 
Ashokan reservoir, thirteen and one-half miles west of Kinston, which will 
be the main impounding reservoir, about twelve miles in length, with an 
average width of one mile, and a maximum depth of njo feet, the reser- 
voir water surface being 590 feet above the sea lex'el, the submerged area 
covering twelve and eight-tenths miles and the capacity of the reservoir 
amounting- to one hundred and thirtv liillion gallons. 

The Rondout watershed, covering 176 square miles, will discharge 
its waters into the Lackawack reservoir, which will l)e connected by the 
Rondout aqueduct with the Catskill a(iueduct eight and one-half miles 
below the Ashokan reservoir. 

Schoharie watershed, with an area of 228 square miles, will store its 
waters in Prattsville reservoir, connected by a ten-mile tunnel, through 
the di\'ide, with the Esopus Creek and the Ashokan reservoir. 

The Catskill Creek watershed has an area of 163 square miles, and 
there will be several reservoirs along Catskill Creek, from the lowest of 
which an aqueduct will convey the water into the eastern extremitv of 
Ashokan reservoir. 

From the Ashokan reserv(»ir the L'atskill a(|ueduct, with a capacity of 
five hundred million gallons daily, extends ninet}--two miles to an equal- 
izing reser\'oir of nine hundred million gallons cajiacity at Hill View, in 
Yonkers, just across the New York City line, with a full water level of 
295 feet above tide. 

A llhralion plant, sufficient t(j purif\- the entire Catskill jNIountain sup- 
ply, is ti> be constructed at Eastview, three miles east of Tarrytown. The 
plan, which has been under contemplation for many years, is now under 
construction and has been fully elaborated with means to extend the 
water system to all five of the boroughs. 

The present water supply of Brooklyn is mostl}- procured from Long 
Island, west of Amityville, about one-fifth from the surface streams and 
the remainder from driven-well stations. 

The lighting of a city, in our time, forms such a \er\- important 
featiUT of its desirability for residence, that one of the ])resent tlay can 
scarcely conceive what a town could h;i\e been like in the olden days, 
when candles and whale oil formed the only means of lighting, and yet we 
read, in regard to the celebrations of the Eighteenth Century, about 
"illumination" being part of the festivities of the i)eople: when they lighted 
candles in their windows in honor of the King's liirtlidaw 



CHURCH AM lit SKY SCRAPERS 



455 




TRINITY CHURCH FROM THE REAR 



4.56 



HISTOR]' OF Xl-ir YORK 



Ik- introduction of i4"as in New ^ ork City, in 1823, marked a won- 



derful clian.i^e. althoug'h at first it was ver}- limited, as the lights were ])oor 
as com])ared to those of gas as it is now made and used with the 
imjiroved styles of Imrners that are now availahle. 




NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 



The lirsl ca])ital em|)loyed in the ])ro(luction of gas in this citv was 
hy the stockholders of tlie Xew ^drk lias Light I'ompanw and the price 
lor five or six _\ears was $10 ])er one thousand cubic feet. As late as i<%0 
the gas was sold at from S2.50 to S3. 00 ])er one thousand cubic feet, and in 
that 3'ear the company su])])lied about thirteen thousand consumers and 
3100 street lamps. Instead of selling by ilie thousand feet, the company 
charged ^o much ]ier hundred feet. In 1N47 the rate was seventy cents 



GAS SUPPL.-IXTS THE CAXDIJI 457 

])er hundred feet, i ir (niK- icn cents less than the rate now charged for 
one thdusand cn1)ic I'ect. In achUtion to tlial, there was the rent of the 
meters lo be ]jaid fur. which axeraged abcmt sixteen cents ])er niontli, and, 
as the C(ini])any owned the ^'as fixtures, varinns i)rices were charged for 
these, which frei|nently amounted to as mucli as the cost of the gas itself. 

The \ew ^'ork ( ias Light Com])any was originally situated at the 
corner of Centre and tiester Streets and at Canal and Hester Streets. In 
1 852 the company moved to its new works at Twenty-tirst Street and 
Ax'enue A, and in 1859 it had 496 cast-iron retorts under fire and had six 
holders of 1,500,000 cubic feet capacity. It is interesting to note that these 
six reservoirs, which in those davs were considered extraordinarily large, 
did not ha\e, combined, the ca])acit\- of the gigantic holder at Astoria. 
These holders were situated in I'ark. Roosevelt, Church and Xew Streets, 
l)ut with the gradtial deitiand for s])ace for btisiness jnirposes, they were 
removed to more remote localities. In the vear ])revious to the beginning 
of the Civil War, the company had 120 miles of mains, and its business 
was confined to the territorv south of (irand Street. 

The Alunicijial Gas Company established a i)lant for the manufacture 
of water gas on West Forty-fourth Street, and after it had ])roved a suc- 
cess a number of modifications of it were promulgated. Cp to about the 
}-ear 1855. five candles to the cubic foot of gas burned per hour w'as 
regarded as a verv good figure. To-day it is possible to get twenty-five 
candles when the gas is burned in a ])ro])erly constructed mantle burner. 

In 1859 and i8()0 stove coal was worth about $5.00 per ton ; and coke 
from the gas works was a popular fuel in their vicinitw (arts delivered it 
at $2.50 |)er chaldron. It was also sold 1)}" the bushel, l:)Ul the consumers 
liad to go to the gas works to get it. During the winter season the gas 
holders of the Xew York Gas Light Com]iany were charged with coal tar 
in the cups, in order to prevent theni from freezing, and it was not until 
1865 that tar was displaced by the use of steam — a method that has ])cen 
maintained from that dav to this. 

A very ini])ortant forward stride was made by the discovery, in 1868, 
of the value of the by-products of coal tar and ammonia. The actual and 
])ractical making of w-ater gas, although it had been ]ironounced to be suc- 
cessful years before, ilid not really l)egin until 1873. in the West Forty- 
fourth Street works, tinder the management of W^illiam H. llradley, now 
the chief engineer of the Conscjlidated (ias Company of New York, who 
saw the ])ossibility of the water-gas svstem as invented b\- AI. Tessie du 
INIotav: and while the inventor had at no time made a success of it, it 
liegan to fiouri>h immediately after Air. P)radley took liold of it, and 
ap|)lie(l his knowledge and experience to its mantifacture. 



-to8 HISTORY OF XHir YORK 

Xew 'S'ork was the third cit\- ni the Liiimi to liave a eas works, havins' 
been preceded by Baltimore and Boston. Tlie franchise in this city was 
granted May 12. iS_'_:;, with tlie specification that the gas was to lie of a 
quaHty, lirilliancy or intensity equal to the g-as in use f(Tr the i)ublic lamps 
in the city of London. England. These public lamps were furnished at a 
price equal to that charged for the sperm oillamps which they superseded. 
The company operated south of Grand Street, and ten years after its for- 
mation, a franchise was granted to the AFanhattan Gas Light Company, 
to operate north of Grand Street. 

Under the original arrangement with the city, the provision which 
had previously applied to the s]")erm oil citv lamps, that they should not 
be lit on the nights when the moon shone, also applied to gas lamps; Init 
in 1853, the "moonlight schedule'" was alxilished and the hours of lighting- 
increased from -'300 to 3833 i)er year, and in that >ear, for the first time, 
the gas lam])s exceeded the oil lam])s in number. 

Li 1855 a third franchise was granted to the Harlem ( ias Light Com- 
pany to operate north of Seventy-ninth Street. In that year the popula- 
tion of the old cit\- of Xew ^'ork was 813,000. There were 13.443 street 
lamps and the annual cost of lighting them was $400,000. In 1858 the 
Metropolitan Gas Light Comjian}- received a franchise for tlie district 
between Thirty-fourth and Seventy-ninth Streets. They did not supply 
street lamps until i8()4, at which time al)ont tliree thousand lam])s of the 
Manhattan Company were transferred to the Metropolitan (ias Light 
Com])any. 

[n 1NO3 the combined capitalization of the gas companies in Xew 
^ ork City was ,$7,000,000. Li the year 1870 the population had increased 
to 950,000, and .-mother corporation, the Xew York ^Mutual (ias Light 
Company, was formed. After that the Knickerbocker (ias Light Com- 
pany was organized, which supplied ])rivate consumers only. In 1899 the 
Consolidated Gas Company of Xew York acquired control of all the exist- 
ing corporations, with the exception of two small companies, supplying out- 
lying sections in the borough of the Bronx, and later the companv also 
came into the control of the electric lighting companies. 

At the present date (1910) about eighteen million cubic feet of gas 
are consumed each day. The stupendous total of eight hundred and ten 
thousand tons of coal and ninety thousand gallons of oil are required to 
furnish gas ft)r one year to the consumers in the boroughs of IManhattan 
and the Bronx. This furnishes a gas of twentv-two candle power, of 
higher grade th.-m is furnished in any other American cit\-. It requires 
20.750 cars to transfer the coal, each car carrying forty tons, which 
means ;i train 127 miles long. When this coal and oil is transformed 



PRESEXT GAS SUPPLY I\ XEW YORK 459 



into t^as, it is carried under the surface of the avenues and streets of the 
boroughs of [Manhattan and the Bronx, through 1742 miles of mains, and 
nearly one thousand miles of service pipes. The mains have increased in 
size with the g-rowth of the city, until now a i)art of the system includes a 
main sixtv inches in diameter, the largest gas main in the world. 

In July, ii)io, there were in use in Xew York City 777,341 gas 
meters, of which numl)er 203,017 are prepayment, or "quarter" meters. 
On one day the gas companies handle 10,174 orders; the term "order" mean- 
ing requests from consumers for burner tips, requests to have gas ranges 
examined or trifling repairs made to them, all of which require the services of 
1016 men. (In one day the index or meter readers read 27,463 meters. The 
gas sales per capita in New York City average $8.27. 

Included in the wonderfitl development in ci)nsum])tii)n of gas, the 
use of this ideal product for fuel purposes, is no less remarkable than that 
for ilhimination. The degree of perfection to which stoves, ranges, heaters 
and other devices for the burning of gas for fuel have been brought, have 
given it the lead in New York City as a fuel for culinary purposes, and 
adds very largely to the cleanliness of the huttses and the comfort of the 
householders of New York. 

The officers of the Consolidated Gas Ci>m])an\- of New N'ork are: George 
B. Cortelyou, |)resident ; W. R. Addicks, L. R. (iawtry and R. A. Carter, 
vice presidents; J. A. Bennett, treasurer; Benjamin W'hitel}-, assistant 
treasurer; R. A. Carter, secretary; C. C. Simpson, assistant secretary; 

F. L. Lamlirecht, auditor; Edwin North, purchasing agent. Directors: 
H. E. Gawtry, chairman, Samuel Sloan, William Rockefeller, Moses Taylor. 

G. F. Baker,"F. A. X'anderlip, S. S. Palmer, \\'. R. Addicks, A. N. Brady, 
J. AV. Sterling, G. B. Cortelyou, W. P. Bliss and M. ( ireer. 

A retrospective view of the past (|uarter of a century reveals many 
wonderful scientific developments, especially in the field of electrical engi- 
neering. During this period the practical application of electrical energy 
has passed from narrow confines until now not only New York, but every 
large city is largely dependent upon it for the conduct of its ordinary busi- 
ness relations. Electricity applied to lighting purposes preceded its employ- 
ment for heat and power by half a dozen years, but its rate of progress has 
been more rapid. 

Prior to 1882 there had been several demonstrations in Europe of the 
practical application of electric cttrrent to lighting purposes by Siemens, in 
Germany, and by the Russian engineer, Jablochkoff, with his candle, a 
form of arc lam]) which was exhiliited on the Avenue de I'Opera, in Paris, in 
1878, and six months later on the Thames, and on Waterloo Bridge, in 
London. 



460 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




ELliCTRIC SllRVICI'. I X \ IIW YORK 461 



In 1879 arc lig'htin,^- systems were l)eiiiL;- dex-eloped in this country h}- 
Charles F. Brush and by Elihu ThoiusDn. 

Thomas A. Eihson clTccted g-reat chan^'cs in electric li.uhlin!^- methods 
by the introduction of the incandescent lami). He had exhibited his carbon 
filament lamj) as earlv as iS^c), Intt it was not until 1880 that any of these 
lamps were seen out of the laboratory. \Vith the development of incan- 
descent lit^htin,!^- and a comprehensive system covering all of the elements 
necessary f(n- the o'eneration, distributicm and sale of electricity, its com- 
mercial use made such a wonderful and rai)id advance that Edison's name 
will always be associated with it. 

The first central station to be utili/.etl for the commercial distribution 
of electricity for incandescent lighting was started in 1882, on Pearl Street, 
near b^dton, in New York Cit}-, ligliting a territory covering an area of 
about (Uie square mile. This station was started under the auspices of 
the Edison Electric Illuminating Comjiany of New York, now The New 
^'ork Edison Com])an\-. There was not a single electric motor in use for 
])0wer purposes at that time, and no electric heating or cooking devices had 
been <lc\'elo])ed. 

After this system of ])roducing and distributing electricity had been 
developed, various applications of electrical energy appeared rapidly, 
owing to the creative genius of Edison, Brush, Weston, Thomson and 
Sprague, until to-day there is more money expended for electricity than 
tor daily bread. 

As an index to the rapid progress of this art, it is interesting to cite 
the magnitude of The New York Edison Compan}''s system, which is the 
largest of its kind in existence, sttpph'ing upward of ninety thousand cits- 
loniers. b'rom its great A\'aterside station, capable of developing continu- 
ously over two hundred and fifty thousand horse ])ower, a network of 
feeders extends out to the twenty-six su1)stations in ^Manhattan and the 
lironx, from which the distributing service of the company is eiTected, cover- 
ing practically every street in tlie populated territorv of both boroughs. 

The company's supply mains furnish electricity to an installation on 
the customer's premises, representing an eqttivalent of over seven million 
and five hundred thousand standard (fifty watt) incandescent electric 
lamps, rei)resented by over four million incandescent lamps, forty thousand 
arc lamps and over two Imndred and fiftv thousand horse power in electric 
motors. 

The largest suppl_\- of energy is furnished to the business districts, 
where the company, through numerous electric elevators, supplies what is 
practically the A'ertical transportation of the city in the numerous hi.gh 
office buildiuL's. 



iG-i HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

The supply ut current tu the purel\- residential district is continually 
extending-, so that practically every nicidern house or apartment mttst be 
equipped with electricity for lighting, and for the numerous other appli- 
catiiins ciintrilititing to the convenience of modern life; but it is not onlv 
in its household applications that electricitv has made the greatest progress, 
but in the commercial applications, such as the eqttipment of factories, mills 
and industrial establishments generally. 

In all of the largest cities, central station service is gradually displa- 
cing the private electric ]")lant, reducing the smoke nuisance and contribu- 
ting to the well-being- of the community Ijy placing at the command of 
the small shopkeejier and the modest factory a liberal supply of power at a 
minimtim of cost. 

In the evening, the (ireat White Way, with its myriads of incandes- 
cent lamps, in attractive signs and decorati\e emblems, converts night 
into day and forms a centre of attraction alike for the visitor and the 
pleasure-loving- native. 

Electric vehicles are rapidly replacing the worn-otit and jaded horse 
e(|uipments, in turn contributing to the economical and ettective solution 
of the transportation problem. 

Xew ai)plications of the electric ctirrent are constantly being devel- 
ojjed, and the field of the electrical industry is constantly widening and the 
central station companies are rajjidly enlarging their outptit and expand- 
ing the territory which they serve. 

Of the ])ul)lic tuilities none has been a greater aid to commerce than those 
dealing with long distance rapid transit of intelligence and speech. "What 
hath God wrought?" was the first message flashed over the first telegraph 
line installetl for public service by the inventor Morse. Although that inven- 
tion and the telephone have ceased to be the wonders they then were, because 
iif their familiarity and universality, they have wrought great revolutions in 
business and social life. The first telegraph line was between Baltimore and 
Washington, in 1S44, and the next was that which reached Xew ^'ork from 
the Jersev shore, in 1X45, the first telegrajih cable line in the world, the first 
telegraph message ever received in New York coming via that cable to a re- 
ceiver temporarily installed in the kitchen of the Audubon Mansion, on the 
lianks of the Hudson (see page 407), then occupied by Jesse W. Benedict, a 
leading Xew ^'ork lawver, who received the message, Samuel V. B. JMorse 
l)eing- at the sending end of the wire on the Jersey side. 

From that beginning the system has lieen develo])e(l to a point of 
utmost usefulness to Inisiness, and an enormous jiroportion of the trans- 
action of the commerce of X"^ew York is carried on by land telegraph or 
ocean cable. 



THE FIRST TELEPHOMl LIXE 463 

iM-en iii<.)re slront^lv entrenclied in business and social usefulness is the 
telephone system, as it has lieen develo])e(l in the City of New York. To trace 
the Xew "^'ork Telephone Coni]nmy back to its first pair of crutle telephones, 
that were laughed at as "scientific toys," it is barely thirty-three years of age. 
It is the product, for the most part, of men who are still alive and busy. 
Such has been its marvelous growth that it has, in one generation, swept past 
industries and professions that have been hundreds of years in existence. 

The inventor himself, Alexander (iraham Hell, exhibited the first tele- 
phones that were seen in New York City, at the St. Denis Hotel, as early as 
]\Iav II, 1H77. Two lines of telegraph wire were borrowed for the occasion, 
one running to Brooklyn and one to New Rrunswick. A few invited guests 
were present, and the result encouraged I'lell to give three exhibitions in 
Chickering Hall on the week following. After these exhibitions two New 
'^'ork business men, Charles A. Cheever and Hilborne L. Roosevelt, ventured, 
on August 29, 1S77, to organize "The Telephone Com])anv of New York."" 
Cheever was a dealer in rubber goods and Roosevelt owned an organ factory 
on ^\'est Eighteenth Street. 

Both Cheever and Roosevelt were able men. They had succeeded in 
other lines of business ; but the task of establishing a tele])hone system in the 
greatest of American cities was too much for them. The most that they 
could do was to string a few private lines, which were used mainly for exhi- 
bitions, the first of these being between Cheever's office in the Tribune 
Building and a Telegraph Exchange for lawyers at 145 Fulton Street, 
owned by William A. Childs. 

At the end of ten months Cheever and Roosevelt \\-ere delighted to sell 
out for $18,000, to a grou]> of men who had larger capital. These men 
were Amzi S. Dodd, founder of Dodd's Express : T. N. A'ail, of Washing- 
ton; Edwin Holmes, founder of a burglar-alarm system; and W^illiam H. 
Woolverton, of the New York Transfer Company. On the first of May, 
1878, they organized "The Bell Telephone Company of New York." 
Edwin Holmes was its first president, and its capital was $100,000. A 
temporary exchange was tried by making use of the Holmes burglar- 
alarm wires at 194 Broadway; and an executive office was established at 
4 East Twentieth Street. 

Two months later Theodore N. Vail came to New York as the general 
manager of the original Bell Company. He was well known as the superin- 
tendent of the Railway Mail Service, at Washington, and his influence soon 
placed the New York Company upon a better basis. He raised $60,000 of 
new capital from Second Assistant Postmaster-General Brady; Henry G. 
Pearson, postmaster of New York; John D. Harrison, and others. With 
this im])etus the young enter]irise began to gain general favor, and in 



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IIIS'IORY OP Mill- VORK 








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CITY INVESTING BUILDING 



GROWTH OF THIi TEIJ-.PHOXE SYSTEM 465 



March, iSjcj. the firsl actual telc])h()nc excliaii.^c was started at S2 Nassau 
Street. 

In this \-car the president of the company was T. N. \ ail, and the 
nieniliers of the Executive Committee were Henry G. Pearson, John I). Har- 
rison, and Amzi S. Dodd. Henry W. Pope was the superintendent. Thomas 
n. Lockwood was bookkeeper. Charles E. Chinnock was electrician. Lewis 
Miller was wire chief. D. N. Adee was canvasser. A. K. Thompson and 
C. A. Wilev were operators. And the business office was at 1)23 I5road\vay. 

The territorv g-ranted to this com])any was a circle of land, sixty-six 
miles in diameter, with the City Hall as the centre. Also for good measure 
it received the whole of Monmouth County. New Jersey, and Long Island. 
Subscribers were charged $60 a year, and later $120 a year, and given one 
month's free trial. The first telephone directory was a small card, showing 
2;:^2 names; and the first switchboards held a dozen wires apiece. Iron wire 
was used, in single strands; and the whole e(|ui])nient, ecpially through lack of 
knowledge and lack of capital, was so crude and chea]) that it would be 
scarcely recognizable to anv telephone engineer of to-day. 

Competition, too, for a time doubled the difficulties and decreased the 
])rofits. The "Gold and Stock Telegra])h Company," which was a subsidiary 
of the Western Union, opened a telephone exchange at 198 Broadway, and 
ga\e battle to the Bell Company. This struggle was soon lirought to a close 
]>\- nuitual agreement; and in 1S80 the two contestants united in "The Metro- 
])()litan Telephone Companv. " with Colonel W. H. Eorbes, of Boston, as its 
first ])resident. The onlv competitor now left in the field was the Child's Law 
Telegraph svstem, which had been given the right to operate not more than 
six hundred lines; and in 1884 this little exchange was merged iii the Metro- 
politan. Since then there has never been any degree of competition in the 
development of the telejjhone system in the Citv of New York. 

The Metropolitan Telephone Company began its career hopefullv with 
$125,000 in the treasury; but all this was wiped out by a sleet storm in the 
winter of 1881. It issued bonds to the amount of $100,000; but no broker 
could he found who would oflr'er them for sale to his clients, and the companv 
was obliged to sell them at a low price to its shareholders, in spite of these 
difficulties, it persisted, and b\- 1883 it had rebuilt and extended its lines, with 
eight exchanges and more than three thousand subscribers. 

In 1885, Theodore N. X'ail became president. He resigned four years 
later, after having pushed to completion the building of an elaborate under- 
ground system of doubled co]i]ier wires. b^)llowing \'ail came Charles Fred- 
erick Cutler, who liad pre\-iously been ])resi(lent of "The New York and New 
Jersey Telephone Company." Cutler headed the Metroi)()litan Telephone 
Company for eighteen \ears. Cnder his management it continued to prosper 



■16(i HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

until, at liis death in njO/, there were more telephones within thirty miles 
of City Mall than there liad been in the whole United States in 1SS5. 

Thei)d(ire X. X'ail was now called for a third time to the presidency 
of the cnmpanw which, in iS</i. had been renamed the "Xew York Telephone 
Company." He mapped out, on still larger lines, the same policy of organiza- 
tion and development: and retired early in 1910 in favor of Union N. Bethell, 
then vice president, wlm had entered the company as general manager in 1893. 
]\lr. liethell stands t<i-day as the official head of the com])anv. He, too, repre- 
sents the larger telephony, and has made the com]:)any more efficient by extend- 
ing the sco])e of its organization. 

In the development of the art of telei)hony, much notaljle work has been 
done in the City of Xl^ew York. Here, under the busiest of streets and in the 
highest of buildings, has been woven a network of wires that is now known 
as the world-wonder of telephone engineering. Here has been the point of 
departure for the long-distance lines, which linked Xew York to Boston in 
1S87. to Chicago in 1892, and to Omaha in 1896. Here the message-rate 
])olicv has been developed to its highest ])oint, with the result that it costs 
much less to be ])Ut in touch with four million tlve hundred thousand people 
than it did to be put in touch with five htmdred people in 1897. 

It may be truly said that the City of X'ew ^'ork has become for all coun- 
tries the universit\- of telephonv. It has been called h\ foreigners "the Mecca 
of telephone men."" Here J. J. Carty in\-ented the "bridging liell,"" and became 
the first great educator of telephone engineers. Here E. F. Sherwood trained 
an arm\' of five thotisand operators until a call can l)e .answered to-day in 
three and two-tifth seconds. Here H. F. Thurber built u]) the largest of tele- 
])hone plants, with the highest type of construction. .Vnd the whole equip- 
ment of ])lant and em])lovees has here been dex'eloped to so high a degree of 
etficiencv that Xew ^'ork has now the most jK^rfect methods of intercommu- 
nication, and tlie shortest business day of any city in the world. 

The Xew \'ork Telephone Companv has now grown to be a state-wide 
organization, and more. It includes a small section of C"onnecticut and the 
most populous ])art of Xew |erse\'. It comprises (,)ne-ninth of the telephony 
of the United States, and onc-se\-enth of tlie entire IjcII system. It is .so 
extensive, in fact, tliat it represents no less than eight per cent, (jf the tele- 
phone business of the world. 

To give ser\-ice to its ten million clients, it has s]K'nt ."^i 14,000,000 upon 
its i)lant and general equipment. It has strung two million miles of copper 
wire, most of it in conduits under the streets of cities. It has organized this 
unthinka1)le mileage of wire into five hundred exchanges, linked it to seven 
hundred and fifty thousand teIe])hones, ])laced the whole mechanism in cliarge 
of twentv-one thousand em])lovees, and sjieeded it u]) to such a point of 



THE XEIV MUNICIPAL BUILDING 



467 




THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING 



McKiM, Mciid & White 



Ids 



HISTORV OF XEir YORK 



efficiency that it is now handling a traffic of more than three million conver- 
sations a day. ( )ne-half, or a trifle more of the hulk of this great company is 
within the limits of the City of Xew ^'ork. There are here fifty-six exchanges, 
ele\en thnnsand em])lovees, three hundred eightv-li\e thousand tele]:)hones, one 
nn'lliiin miles of underground wire, and more than one million six hundred 
thousand con\ersations in an a\erage chn'. Incredihle as it may seem to 
foreigners, it is true that in this one .\merican city there are more telephones 
than in London. Glasgow, l^iyerpool. Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Shef- 
field, Bristol and IJelfast. Even in the list of nations, the Citv of New York 
stands in fourtli ]>lace in the development of telephony, having sur])assed all 
foreign countries except Germany and Great Britain. 

Tn the course of the narrative relation of the development and growth 
of the City of Xew N'ork in this volume, the ])o])ulation at various periods has 
heen stateil. It will be very ap]iro])riate therefore to close it with the figures 
of the Thirteenth Census, showing that the ])o])ulation of the City of Xew 
York in 1910 numbered 4,766,883 souls. 

By boroughs the figures are: ^Manhattan, J, 33 1,54-'. com])ared with the 
i,850.0<;3 of the 'i'welfth Census, an increase of 48[.44(), or 26 ])er cent.; 
borough of the Bronx, 430,980, as against 200,507, an increase of 230,473, 
or 1 14.9 i)er cent, in ten years; Brooklyn Borough, 1,634.331. in comparison 
with the figures 1,166,583 retui'iied in H}00, an increase of 4()7,769, or 40.1 
per cent.; Queens Borough, 284,041, where there were 152. (;()() ten years 
before, an increase of 181,042, or 85.6 ])er cent.; and Richmond Borough, 
85,969, as against the 67,021 of the previous census, an increase of 15,328, 
or 28.3 per cent. In the entire city the figure of 4,7^)6.883. as compared with 
the 3.437,202 of the Twelfth Census, shows an increase of 1.329,681, or ^^Sij 
per cent. 

It is unfortunate, so far as coniparisun is concerned, that the ]x»i)ulation 
of Jersey C it\. Xewark and hundreds of po])ulous ])laces contiguous to the 
l)usiness centre. ;md as nnich a part of Commercial Xew ^'ork as the bor- 
oughs of 15nH)kl\n. I>ronx, Oueens or Richmond, do not show in census 
figures as a part of the metro])olis. I 'oliticalb' se])ar<ate. but in material 
interests an integral part of it. these Xew |erse\- centres added make Commer- 
cial X^^ew ^'ork ;i nnich closer second lu Lundon than is di>^closed by the 
oflicial liguix's. 





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Oli:-fr Lippincott. Photograplicr 
BLAIR & COMPANY BUILDING 



BIOGRAPHIES 



470 



HISTORY Ol- Mill- YORK 




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JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN 



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JOH\ PIILRPOXT MORGAX Kl 

EFORE transplantation in America, the paternal ancestry of ^Iv. J. 
Pierpont Morgan was Welsh, his first American ancestor. Captain 
Miles Morgan, ha\'ing" been the youngest son in a prominent Glamorganshire 
family in \\'ales. He came via Bristol to America, arriving in Boston, a 
young man of twenty years of age, in April, 1636, joining a few weeks later 
the expedition headed by William Pynchon, which established a settlement at 
the junction of the Agawani River with the Connecticut River, in Massachu- 
setts. The settlement was first named Agawam, but was changed to Spring- 
field in 1640. Captain Morgan, who married Prudence Gilbert, a fellow pas- 
senger on the voyag'e from Bristol, l)ecame one of Springfield's foremost citi- 
zens and when, during King Philip's War. the settlement was sacked and 
burned, his blockhouse Iiecame the fortress of the place, and he held it against 
the besieging savages, after the burning of the town, until reinforcements from 
Hadley scattered the enemy. A bronze statue in the Court House Scjuare of 
Springfield commemorates the patriotic service of this bold pioneer. The 
family remained prominent in Springfield for two centuries, and Junius Spen- 
cer Morgan, father of J. Pierpont Morgan, was born in West Springfield in 
1813. He was a banker in Boston. New ^'ork and London, winning- interna- 
tional distinction in finance. In London he was a partner of George Peabody 
iS: Company in the banking house which later l)ecame J. S. Morgan & Com- 
pany, of which he was head. lie married Juliet Pierpont. and to them John 
Pierpont Morgan was born in Hartford. Connecticut, April 17, 1S37. 

Mr. Morgan's maternal ancestry goes back to the Huguenot family of 
Pierpont (or Pierrepont). through James Pierpont of London, whose son John 
came to Massachusetts at an early date and settled in Roxbury, which town 
he represented in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1672. He was the 
father of Rev. [ames Pierpont. born in Roxbury in 1659, who was graduated 
from Harvard in 1681, became pastor of the church at New Haven, Connecti- 
cut, in 1685, and was one of the three ministers who fornmlated in i6(j8 the 
lilan under which Yale was established in 1700. It Avas chiefly through his 
influence that Elihu Yale was induced to make his liberal gifts to the college, 
and Rev. James Pierpont was one of the original trustees of Yale. The 
grandson of this distinguished divine was also a clergyman. Rev. John Pier- 
])ont. yho had a notable career as a poet, and as an antislavery and temper- 
ance reformer; and w-as Mr. Morgan's grandfather. 

W'hatever psychological explanation of Mr. Morgan, based on heredity, 
the scientist may find in these and collateral lines of ancestry, there is no 
question as to the influence upon him of his father, Junius Spencer Morgan, 
who, after giving him a thorough education in the English High School in 
Boston and in the L^niversity of Gottingen, set him to practical work when he 
completed his studies in 1857. Mr. Morgan began in the banking business for 



K-.' IHSI'oh-]' or Mill' ]'()kK 

tlirec }'cars with the tinn of Duncan, Sherman 6c L'<ini])anv. in Xew \'ovk Citv. 
At the end of that time, in iS6o, lie started in business for liimseU' and as 
American representative of liis father's firm of George Pealiody & Company, 
later J. S. Aloryan & Company. This connection enaliled him to give the 
federal government valualile assistance in the marketing (jf its securities in 
Europe. In 1S64 he formed the firm of Dahney, .Morgan & Company, and in 
1S71 he joined Anthony j. Drexcl of Philadelphia, in the iirni of Drexel, 
^Morgan &• Comi)an_\- in Xew York City and Drexel & Company in Philadel- 
]ihia. In i8()3, when Air. Drexel died. Air. Morgan became senior jKirtner, 
although for years before that he had directed the firm's business in New 
^'ork City. (Jn January i. iS()5. the st\'le became J. P. [Morgan & Com])anv 
in Xew York and Drexel & Compam- in Philadelphia, as at present. 

The services of ]\Ir. Morgan in behalf of the government's finances have 
been called into re(|uisition many times since the Civil \A'ar, notably in the 
floating of government bonds in 1S76, 1S77 and 1S7S, and in iS(j5, when his 
firm floated the $62,000,000 in gold l)onds issued b\- the Cle\'eland adminis- 
tration to restore the normal treasur\' sur|)lus of $100,000,000 and thereby 
save the treasurx- from a silver basis. One of the most im])ortant commis- 
sions executed by his firm for the general go\'ernment was in connection with 
the payment to the French Panama Canal Compain- of the $40,000,000 i)ur- 
chase money for the canal. Mr. [Morgan has also been the intermediary of 
foreign governments in obtaining American participation in bond subscrip- 
tion, and secured subscribers for $50,000,000 of the liritish War Poan in 
Kjoi : the largest foreign bond subscri))tion ever made in the Cnited 
-States. 

One of the many lines of activity in which Mr. Morgan has operated with 
distinguished success has been the reorganization of railroads, upon which 
branch he entered in 1869. when jav ( iould and James Fisk were contending 
f(^r mastery in the railroad world, upon methods which often ])ro\-ed extremely 
disastrous to the ])roperties and securities involved. ( )ne of the roads coveted 
by rival financiers was the Albany and Sus(|uelianiia Railroad, which Mr. 
Morgan f|uietly secured and put out of reach of further contention 1)_\- leasing 
it to the Delaware and Pludson Canal C"oiii])an\-. A railroad reorganizer w'ho 
was not a wrecker was something of a rarity in those belligerent days, but 
Mr. Morgan's work in lliat line then and since has always been in ihe direc- 
tion of rehabilitation or advantageous consolidation, and never destructive. Tn 
iSSS he successfullv took hold of the tangled affairs of the Chesapeake and 
( )hio Railroad and the "Pig Four" System, and i)Ul them into good shape; 
and he i)erforiiied similar good ofi^ices in 1891 for the Richmond Terminal, 
which he consolidated into the Southern Railwav Svsteni to the great advan- 
tage of that section of the countrv. fii t8():;, when the Reading Svstem had 



JOIIX I'll-Rl'OXT MOR(,.l-\ 



collapsed and appeared to he in ri^i^or nuirtis. ])ecanse of ihe over anibilious 
operations of its ])resident, A. A. McLeod, Mr. Morgan resuscitated it and set 
it g'oino- aia,'ain. He also reoroanized the Erie System ahout ihe same time, 
and in 1S96 took the Xew ^'ork and New England Railroad and leased it for 
a term of years to the New ^'ork. New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The 
Xorthcrn Pacific Railroad was in a had \\a\- in iS(^7, hut he took hold of it, 
secured tlie aid of ( ierman capital, hrougiu oj)])osin,o- elements into harmonv, 
and jilaced it on a solid basis. The llaltimore and ( )hio and sexeral other rail- 
road com])anies have heen added to the list of those whose reorg'.anization and 
rehabilitation have been planned and executed by Mr. ATorg-an, and the same 
is true with reference to street railway org-anizations, including the West End 
Svstem of Boston, and the street railway system of Chicag'o. In ocean trans- 
])ortation also his genitis for organization has licnefited several important 
.Atlantic and (iulf lines. 

It is. ho\\e\-er, in the field of indtrstrial organization that his most note- 
wiirthv business sticcesses have been achieved. He was concerned in the 
anthracite and bituminous co.al interests, and in several other successful opera- 
tions of that kind, but it is his creation of the L'nited States Steel Corporation 
which best attests his soundness of judgment and broadness of vision, tie 
came into that by first being' interested in the organization of the Federal 
Steel Com])any. which seemed a gigantic undertaking, and from that was led 
into the \-iew lh;it a much larger combination of interests was jKissible and 
desirable. 

It is recognized in the lin.ancial world that no other man could ha\e called 
together the resources necessary to the launching of so great an enter|)rise. 
Its original cai)ital nf a billion dollars (now increased to $1,400,000,000 ), put 
this cor])oralion so high u]i in a class by itself that many predicted failure, 
declaring it could never succeed and that the stock would never reach a 
respectable figure. But Air. Alorgan saw, and he made others see, the possi- 
bilities of ex]-)ansion in the steel industry, and the (|uotations of the Autumn 
of 1909 sliiiw that the market has come to realize how strongly, as well as 
how bro,-i(lly. .Mr. AbDrgan planned, when he and his associates launched "U. 
.S. .Steel" on the seas of industrv and finance. 

Air. Alorg.'in is not imlv at the head of the house of |. 1'. Morgan c\: Com- 
]iany and I )rexe] «.\: Com])an\-, but also of the London banking house of |. S. 
Alorgan (St Conqjany, and the Paris house of APjrgan, Harjes \- Conijianv. 
lie has large investments in English securities, and his influence in European 
markets is very great. Tn the United States he has often deiuonstrated his 
power, in times of ])anic and financial stress, to stay the tem])est and to tide 
over difiiculties. This is because the world of finance is so well assured of 
the soundness of his judgment and the (piality of his leadership that it looks 



4;t HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

to liini for guidance in such exigencies. Tliis has l)een time and again dem- 
onstrated, and never more emphatically than in the panic of 1907, when, 
l)ecause he had given his word, the Trust Company of America was saved, 
althotigh $34,000,000 in cash was paid out o\'er the cotmters Ijefore the rtin 
was ended. The meetings of leachng financiers in his library resulted in 
measures hy which the panic was subdued and restoration cautiously but 
surely commenced. 

Great as is the prestige held by Air. Morgan as a financier, a writer in 
The Nation a year or so ago stated that the day would come when his fame 
as a bibliophile would outshine his achievements in the world of finance. 
Though this can hardly be, it is vet a fact that in the collection of books, 
manuscripts, pictures and ohjcfs d'art, he has displayed genius and originality, 
with a boldness of attack and a broadness of vision comparable to those 
exercised in his great financial operations, and he is certainly, to-day, the 
foremost collector, as well as the premier financier, of the United States. 

He owns many of the best and most valuable pictures, representing not 
onl\- the old masters, but also works of the great artists of all the best modern 
schools. lie has an art gallery of his own in London, besides being the pos- 
sessor of many great paintings in his home and library in New York. The 
catholicity of his taste and judgment as a collector has been exercised in 
numerous and divergent directions, including the purchase and gift to the 
American ?\Iuseum (if Natural History of the Bement Collection of mineral 
specimens, and the Tiffany Exhibit of gems and pearls, the Ford Collection of 
books and manuscripts given by him to the New York Public Library, and 
numerous paintings, porcelains and other art objects given to the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. Of rare books, manuscripts, paintings, porcelains and art 
objects he has a priceless collection, including the original manuscripts of 
many of the masterpieces of English literature, illuminated manuscripts of the 
Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries, of which a partial yet wonderful exhibit 
was made in the Columbia University Library in i()o6; and many rare speci- 
mens of ecclesiastic vesture and ornament dating from the early mediaeval 
period. In this connection, his purchase of the Ascoli Cope, and his generous 
return of it to the Church in Italy (from which it had been abstracted many 
years before), when the facts of its history became known, are fully remem- 
bered. His library is housed in a beautiful marble structure adjoining his 
New York home. Art in all phases has in Afr. ^Morgan a generous patron. 
He is the chief supporter of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The New 
Theatre, opened in November, 1909, owes much to his personal interest 
and aid. 

Afr. Morgan is one of the most active laymen of the Episcopal Church, 
and has for many years been a vestryman and warden of St. George's Church 



JOfIX rU-.RPOXT MORG.IX 415 

in New York City, and a strong supporter of the many branches of useful- 
ness and activity of that parish, under the rectorship of Rev. Dr. Stephen H. 
Tvng and his successors, and for more than twentv-iive vears has been a lav 
delegate to the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 

Among- the objects benefited by his munificence are the Lying-in Hospital 
of New York City, to which he has given $1,350,000, covering the purchase 
of its present site and the erection and completion of its buildings; the Medi- 
cal College of Harvard University, to which he has given $1,250,000; also 
$500,000 each to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and to the New York 
Trade Schools; besides substantial donations to the Young Men's Christian 
Association, the Palisades Park Commission. Bronx Botanical Garden, Hart- 
ford Pul)lic Library, and many other educational, religious and charitable 
associations and objects. 

Since iSSi ]\Ir. Morgan has been jjrominent as a yachtsman, in which 
character he finds his most favored recreation. In that vear he built the Cor- 
sair, an iron steam yacht, which was succeeded in 1891 by Corsair H, which 
was sold to the Ignited States Government at the beginning of the Spanish- 
American War. and renamed The Gloucester, after which he built his present 
yacht Corsair HL Mr. Morgan was commodore of the New York Yacht 
Club for three years, and in that capacity he built the cup-defender Columbia, 
which twice defeated Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht Shamrock in the international 
races for the America's cvip in 1899 and igoi. 

Mr. Morgan's characteristics are those of skillful generalship in all of the 
manifold avenues of activity in which his interests and tastes have led him. 
His plans are in the large; and completely cover every campaign in which he 
figures, without burdening himself with the minuter details. His strategic 
skill has in no direction been more strongly manifested than in his remarkable 
faculty of choosing lieutenants capable of working to his plans. 

He has received many honors, including the honorary degree of LL.D. 
from Yale University and decorations from foreign countries ; has been in inti- 
mate audience with the King of England, the German Kaiser, the King of 
Italy and other royalties, and with Pope Leo. 

Mr. Morgan has a full appreciation of the social side of life, is a luember 
of the best clubs of New York, London and other cities, and enjoys himself 
to a degree rarely attained by one so largely identified with great enterprises. 

Mr. Morgan married first, in 1861, Amelia Sturgis. daughter of Jonathan 
Sturgis. of New York, who died in i86j; and in 1865 he married Frances 
Louise Tracy, daughter of Charles Tracy, a noted New York lawyer. He 
has a son. John Pierpont Morgan. Jr.. who is associated with him in business, 
and three daughters: Louise Pierpont Morgan (Mrs. Satterlee). Juliet Pier- 
pont Morgan (Mrs. Hamilton), and Miss Anne Tracy Morgan. 



HISTORY OF \l-:il' )'()RK 




ixDRiiir c.iRxiicin 477 



A 



RI'X'EXT writer in the Xew ^'(^rk Independent said of Andrew 
Tanieo-ie that lie is "the nidsl original and creative American 
of the last half century." Creative he certainly is, and orio-inal to a 
superlative decree, and no less entphaticallx- is lie American, notwilh- 
standins^- the fact that he is a Scot. It was in ancient Dunfermline that 
he was horn Xovember 25, 1835; in Dunfermline, which was once 
proudest of the distinction of bein.^- the hurial place of Bruce and 
other Scottish Kings, and the hirth])lace of Charles I, Init now 
])oints with most pride to the fact that it is the birthplace of Andrew 
Carnegie. 

His father was a weaver, for the linen industrv has been the chief 
one in Dimfermline for about two centuries. The introdtiction of 
machinery in the "thirties made trouble fur the weavers of Dtmferm- 
line. Work was scarce, money scarcer, and the elder Carnegie became 
discontented. History is full of instances where Discontent has proved 
the turning ])oint of Destiny for nations and for men. Tt drove the 
Carnegie family — father, mother and two sons, in 1848, via the barcjue 
Wiscasset, 800 tons, which made the vovage in fortv-two days, to 
America. 

Andrew Carnegie had attended school, when he could, in Dunfermline, 
but when the family settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and his father secured 
\\(irk in a cotton mill, he found a chance to work as a bobbin-bov in the same 
mill at a dollar and twenty cents per week, and he worked at that for a year, 
when the allurement of a fifty per cent, raise in salary made him relinqttish 
that job for one as stoker for a fm-nace in a cellar at a dollar and eighty 
cents weekly. 

Through the good offices of J. Douglas Reid, a telegrapher and an 
Edinburgh man, Andrew secured a ])Osition, when he was fifteen, as a 
telegraph messenger at three dollars a week. He was soon an operator 
at twice that salary, and by his enterprise and originality attracted 
the favor of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, then head of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad interest in Pittsburgh, becoming first a railroad oper- 
ator and afterward pri\ate secretary to Colonel Scott. That posi- 
tion placed him in touch with various ojjportunities. which he improved. 
The first was the chance that came to him to buy ten shares of 
Adams Express Company stock at sixt\- dollars per share. To get 
it, his mother mortgaged the little home in Allegheny (his father 
had died in 1835), and Colonel Scott lent him one hundred dollars to com- 
plete the ])in-chase. 

The success of this first investment \enture was an encouragement to 
make others. He became a member of the sxndicate which l)ou"ht the Storev 



•478 HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 

Farm, in tlie nil regions, in which the lirsl year's di\itlends paid liack 
the purcliase monev several times over. He l)ecame interested in the 
\\"oodruff Sleeping Car C<>m])anv at its ince])tion and made a consid- 
erable amount (if money there. During the Civil War ^Ir. Carnegie 
served, in Washington, as Su])erintendent of Military Railways and Gov- 
ernment Telegraphs. 

In ii%3 Colonel Scott became \ice ])resident of the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, and Mr. Carnegie succeeded him as superintendent of the Pitts- 
burgh Division. He entered the iron business, May 2. 1864. by buying 
from Thomas X. [Miller a one-sixth interest in the Sun City Forge 
Company, which made a specialty of axles, the other partners, besides 
Mr. Miller, being Andrew Kloman and Henry Phipps. and for about two 
years the business was very successful. Mr. Carnegie also organized the 
Keystone Bridge Company, and by disposing of stock to J- Kdgar 
Thomson, president, Colonel Scott, vice jiresident. and to other officials 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Companv. secured it a strong position, so 
that it soon took a foremost place in the bridge industry. These enter- 
prises became so important that Mr. Carnegie left the em])lo\- of the 
railroad in 1S65. He kept in touch with President Thomson, however, 
and when that gentleman became engaged in building a branch railroad 
to Davenport. Iowa, he engaged Mr. Carnegie to adjust some differ- 
ences connected with the sale of six million dollars worth of bonds in 
Europe, and after he had successfully accomplished that mission, gave 
him some more to sell. His success in that enter])rise gave him a sub- 
stantial increase of capital, and with i)artners he ])urchased land on the 
site of Braddock's defeat by the French and Indians in 1755, and there 
established and built the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. He built the 
Eucy I'urnace in 1874, another Euc\' Furnace ( X"o. 2) in 1877, and 
bought out the Homestead Steel Works in 1880. He jiracticallv created, 
or at least led. the steel industry in this country, and so emphatic was 
his leadership in its wonderful growth as to maintain for him the prac- 
tical mastery of it U]) to the time thai lie retired from acti\e ])ar- 
ticipation in business. From the first his policy was the imjtrovement 
and cheapening of processes so as to enable him to make steel quicker, 
better and at less cost, to ada])t this material to more and more uses, 
and to make it in constantly increasing degree a staple of conunerce. To 
this end machinery which liad been deemed jierfect was discarded 
when better became availal)le. with an apparent recklessness which to 
many seemed scandalous; but this readiness to throw a good thing awav 
to make room for a better kept him always ahead of all competition in the 
steel industrv. 



,lXI>Rliir C.IRXEGIE 4:9 



Fmni the time that Amh^ew Carneg-ie first saw a bessemer steel plant 
in fnll operation in Eng'land he was a confirmed o])timist in reference to 
the fnttn"e of the steel industr}-. Others wavered and douhled, but ^Iv. 
Carnegie never. He had the wisdom, however, to take advantage of the pes- 
simistic periods of his competitors, and to btty, to advantage, plants which 
had been established as rivals of his own. Thus his comjiany ac(|uired 
the Homestead plant in 18S0. and the Duquesne plant in iS<jO. By com- 
bination with other interests, his two firms of Carnegie, Pbipjis i!^- Comj^any 
and Carnegie Brothers & Company acquired not only leadershi]) in manufac- 
turing steel, but also control of the Frick Coke Company, the Scotia ( )re 
Mines and other corporations related to fuel, raw material, transportation and 
other re(|uisites to practical domination of the steel industry. In advancing 
to and maintaining that position there were countless problems to face, and 
manv difficulties to overcome. The business was reorganized and consoli- 
dated in the Carnegie Steel Company in 1899. 

In the Carnegian campaign for con<|tiest of the Em])ire of Steel 
there were several division and brigade commanders, btit Mr. Carnegie 
was always commander in chief. The emjjloyee who could show supreme 
ability in any special department was encouraged by the prospect of a 
partnership. Young men of inherent power rose with unprecedented 
rapidity, some from the humfdest positions in the Carnegie emplov, up 
the steps of promotion until they became partners, and over forty young 
men in the various departments reached the goal and became million- 
aires. In 1901 the United States Steel Corporation was organized and 
after much negotiation, ]\Ir. Carnegie, then in his sixtv-sixth vear, con- 
sented to sell. 

Mr. Carnegie retired from business when he sold otit to the United States 
Steel Corporation, but he had only changed the direction and not the volume, 
of his activities. To retire, in the sense of becoming idle, would be an impos- 
sibility to one of his temperament. Therefore it is that Mr. Carnegie, released 
from business, has become more strongly identified with matters of pttblic con- 
cern. 

llis i)hilanthropies have been ]irojected along the lines of adding to 
the intelligence of the English-speaking people. In his own childhood 
his opportunities for securing a formal education were much restricted. 
The chief asset he gained by his attendance at the Dunfermline schools was 
a love for reading. This he indulged to the fullest ])ossible extent, and the 
difficulties which he found in securing the books he wanted so impressed 
him, that after achieving financial success he began ])roviding library 
l)uildings, first in his home town of Allegheny, soon after in his native 
town of Dunfermline, later in Pittsburgh, and after that in anv and e\erv 



4S0 HISTORY OF NEJl' YORK 

place in tlie L'nited States or in the llrilisli luiii)ire which showed a need 
for a Hhrary, and wonUl ])ro\-idc for it a site and maintenance. He has 
^iven for this ])urpose over fift}" milhon dollars for abont two thousand 
lihrary l)nildini^s, and is still ])ro\'idin!_;- libraries at a rate averat^in"' one 
e\"ery other working- dav. 

Besides libraries, ^Nfr. Carnegie has given largely to educational pur- 
poses. He has hel]K'd many of the smaller colleges in \-arious sums aggre- 
gating more than twent\- million dollars: endowed the Carnegie Institu- 
tion, in aid of scientihc research work, with $12,000,000: established the 
Carnegie b^tundation. to provide pensions for retired ]:)rotessors, with 
$15,000,000: the Carnegie Relief Fund, for employees of the Carnegie 
Steel Company, $5,000,000: the Carnegie Hero Fund, $5,000,000; the Pitts- 
burgh Technical Schools, $5,746,000, the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 
which includes Aluseum, Fil)rary and Art Callery, exceeding $2O,00O,O0O; 
Scottish Universities, $10,000,000: for the Fngineering Piuildings, New 
York, built for the .American Institute of Flectrical Engineers, American 
Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Fnstitute of Mining Engi- 
neers and Engineers" Club, $1,500,000: the St. Eouis Public Library, 
$1,000,000: to New ^'ork City for branch libraries, $5,200,000, and Phila- 
del])hia, $1,500,000. for thirty branch libraries: his aggregate gifts for 
library buildings for comnumilies who are to maintain libraries by tax- 
ation being over $50,000,000, and has provided large sums for other pur- 
poses, his public benefactions exceeding $150,000,000, without including 
his private pension fund. 

Air. Carnegie is one of the world's most distinguished advocates of 
international peace, and furnished the fund of $1,500,000 for the building 
of the Temple of Peace at The Hague. He presided over the Inter- 
national Peace Conference held in New "li'ork City in 1907. He is, in 
fact, as distinguished for originality in his wa>- rif using his fortune as 
tor the skill and rapidit}- with which he acipiired it. The conven- 
tional story of the rise of a poor boy to wealth includes the phrase that 
the subject ga\-e his "undexiating attention to his business."' but that does 
not ht the career of Andrew Carnegie. That he had unprecedented suc- 
cess in business was not l)ecause he did not attend to other things. He 
went around the world oxer a (|uarter of a centur^• ago. and he has made 
about ninet_\- trips across the ocean. lie holds a i)lace of distinction as 
an author which many jirofessional literarx' men might envx', and he 
gained the personal friendshi]) of Herbert .Spencer, |ohn Morlev, [Mat- 
thew Arnold, ( dadstone, |ohn llright and man\- other leading men 
of ISritain and America, long before he had entered the rank of the 
million;iries. 



ANDREW CARXEGIE 481 



His two earliest books were the result nl his travels, as indicated 
l)y their titles: ""An American Four-in-Hand in Britain" (1883), and 
"Rdund the World" (1884). His next Ixink, '"'rrinniphant I )enii)cracy" 
(i88fi). lias become a classic as an a|)])reciation of American institu- 
tions. His later bdoks, "The ( iospel of Wealth" (IQOO), and "The 
Empire of Ihisiness" (190J), deal in an entirel_\- original way with the 
subjects and i)ri)blems sugg"ested by their titles, and the last named has 
been translated into ei,<>"ht lan^ua^es, includinj^" ( Ireek and |a])anese. Mr. 
(/arnegie has also written and ])ublished a "Life of |anies Watt" for the 
"Famous Scots" series (i(p6), and "Problems of To-dav" ( n;o8 ) ; be- 
sides \-arious contributions to magazines and rexiews in America and 
Ilritain. 

His writings, as his life, are indiued with the American spirit, and 
}et he is a true Scot. Ilis heart beats true to Scotland in general and 
to Dunferndine in ])articular. He has endowed that town with more 
llian half a million ])ounds sterling for its ])ul)lic institutions. In Scot- 
land he is the Laird of Skibo Castle ( wliich he bought in i8()7). He fills 
the role in harmony with the best Scottish traditions and he keeps his 
own pi])er. He was elected Lord Rector of the I'niversitv of St. Andrew, 
Edinburgh, in i(j02, and he has received the honorary degree of Doctor 
of Law's from all the Scottish L'niversities : of (dasgow, 1005, Al)erdeen 
and Edinburgh, 1906. and the L'uiversity of Rirmingham, np^: as well 
as from the University of Pennsylvania, i()0(), and I\Ic(dll LTnivcrsitv. Mon- 
treal. He was elected ])resident of the liritish Iron and Steel Institute in 
IQ03, being the oid}- American who has e\er recei\ed that honor. Mr. 
Carnegie has also received more freedoms of cities in his native land than 
any other man, having received o\-er U\{\ in England. Scotland and 
Ireland. 

^\\\ Carnegie cares nothing for the ostentations of wealth. Llis home life 
is domestic and coiufortal^le, though in no degree lacking in hospitality. Llis 
way of living is very modest in comparison with that of some of the young 
partners he has helped to fortune. He is very earnest in the things that 
interest him, from the advocacy of simplified spelling to the pro])aganda of 
universal peace. He was married late in life (1887), to Miss Louise Whit- 
field, of Xew York, and has one daughter, Margaret, born in 1897. The 
family town house is in New York. Llis ])ublic actix'ities carry him to many 
jilaces, and his summers are s])cnt in Scotlantl. 

The career of Mr. Carnegie has been intensely interesting, and has been 
the subject of many articles and volumes. Llis characteristics are marked by 
great individuality in all the phases of his activity as capitalist, ])hilanthropist, 
litterateur, ]ihiloso]-)her and jniblicist. 



48 V 



mSTOR]' OF Xliir YORK 




A 



IJil'l I'.lh'SOXS MORTOX 483 

AKJXG lixint^" men 1113 name is more closel)' eunnected with the 
history of the City, State and Nation than that of Hon. Levi Par- 
sons Morton. In tlie c(iuntry at large, which he served with great abihty and 
distinction as Minister to France and as \'ice President of the United States; 
in the State of Xew '^'ork wliose executive affairs he administered most effect- 
ively as governor, antl in the Cii}- of New York, of which he has for many 
years been one of the foremost citizens, his name is held in high honor. 

He is of old New England lineage, being descended in direct line from 
George Morton, of Bawtry, Yorkshire, England, one of the Pilgrim Fathers 
who landed from the ship "Ann" at Plymouth, Mass., in 1623. Mr. Morton 
was born in Shoreham, Vermont, May 16, 1824, being the voungest son of 
Rev. Oliver anil Lncretia (Parsons) Morton. His mother was also of a good 
New England family, and was a sister of Rev. Levi Parsons, distinguished in 
religious history as the first American missionary to Palestine, and it was 
after him that Mr. Morton was named. He was educated in the Shoreham 
Academ\-, l:)ut derived fully as much educational benefit from the refined and 
intellectual influences of his family life in the modest parsonage which was 
his boyhood home as from any of the formal teaching he received. 

He became connected with mercantile business and was thus engaged for 
five years at Hanover, N. H., and later as a clerk with the prominent house 
of James M. Beebe & Co., Boston, of which he became a partner in 1852, 
another memlier of that firm being Junius Spencer Morgan, afterward an 
international banker of the firm of George Peabody & Co., London, and the 
father of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. Mr. Morton came to New York City 
in 1854, and established the wholesale dry goods commission house of 
Morton and (irinnell. which became one of the most successful in the 
country. 

He established a banking Inisiness in 1863, under the style of L. P. 
Morton & Co., in which firm Mr. George Bliss became a partner in 1868, the 
style changing to ]\Iorton, Bliss & Co., and in the same year, in association 
with Sir John Rose, who had previously been Minister of Finance of Canada, 
he founded the London house of Morton, Rose & Co., of which he remained 
at the head until its dissolution. The firm of Morton, Bliss & Co. was suc- 
ceeded October i, 1890, by the Mortnn Trust Company, of which he has ever 
since been president ; he is also president of the Fifth Avenue Trust Company, 
and a director of the Guaranty Trust Company, Home Insurance Company, 
Panama Coal Company, and the Washington Life Insurance Company. 

Mr. Morton's London house was, from 1873 to 1884, and again after 
1889, the fiscal agent of the United States Government in London, and he had 
charge of many of the largest financial negotiations of the government. He 
organized the syndicate of banks, including Drexel, Morgan & Co., J. S. Mor- 



484 HISTORY OF XlUf YORK 

g"an (& Co., X. M. Ruthschild and Sons, and Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co., 
wliich successful!}- placed the 5-per-cent. Government loan of 1871, and assisted 
in the funding' of the national dehl an 1 in making' possible the resumption of 
specie payments at a fixed rate. Mortun, R(»se iJv C<i. were also asso- 
ciated with the Messrs. Rothschild and nther London liankers in the pay- 
ment of the ( ieneva Award of $15,000,000, and the Halifax Fisher}- Award 
of $5,500,000. 

In the arena of diplomacy and statesnianslii]) ]\lr. ]\Iorton has had a career 
as distinguished as in finance. In 1876, in a convention held shortly before 
the election, he was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of the Elev- 
enth Congressional District, without havings been ])reviously consulted. There 
was no time for effective canvass, 1)ut tlie Democratic maioritv was reduced hv 
400 votes. lie was ai)i)(_>inted in 1S7S, 1)}- President Hayes, honorary commis- 
sioner of the L'nited States to the Paris Exposition. In the Fall of the same 
year he was again nominated for Congress in the I'deventh District and after 
an energetic canvass was elected by more than 7,000 ])lurality t() the Forty- 
sixth Congress: and he was reelected to the l*^iriv-se\-enth Congress in 18S0. 

In Congress ]\lr. Morton's strmding as a liiiancier of unsurpassed ability 
and untarnished record gave him a jjosition of authority in connection with 
financial legislation, and his si)eeches in opposition to the unlimited free coin- 
age of silver in 1879 were among the most direct and authoritative in that 
debate. He was also much iiUerested in international jiolitics and foreign 
relations, and was a member of the C<Mnmittee on Foreign .-Vffairs in the 
h^irt\--sixth Congress. He received an informal tender of the Rei)ul.)lican 
nomination for Vice President on the ticket with General Garfield in 1880, but 
though this oft'er was equiv;dent to an election, he declined it. He also 
declined the position of Secretar}- of the Xav}-, tendered b}- President Garfield 
in iSSi, ])Ul ser\cd as United .States Minister to I'rance from 1881 to 1885. 

Mr. Morton was one of the most successful and po])ular representatives 
ever sent bv our Government to France, lie renio\-ed the Fegation from its 
former ]ilace into one of the best localities in Paris in a mansion which he 
rented at his own expense. He gained the friendship of the great b'rench 
statesmen of that dav — Ferry, Gambetta, De i'^reycinct, and others, and in 
social as well as in governmental circles won the favor of the French, and 
the numici])alit\- named the s(|uare up )n which he had established the Fega- 
tion, "Place des I^tats Unis." He drove the first rivet in the Bartholdi Statue of 
"Liberty ludightening the \\'orltl," and had the honor (if accepting that statue 
for his government; took a pul)lic ])art in the ceremony of unveiling of the 
statue of Lafayette at Le Puy, his birthi)lace, was a commissioner to the Paris 
Electrical Exposition, and a representative of the United States at the Sub- 
marine Cable Con\-ention. Americans resident in or \isitors to France during 



LIU' I P.IRSOXS MOKTOX 485 

Mr. Morton's incuinhcncy found the Let^'ation elHcient and courteous, and in 
practical diplomacy he was especially successful, notably in securing from 
l-'rance the recognition of American corjtorations, and the removal of restric- 
tions upon the im])(irtalion of Americm pork. 

^Ir. Morton was nominated at the Chicago Convention June 25, 1888, for 
the ofiice of Vice President of the United States on the ticket with Benjamin 
Harrison and was elected in the following Xoveniher. There was never a 
man who filled the \"ice-Presidential chair with more al)ility or presided over 
the Cnited .States Senate with greater courtesy or im])artiality. When his 
term was closing he received a letter written in highly comiilimentary terms 
and signed by the entire membership of the Senate, tendering to him a ban- 
(|uet at the Arlington Hotel in Washington, held Fel)ruary _7, iSc)^, at which 
.Mr. ^lorton was warmlv eulogized l)y Senators of both ])arties. 

In iX()4 Mr. ^Morton was nominated for Covernor of Xew York. The 
State had been in Democratic hands since i88j, and the Democratic plurality 
had been 45,000 in i8q2. .Mr. Morton was elected by a plurality oi 150,000, 
and his term was one of great benetit to the .State and its ])eo])le. 

Governor Morton is the owner of "l^llerslie" at Rhinecliff, Rhinebeck-on- 
Hudson. one of the most beautiful of American country houses, a modern 
structure in the [£nglish Renaissance style, surrounded by a park and a 
large farm, cultivated in tlie best manner, and ])astures and large barn for 
what is |)rol)abl\- the finest herd of ])edigreed ( iuernseys in this 
countrv, and there are also yards and buildings for Hocks, numbering 
thousands, of fine ])oultry. The situation is one of unsur])assed beauty, com- 
manding fine views of the Hudson Ri\er and X'alley and of the mountain 
range bevond. The town house is at 6S1 Fifth .Vvenue. 

In social life Governor Morton is held in highest esteem, for his has been 
a career typical of i)ublic and personal rectitude, and expressive of the highest 
ideals of American citizenship. He is a member of the New England Society 
and the Sons of the Revolution, is president of the Metropolitan Club of New 
^'ork, and member of the L'nion, Union League, Century, I.awwrs", Re])ul)li- 
can. Tuxedo and Down Town Clubs. 

He married, in 1856, Miss Lucy Kimliall, daughter of Elijah H. Kimball 
and member of an old Long Island familv. She died in 1871, and in 1873 he 
married Anna Livingston .Street, daughter of William I. Street and grand- 
daughter of (leneral Randolph S. Street, and a descendant of the old Man- 
hattan families of Livingston, Schuyler and \'an Rensselaer. Of his five chil- 
dren, four are now living: Edith Livingston, who married. .\.pril 30, 1900. 
William Corcoran Eustis; Helen, who married in London, in October, 1901, 
the Comte de Perigord, now Due de \'alencer\-; Alice, married in February, 
1902, to Winthrop Rutherford; and ^larv Morton, unmarried. 



^ 



-186 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 







TOHX DAVISON ROCKEFELLER 



JOHX P. IV I SOX ROCKEFELLER 4s: 

JDHX J)A\'ISUX ROCKEFELLER, whose achievements in business 
and philanthropy have earned him world-wide distinction, was born 
at Rich ford, Tioga County, New \'ork, July 8, 1839, son of William Avery and 
Eliza (Davison) Rockefeller. His grandfather was son of Godfrey Rocke- 
feller, of Massachusetts. William A. Rockefeller, his father, engaged in 
various enterprises, and trained his son to practical business ideas. In 1850 
the family removed to Cuvahoga Countv, Ohio, locating on a small farm at 
Strongsville, a few miles south of Cleveland, and later removed to Parma, 
another Cleveland suburl). 

His father's training and his own bent led him early into practical busi- 
ness activities, the first of which was when, at the age of eight, he became 
the proud possessor of a flock of turkevs, of which, with the assistance of his 
mother, who gave him the curds from the milk to feed them, he made a sub- 
stantial success. His education had been conducted as a preparation for a 
college course, but when he was sixteen it was decided that he should leave 
the high school course, which he had nearly completed, and spend a few months 
in a commercial college in Cleveland, a training which he had always highly 
valued. \Mien the course was finished he found, after a long and tedious 
search, a place in the forw^arding commission house of Hewitt & Tuttle, Sep- 
tember 26, 1855, remaining with that house as clerk for fifteen months, receiv- 
ing fifty dollars for his first three months' work, and twenty-five dollars a 
month during the year 1856, and after that becoming cashier and bookkeeper 
in charge of the office of the firm, whose business activities were so diversified 
that his duties gave him many problems to work out. His experience in that 
house was of the highest value as a business training, and his genius for 
business was evidentlv of great value to the firm, which confided many of its 
most important matters to his hands, although he was still a boy in years, 
and every account against the firm was carefully scrutinized and audited by 
him. 

In 1858, although onlv nineteen vears old, he left that firm to establish, 
as an equal partner of M. B. Clark, the commission firm of Clark & Rocke- 
feller, each putting in two thousand dollars. Mr. Rockefeller had saved up 
about seven or eight hundred dollars, and borrowed the remainder from his 
father at ten per cent., then a common rate for private loans. The business 
was successful from the first, and soon attained large proportions, the sales 
for the first year aggregating half a million dollars. To carry the business 
frequent loans had to be procured from the banks, but Mr. Rockefeller was 
the financial man of the firm, and succeeded at all times in securing sufficient 
funds to keep the business going, although the process was often attended 
with difficulties, which all went into the training which made him one of the 
world's greatest financiers. 



4SS HISTORY OF XHW YORK 

In i860 the firm went outside of its regular i)nxluce business to join 
jnnies and Richard Clark and Mr. Samuel Andrews in the oil refining- business 
of Andrews, Clark iS: Com|)anv, which they organized, Mr. Andrews being 
the manufacturing man of the concern. He had learned the i)rocess of cleans- 
ing crude petroleum by the use of sulphuric acid, and he attended to that fea- 
ture of the business. As that business develo])ed. the firm of Clark & Rocke- 
feller was called u|)()n to supply a large special capital, and in 1X65 the part- 
nership of Andrews. Clark & Company was dissolved. The arrangement that 
the cash assets should be collected and the debts ])aid was a matter of course, 
but the plant and good will remained for dis])osition. It was decided that the 
]iartners should compete among themselves for the ownership, and a lawver 
who represented the Clarks served as auctioneer. Air. Rockefeller, who 
wanted to go actively into the oil business with 'Sir. Andrews, secured the 
Ijusiness at his bid of 872,300 and the firm of Rockefeller & Andrews 
was established. \'ery soon after, Mr. Rockefeller sold out his interest 
in the ])roduce commission business of Clark & Rockefeller to his 
])artner. 

Thus began Mr. Rockefeller's lung and successful career in the oil busi- 
ness, then in its infancy and ver\- crudclv organized. Tn Mr. R<Kkefeller and 
his associates must be credited the m(.)St important stei)s in its development, by 
the introduction of new processes for the improvement of the oil, the util- 
ization of by-]in)ducts, the reduction of the cost of oil to the consumer, bv the 
building of pipe lines and the consequent cheapening of the cost of deliveries, 
and by dealing in large measure direct with the consumer. 

Later Messrs. Rockefeller lK; Andrews, with Mr. William Rockefeller, 
esta1)lished in Cleveland the firm u\ William Rockefeller & Companv, which 
Innll a new plant called the Standard Oil Refinery, and shortly afterward the 
])artners united in establishing in Xew York City the firm of Rockefeller & 
Company, for the sale of the ]iroducts of their refineries. In 1867 the firms of 
William Rockefeller & Company, Rockefeller & Andrews. Rockefeller &; Com- 
])any, and S. \'. Harkness and Henrv M. Flagler, united in forming the firm 
of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, thus uniting under one executive 
management the business which these separate firms and individuals 
had carried nn, and combining into one harmonious organization the 
departments of production, transi)ortation and sale o\ their jjrotiucts and 
l)_\--l)roducts. 

In 1870 the business had so increased that a corporate form of organiza- 
tion of the business seemed desirable, and The Standard Oil Com])an\- of Ohio 
was organized with a cajjital of $1,000,000. taking over the btisiness of Rocke- 
feller. .Andrews & Flagler. Of this com])anv John D. Rockefeller became 
president; William Rockefeller, vice president: and Ilenry M. I-'lagler. secre- 



JOHX D.inSOX ROCKliFRLLRR 489 

lary and treasurer. Alanv ullier refineries in ()hi(i, I'ennsyhania and Xew 
N'ork associated themselves with the Stanchird ( )il Company from time to 
time, and in 1S82 The Standard ( )il Trust was formed with a capital stock 
of $70,000,000, later increased to $i;5,ooo,ooo, and which, within seven or ei^'ht 
vears, came into possession of the stocks of the comi^anies controlling the 
greater part of the petroleum refining husiness of the country as well as of the 
oil producing interests. After jjrolonged litigation, hegun in iS()0, the Trust 
voluntarilv dissolved, and in iS«jg the i)resent form of organization was 
adopted. The chief of the Standard (HI cor|)orations is The Standard ( )il 
Companv, incorporated under the laws of Xew jerse_\', in addition to which 
there are many suhsidiar\' corporations in this and other cnuntries, constitu- 
ting the largest business interest under identical contml in tlie world, it 
owns manv thousands of acres of oil lands, vast nuniliers of wells, refineries, 
pipe lines, and oil steamships and has business houses not only in all principal 
American cities but also in the most iminirtant cities in foreign countries, all 
over the world. 

At various times Mr. Rockefeller has owned large interests outside of 
diose connected with the Standard (Jil Companv. Xotable among those in- 
terests may be named the control of the great iron ore interests of Minnesota, 
which he finallv sold to the United States Steel Corporation, the story of 
which, as well as manv other interesting details of his life history, is found 
in Mr. Rockefeller's Random Reminiscences of Men and iM'ents, i)ublished in 

l')0(). 

While the place earned bv Mr. Rockefeller as a great capitalist, and as 
creator of an industrial organization far surpassing any ])revious one in the 
world's history gives him great distinction, it is ])robable that he will be longest 
remembered for his ])]iilanthro])ies and Isenefactions. This will be so not only 
because of their large aggregate amount ($i22,554,6("i2 to the beginning of 
itjio), though that surpasses all precedent, but even more because the same 
mastery of the art of effective organization which Imilt up his business enter- 
prises has lieen a])])lied bv him to his philanthropic endeavors. They co\'er a 
wide range, and include plans for education and generally for moral, intellec- 
tual and spiritual uplift, for the relief of physical suffering, and for the promo- 
tion of scientific research into the causes for disease and llie means for its 
])revention. 

Alany educational institutions ha\-e been objects of his bounty, and the 
University of Chicago, of which he was the founder, has received from him 
more than $25,000,000, exclusive of $6,000,000. to its Aledical De]:)artment 
( Ru.sh Medical College). The churches, missions and benevolences of the 
Ba]itist denomination, of which he is a devoted member, have l^en favored 
objects of his bountv, as have also been various branches of the ""I'oung Glen's 



-liiit HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

Christian Association, jnvenile reformatories, the Cleveland city parks, social 
settlements, and other oood causes. The Rockefeller Institute for Medical 
Research, to \\hich he has qiven $4,300,000 and the Hookworm Fund, which 
he endowed with Si, 000, 000, are examples of the highly practical scope and 
purpose of some of the most far-reachino- of his benefactions. The General 
Education Board, which he has endowed with the unprecedented sum of $53,- 
000,000, is a l)roadly thou,q"h carefullv ])lanned organization having for its 
]niri)Oses the promotion of education in the I'nited States, without distinction 
of race, sex or creed, and especiallv to svstematize and make effective vari- 
ous forms of educational beneficence. 

Air. Rockefeller, as the result of his long experience, has come to the con- 
clusion that what is most needed to make benevolence eft'ective is to organize 
it, so that misdirection, du])lication and waste will l)e eliminated: to establish, 
in fact, a Benevolent Trust, or corporation to manage the business side of 
benefactions. This idea is most interestinglv and lucidlv expressed in the final 
chapter of Mr. Rockefeller's Random Reminiscences, before mentioned, and 
has recently received concrete expression in the proposition for the federal 
incorporation of The Rockefeller Foundation, for which the authorization of 
Congress has been asked. Through this Foundation Mr. Rockefeller proposes 
to endow and set in motion a vehicle of most complete eft'ectiveness for the 
business side of |)hilanthropv, and a medium for the benefactions of himself 
and others to promote all uplifting and humane causes and to alleviate mis- 
fortune, dispel ignorrmce, and remove wrong and injustice. 

Mr. Rockefeller is a man of domestic habits, fond of his home, and little 
attracted by clubs or social organizations. His delight in tree-planting is one 
of his best-known hobbies, and he has attained a skill in that direction which 
few of the ])rofessional landscape gardeners can surpass. Golfing has l)een 
Mr. Rockefeller's favorite amusement in recent vears. and he finds it a health- 
ful and pleasant relaxation. He has not been active in his large business 
interests for several years past, leaving their management in the hands of 
younger associates. 

Mr. Rockefeller married, in Cleveland, ( )hio, September 8, 1864, Laura 
C. Spelman, and they had four children and eight grandchildren. Elizabeth, 
the eldest daughter, who was born in 1866, died in 1906. She was married 
to Professor Charles A. Strong in i88g. Alta, born in 1871, is now the wife 
of E. Parmalee Prentice, and lulith, born in 1872, married Harold F. AlcCor- 
mick in 1895. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the only son, was born in 1874, and 
m.-irried Abby Greene Aldrich. daughter of United States Senator Xelson A. 
Aldrich, of Rhode Island. 

Besides his town house in New NOrk City, Mr. Rockefeller has estates at 
Tarrvtown, New ^'ork. and Clexeland. ( )hio. 



ORL.IXDO BROXSOX POTTER 



A'.n 



o 



KLAXDU BRONSON PCyfTER, dislinouished business man and 
financier, was born at Charlemont, Franklin County, Massacliusetts. 
March lo, 1)^23, of Puritan descent, the son of Samuel and Sophia (Rice) 
Potter. He was educated in local schools, took a partial course in Williams 
College (which later gave him the LL.D. degree), then taught school and 
studied law in Harvard Law School and a Boston office. In 1S48 he was 
admitted to the bar and 
engaged in practice. 

In 1852 he became a 
partner in the sewing ma- 
chine firm of Grover, Baker 
& Company; removed to 
New York and established 
the business here in 1853, 
and in 1854 became the first 
and only president and gen- 
eral manager of the Grover 
& Baker Sewing Machine 
Company until it termina- 
ted active business in 18/ f: 

He acquired large rea 
estate interests, and con 
structed, under his owi 
supervision, many larg 
stores and warehouses, and 
became prominent as a 
financier. He was origina- 
tor of the present national 
banking system, which was 
first outlined bv him in a 
letter to Salmon P. Chase, 
secretary of the treasur\-, 
in 1 86 1, and was adopted ])\ 
act of Congress of February 
25, 1863. 

He was a Whig before the 




ORLANDO r.ROXSOX POTTER 



war. 



was a 



voted for Mr. Lincoln in i860. 
Democrat after 1861, was elected to and served in the Fort\-eighth Congress 
from 1883 to 1885, and he continued always active in public affairs until his 
death, January 2, i8()4. 

Fie married, in 1850, Martha G. Wiley, who died in 1871;, and had seven 
children bv that marriage; and he married, second, Marv Kate Linslv. 



4i)2 



HISTORY OF XHir YORK 







lli;.\KV MOKKISOX FLACLER 



H 



HEXKY MORRISOX FLAGLER 49:'. 

I':XR\' AIORRISOX FLAGLER— A man of high rank among 
America's great upbuilders. whose home has long been New 
York, but whose habitat is as often Pahii lieach as Fifth Avenue, is Henrv 
Morrison Flagler. He was Iturn in the tdwn of Hopewell (near Canan- 
daigua, New York), January 2, 1S30, the year when there were exactly 
twenty-four miles of railroad in the L'nited States. The son of a Presby- 
terian clergyman of narrow means, he went to the district school. At 
fourteen, feeling that his room was more A-aluable to his father than his 
comi)an\-, he treked to Bellevne, a town of the Western Reserve of Ohio. 
There he worked for some years, entering on his way that great Nine- 
teenth Century high school of high finance "the country store." But like 
others with the ferment of greater things in his system, he sought a wider 
field, lliough he had lifted himself from clerk to ])artner and made the 
firm the chief shipper of grain in the town. The sail wells of Saginaw, 
Michigan, were the magnet that drew him into strange enterprise. Out 
of this venture, which in those days constituted a "craze," lie came out a 
loser, after seeing the vision of fortune grow golden-edged onl\- to fade 
away. Then to Cleveland he turned. He tried grain-commission, an old 
ground. Here he met the youthful John D. Rockefeller, then struggling 
also out of his commercial shell. Flagler was the older, but the two men 
were of a mintl, and Flagler joined the newlv forming firm of Rockefeller, 
Andrews & Flagler. This was in Februar\-, iSfij. It is history how the firm, 
attracted by the great petroleum possibilities, went into oil refining; how Mr. 
Flagler mastered the details of the oil business in all its ramifications, exhibit- 
ing an exactitude of theory and practice almost unique; how in ])ursuit of 
this the firm standardized petroleum ])ro(lucts in a way unknown to the some- 
what chaotic oil business of that da\'; how greatly they ])ros])ered, attracting 
other oil refiners to join fortunes with them, and how with clear heads and 
unbounded vigor the\- entered the kingdom of Petrolia, in iM/O, with the flag' 
of the Standard Oil Company at the head of the allied forces. Their com- 
pany won all along the line, and to H. M. Flagler it o\\ed much (")f this prog- 
ress. Wealth rolled in, and accumulations grew. In the Board of directors, 
his vigor, his healthy optimism, balanced by a certainty in his estimates of men, 
of ways and means, carried the company's banner continually forward. Thev 
were a masterful group that met daily alxiut the directors' table, and the way 
H. ^I. Flagler held his own and hel])ed swell the total of the mar\-elously 
ex];)anding business without obtrusion of his personality, bespeaks the mod- 
esty, devotion and simple sincerity of the man. For eighteen years all his 
energies were so directed. The company that started with one million had 
now, in 1882, seventy millions of ca])ita]. A new generation of officials was 
arising, and Mr. Flagler believed that on their sturdy shoulders the bur- 



VM IIISlX)Ry OF XHJr YORK 

(Icn itf power slmulil rest, so. liy and l._\- — in 1SS5 — when Mr. Flagler was 
half wav on the road l)et\veen fifty and sixty, he de\'eloi)ed a desire for 
new creations. A jonrney to the .*>outh lironght him to St. Augustine, by 
tlie palm-shaded ocean frontage of Florida, and his imagination took fire 
at the thought of what a pictures(|ue |)aradise the country was that fasci- 
nated the seafaring Sjianish cawiliers of foiu" centuries ago, and how 
habita])le and ])roducti\-e it could he made. Then and there he began a 
series of develo]>ments. A great chain of mammoth and I)eautiful hotels 
began with the Ponce de Leim and the Alcazar, at St. Augtistine, fol- 
lowed l)v the ( )rmon(l Hotel at the famous hard sand beach of that name, 
the Ro_\-al I'oinciana and The Breakers, at Palm Beach, the Royal Palm at 
Miami, and the C'(donial and Royal \'ictoria at Xassau, Bahamas. But 
while thus jiroxiding for the tourist and the health-seeker, Mr. Flagler 
took note of agriculture, and decreed that the settlers of the eastern side 
of Florida should not want railroads for carrying their golden oranges 
and garden truck to the Northern markets. Hence a buying, improving 
and btiilding of railr(ia(ls set in thereabout that has meant six hundred 
additional miles of rails in the State of Flowers. But his last achievement has 
been his greatest. With a wonderful creative stroke he iirojected and is build- 
ing a line of railroad south from Miami along the Atlantic keys or tiny 
meadowdike islands that fringe the coast. It is a massive viaduct of con- 
crete, solid as the hills and altogether the last word in railroad building 
and e(|uipnient, literallv running" through the Atlantic Ocean to Key 
West — one of the wonders of the modern world. Tt has for two years 
l)een taking trains to Knights Key. Another year will probably see it 
hnished. 

An<l in all this Mr. Flagler has only drawn u])on his own long 
purse. He has had no partners. Whether building" hotels, or churches 
or schools, acquiring" old railroads, building new ones, buying and run- 
ning steamships, he has made them and paid for them just as he 
did for his own Morida Imiue, ■'Whitehall,'" at Palm Beach. Fie has in 
tw-entv-five years built up the eastern half of Florida, and has seen 
tens of thousands follow in to reap the harvest of fruits, flowers 
and manufacture. 

For a man of eighty, he is marvelously young; alert to all about him, 
he is reserved to the ])oint of reticence: considerate without comment, 
kindly without gush : doing great things of novelty with the air of moving 
easilv along ai)i)ointe(l paths. He has never traveled in Europe and has 
never seen California. Although traveling" much, he is not fond of travel. 
He has retained his great Standard ( )il interests: remained a vice presi- 
dent of the com])an_\" ttntil recently: he is still a director. 



ELBRIDGE GERRY SXOW 



495 



E 



LBRIDGE GERRV SX(JW, ]>rfsident of the Hume Insurance Luni- 
panv, was born in Barkhanistead, Conn.. January _'_>. 1S41, Ijeing 
the son of Elbridge Gerrv Snow and luinice (Woodruff) Snuw. His 
education, begun in the district and high schouls, was coni])Ieled in the P^ort 
Edward ( X. Y. ) Institute. After his graduation he studied law, l)ut instead 
of engaging in practice, he entered an insurance office in \Vater])ury, Conn. 
In 1862 he olitained a 



clerkship in the main office 
of the Home Insurance 
Company, in New N'ork 
City, and since then his 
connection with the com- 
pany has lieen continuous. 
He remained in the main 
office for nine years, then 
went to Boston as Staii 
agent of the company, f"i 
Massachusetts; and, whiK 
there, also became a pari 
ner in a local agency repi e 
senting seyeral of the b( --1 
companies, under the firiii 
name of Hollis & Snow. 

In 1S85 Mr. Sno\- 
returned to New York Cii\ 
as secretary of the cdii, 
pany, became its yice presi- 
dent in 1888, and since 1904 
has been president of the 
Home Insurance Company, 
to which his experience and 
ability haye been of inesti- 
mable yalue. 

Besides being at the 
head of this great company, 

Mr. Snow is a trustee of the New York Eife Insurance Company, 
director of the North Riyer Sayings Bank and other corporations. 

He is also a member of the American ?\Iuseum of Natural History, and 
the .Alunici|)al Art Society, and seyeral other similar as.sociations : is a mem- 
ber of the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the New England Society in 
New Xnrk, and the Eotos, City and Underwriters" Clubs. 




EL1!RIDc;E GERRy SNOW 



md is a 



4il(i 



HISTORY OF NEir YORK 




i-:ij!i:kc iikxio (..\h\ 



liLBIiRT llliXRV CARY 4!i: 



PROFESSIOXAI,L^' one of tlic fnrcinost American lawyers, hy 
achievement the premier tii^'ure in the mnvement tnward the con- 
soHdation and more perfect urbanization of great industries, and ofificially the 
head and executive of the world's greatest corporation, Judge Elbert Henr}- 
Gary has attained a deservedly prominent place in the public eye. 

He was born in Wheaton, Illinois, Octdber S, 184(1, being a son of I'^ras- 
tus and Susan A. ( X'allette ) Gary, and on b<ith sides of sturdy Xew England 
stock. The Wheaton public schools and A\'heaton College gave him his gen- 
eral education, and he was graduated from tlie Law Department of Chicago 
l'ni\ersitv in 1867. Being admitted to the liar in iS()j, he was for a few 
^•ears a clerk in the Cook Count)- Courts, then engaged in practice with offices 
in Chicago and in his native town of Wheaton. which is twenty-five miles west 
of Chicago, and the county seat of Dit Page County. He established there, 
in 1S74. the Gary-Wheaton Bank, of which he has ever since been presitleiu. 
and as its banker and foremost law_\-er was the leading citizen of Wheaton. 
He was three times president of the village of Wheaton, and after it was re- 
organized as a city, was its first mayor for two terms. He was also counts- 
judge of Du Page County, Illinois, for two terms. 

As a Chicago lawver he practised for twentv-fi\-e vears, becoming a 
leader at that bar, and being counsel for some of the largest corporations and 
leading luisiness interests. He w-as president of the Chicago Bar Association 
in i<Sy3 and i8c)4. Judge Gary had much to do with the combination and reor- 
ganization of the traction interests, and with the consolidation of industries. 
In iS(j2 he consolidated several wire mills under the name of the Con- 
solidated Steel and Wire Company, and about the same time united 
several plants in and around Chicago and J(.)liet. Illinois, under the name of 
the Illinois Steel Company. John W. Gates became ])resident of those 
comi)anies, in each of which Judge Gary became a director and ac(|uired a 
substantial interest. In iS(/) he added a large numlier of mills to the Con- 
solidated Steel and Wire Company, and reorganized it as the American Steel 
and Wire Comi)any. In i8<>S the Illinois Steel Company interests, combining 
with others, represented bv blaster n cajjitalists under the leadershij) of 
J. Pierpont Morgan, were consolidated under the name of The Federal Steel 
Lonipany. up to that time the largest of American corporations, and Judge 
Gary w-as elected its president. Einall_\- the organization of the Unitefl 
States Steel Corporation was effected, Judge Gary being intrusted with the 
negotiations which united with The b>deral Steel Com]ian\-, the great 
Carnegie interests, the American Steel and Wire Company, the American 
Sheet and Tin Plate Company and other "Aloore" interests, besides numerous 
other manufacturing, shi])ping, railroad, coal, coke, ore and other interests 
coniix)sing the United States Steel Corporation, of which Judge Gary, as 



4!i.S HISTORY OF .V£f[" YORK 

chairman (~if the Board of Directors and cliairnian (if the Finance Committee, 
is the chief officer and directing head. Tlie charter and form of government 
of this corporation were drafted by Judge Gary, and have been commended as 
the most perfect example of organic regulation ever devised for a great cor- 
poration. The Tennessee Coal and Iron Company's large Southern interests 
have since been acquired, largely through Judge Gary's initiative. 

In view of the predominant part in its organization, and the wise 
executive direction he has given to the United States Steel Corporation, it is 
appropriate that the Board of Directors have chosen the name "Gary" for 
the great industrial city they have built by Lake Michigan in Indiana. 

Tudge Garv is also the chairman of the Board of Directors of the 
Allis-Chalmers Company: and is a director of the American Bridge 
Company, American Land Company, Ainerican Sheet and Tin Plate Com- 
pany, American Steel and \\'ire Company, American Steel Foundries Com- 
pany, American Trust and Savings Bank, the Chicago, Bessemer and Lake 
Erie Railroad Company, Bullock Electric ^Manufacturing Company, Carnegie 
Steel Company, the Chicago, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway Company, 
Commercial National Bank of Chicago, Duluth and Iron Range Railroad 
Company, the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Coiupany, Federal Steel Com- 
pany, the Gary-W'heaton Bank, of Wheaton, Illinois, H. C. Frick Coke Com- 
pany. Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company. Illinois Steel Company, 
International Harvester Company. Lake Su])erior Consolidated Iron ]\Iines, 
[Merchants Loan and Trust Company of Chicago, [Minnesota Iron Company, 
National Tube Company, Newburgh and South Shore Railway Company, New 
York Trust Comjiany, Oliver Iron [Mining Company, Phenix National Bank 
of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steamship Company, Shelby Steel Tube Company, 
L'nion Steel Company, L'nited States Coal and Coke Company, United States 
Natural Gas Company, United States Steel Products Export Company, 
L'niversal Portland Cement Company. 

It is a matter of history that when the L^nited States Steel Corporation 
was organized, yellow journalists and agitators prophesied the wiping out of 
small and independent concerns. But instead of that there has been evolved 
in the steel industrv, since the organization of the United States Steel Cor- 
poration, greater harmony than at any previous jieriod of the de\-elopment 
of that industrv. The interests of the corporation and of the independent 
companies are com])etitive. but not conflicting, and by meeting the heads of 
the independent concerns in councils of harmony Judge Gary has brought the 
entire steel business of the cotmtry into friendly relations. Several times he 
has invited the leaders in the trade to dinners to talk over the interests of the 
trade, and the independents have reciprocated. There has been no cut-throat 
price-cutting on the part of the corporation or its competitors, but there has 



IlLBRRT HENRY GARY 409 

been greater j^rosperity and stability in the business than ever before; and 
to Judge Gary belongs the leading share of credit for creating these conditions. 

In no instance have his abilities as a diplomat been displayed more com- 
pletely than in connection with the organization of the International 
Harvester Company. The harvester industry was divided into fourteen com- 
panies ( survivors of two hundred ) fiercely contending in every farming- 
section of this and many foreign countries for the business, with armies of 
salesmen, cutting prices ami raising havoc with profits. The era of consolida- 
tion had fullv arrived, and other industries had taken advantage of its 
benefits, but the competition between the harvester people had been so intense 
that although they met in Chicago to trv to reach an agreement, it seemed that 
the more they talked the further they were apart. William Deering, how- 
ever, made one suggestion which took root, and that was that the best way 
to get a workable plan was to go to New York and consult Ell)ert H. Gary, 
who had been his attorney for twenty-five years. 

They all knew Judge Gary, w-hose achievement in connection with the 
organization of the Steel Corporation was then recent history. One by one 
they sought ]\Ir. Garv in New York, and his advice to them was to consolidate. 
None of them w'anted to do that, but asked him to work out a plan to stop the 
ruinous features of their competition. Judge Gary thought out a plan, then 
took the matter up with J. Pierpont Morgan, called four of the leaders to New 
York and finallv reached terms of agreement which unified the industry and 
combined the thirteen principal manufacturing concerns in the line in the 
International Harvester Company, a most successful consolidation, with all it.s 
component companies working in harmou}-. There are those who consider 
Judge Garv's work in securing this result a greater triumph of diplomacy than 
even his achievements in forming the Steel Corporation. 

Though a great lawyer and business executive. Judge Gary finds time for 
social. and artistic interests, and for recreation. He is a member of the best 
clubs of New York and Chicago, is a collector and connoisseur of art, is 
President of the Illinois Society of New York and of the Autom()l)ile Club of 
America, and a member of the Automobile Clubs of Great Britain and 
Ireland, France, Germanv and Italy. He makes annual vacation trips to 
Europe, making automobile tours to places of interest. 

In Wheaton, 111., he has erected the Gary Memorial Church, by many 
authorities regarded as the finest memorial church in America, in memory 
of his parents, and he has recently completed a $100,000 mausoleum there 
for their remains. He married in Aurora. 111.. June it,. 1869. Julia E. Graves, 
who died June 21, if;02, and by whom he has two daughters, Gertrude (wife 
of Dr. Plarry Willis Sutclifife) and Bertha (wife of Robert W. Campbell). 
He married again, in New York, December 2, HJ03, Mrs. Emma T. Scott. 



•"'iHi iii.sioio' oi- xi-jr )'(>i<K 

TWV. AST( )R ^^\M1L^' has for iiKire than a century held leading 
])lace in the i)hysical development of Xew ^'(lrk C'itw The founder 
of the famih' in America, John jacoh Astor, was a (ierman, horn July 17, 
ijft.V ;it W aldorf. near Heidelherg. He lived and wurked in his native place 
until he was sixteen vears of ag'c, when he went to London; in which city lived 
hi> uncle, who was a meniher of the firm of Astor & Braidwood, manufac- 
turers of ])ianos and other musical instruments, which, under its later name of 
Ih-aidwood & Companv, hecame leader in the llritish piano industry. One of 
hi> hrothers was emi)loved with that firm, and Henry Astor, another hrother, 
had emigrated to Xew \"ork, whither John Jacoh had decided to go as soon 
as he accumulated sufficient funds for the ]iur])ose. He worked in the ])ian() 
factorv for ahout four vears, then went to lialtimore with a small consignment 
of nuisical instruments. 

( )n the voyage to lUiltimore Mr. Astor, in conversation with a fellow pas- 
senger, learned much ahout the profital)leness of the fur trade — huying from 
Indians and frontiersmen and selling to large dealers. The field descrihed 
seemed so jiromising that, in order to get a i)ractical insight into the husiness, 
he came to New ^'ork, entered the service of a (Juaker furrier, and after lie 
had learned the husiness thoroughl\- estalilislied liimself on Water Street, 
working hard at the husiness in his shop exce])t when on his ])urchasing trips 
to the interior. Soon .after starting for himself he went to London, where he 
made fa\"oral)le arrangements with fur houses, ;nid also secured from Astor & 
r>raidwoo(l a general agencv for their ]>ianos in .\merica, and on his return to 
Xew ^'ork opened a wareroom : thus heconhng the first in this c<iiintr\' to 
engage regularh- in the musical instrument tr.ade. 

The fiu" trade was, howexer, his ])rincip,al acti\ily, and he ]irosecuted it 
with such success that his le.adershii) in the tr.ade hecame undisputed in the 
L'niled .St.ates ; he was the chief competitor of the Lludson Bav Com])an\- in 
the London market. To secure I urther ;id\antage for himself, to make .Amer- 
ican trade indeitendent of the lludson l'>.i\ monojjoh-. and to extend cix'iliza- 
tion through the Western wilderness, he ])roposed to L'ongress, in iStn;, a 
n;ilion;d scheme to cstahlish ;i chain of trading ])osts from the Great Lakes to 
the Pacific Coast; tu laiv one of the Sandwicli Isl.ands. and e<t;d>lish a line of 
xesse-ls hetween ;i I'.acific ]>ort .and China and India. I Wn expeditions were 
sent, line h\' land and one 1)\ sea, to estahlish relations ot anht\' with the Pacific 
Co.ast Indians; hut Congress pursued the plan no further, hecause the W'.ar of 
|S|_' occui)ie(l the n.alional attention and took all the resources of the govern- 
ment. The settlement of Astoria had, however, heen founded in iSii, .and 
.Mr. .\stor continued his operations without government aid; Imt did not suc- 
ceed in his ])lan to establish settlements in the Northwest. .Vs an e.x])ansion- 
ist he w.as fort\- years ahead of his time. While his immediate jjurpose was 



JOHX JACOB ASrOR '>^n 



not accomplished, Mr. Astor's efforts jjronioted the ])atri()tic feehnt;' which 
afterward resulted in securing- tor the United States tlie control of the 
valuable res^^ion at the nmuth of the Columbia River, claimed by Great 
Britain. Washington lr\-in.g- wrote his famous work, Astoria, largelv from 
docunients which Mr. .Vstor furnished. 

His trading ])ost, Astoria, was ])ers(inallv located bv him at the mouth of 
the Columbia River. He visited the Indian tribes and gained their friend- 
ship. He had hoi)ed bv these means to o|)en the wav for the ])eaceful acqui- 
sition, ]>\' the Cnited States, of the entire ( )regon country. Hut the hostility 
of the Hudson Bay Companv, which would not of itself have frustrated his 
plans, was reinforced, liy the action of liis agent, who, at the first approach 
of a British war-slii]), dismissed Mr. Astor's Indian allies, struck his flag and 
surrendered the post. 

He organized The American b^ur I'ompanv, which built u]) an inter- 
national trade. Its sales in Xew N'ork Citv attracted buyers from all 
civilized countries, and its exjjort Inisiness grew so large that he employed 
shi])s of his own, which carried furs to Europe and brought back heavy 
cargoes of foreign merchandise. 

He succeeded in establishing a large trade with Asiatic countries, es|)e- 
ciallv China, and in many other ways displayed unec|ualled business ability. 
He invested in government securities during the war period, when they were 
selling at from sixtv to seventv cents on the dollar, and doul)led his money on 
the investment after the war was over. He made many sag'acious investments 
in real estate in the places which he deemed most clearly in the line of future 
expansion of the citv, the develo]Miient of which vindicated and approved his 
judgment. .\s the citv grew he built nian\- structures which were the hand- 
somest of their time. He was never a real estate speculator, l)U\ing at a low 
])rice to sell at a higher one, but al\\avs an investor who bought and im])ro\-ed 
for i)ermanent income. He became the wealthiest man of his time, and was 
a citizen of pulilic spirit as well as a successful business man. He fell in with 
and am]')lified the ])roposition of Washington Irving for the establishing of a 
l)ul)lic library for Xew ^'ork, and in his will left $400,000 for the founding of 
the .\stor Library; which was carried out bv his son, William B. Astor. He 
also made many gifts to charitable institutions in his lifetime and by bequest in 
his will. The estate left by him was estimated at twenty million dollars at the 
time of his death, March 2(). i!^48. 

He married, in Xew \drk, in 17S5, Sarah Todd, and had three sons and 
four daughters. Two of the sons and two daughters dietl without issue. The 
other daughters, who married, were provided for bv their father in his life- 
time, and his onlv surviving son, William B. Astor, was made sole heir on the 
death of his father, in 1S4S. 



50-.^ HISTOR]' ()/• -\7;(f YORK 



T 



'HE fourth chikl and second son of John Jacob Astor, who after his 
deatli l^ecanie his heir, was W'ilham B. Astor, born in Xew York, 
September lo. 1792. He attended the pul:)hc schools until 180S, then went to 
Heidelbero- for two years, and after that was a student in Gottingen. After 
leaving the university he traveled in the ( )ld World until icSi5, when he 
returned to Xew \'i)rk. 

In that year his father began his successful career in the China trade, 
in which the son became a jiartner, the firm remaining John Jacob Astor & 
Son until 1S27, when thev retired from that l)usiness. The American Fur 
Company was then formed, with William B. Astor as ])resident, and both he 
and his father were active for several vears in that very successful business, 
but afterward withdrew from that and all other commercial activities, the 
affairs of the Astor Estate engaging his entire attention. 

Mr. Astor, like his father, had a farseeing vision of the future growth of 
the city of Xe\\' ^'ork. and was a large buyer of real estate in the region 
below Central Park from Fourth to Se\-enth Avenues : and e\en in his own 
lifetime was rewarded by a largT and rapid increase in values. His uncle. 
Henry Astor. had left him a fortune of S500.000. and his father had made 
him a present of the Astor House propertv, and he was himself a wealthy 
man when, in 1848, the death of his father made him the richest man in Xew 
York. From i860 onward he devoted his attention largely to the improve- 
ment of his property by building; and in a few vears was the owner of hun- 
dreds of houses, mostly of the first class. He was also extensivelv interested 
in railroad, coal and insurance corporations, his investments (Outside of land 
being of the most conservative character. 

He added largely to the bequest of his father to the Astor Library, to 
which he devoted much attention, and to which his total gifts amounted to 
more than a half nnllion dollars. His estate at the time of his death, Xovem- 
ber 24, 1875, amounted to $45,000,000: which he divided between his two 
sons. John Jacob and William Astor. gi\ing them a life interest in the resid- 
uary estate, which descended to their children. 

He married, in 18 18. Margaret Rebecca Armstrong, and had se\en chil- 
dren: Emih. John Jacob. Laura. Mary Alida. William. Henry and Sarah. Of 
these, Sarah died in infancy, and Laura and Henry tlied without issue. Emily 
married Samuel Ward and had one daughter, who married John Winthrop 
Chanler and had eight children: and Mar}- Alida Astor married John Carey 
and had three children. 

John Jacob Astor. son of William B. Astor, and heir to half of his estate, 
was born in 1822. and died in i8()0. leaving one son, William \\'aldorf Astor, 
born March 31. 1848, who. after having been L'nited States Minister to 
Italv from 1882 to 188^. removed to England, where he now resides. 



iriLLIAM .isroR .V)r, 



WILLIAM ASTOR, son of William D. and Margaret Rebecca 
(Armstrong) Astor. and grandson of John Jacob Astor. was Ijorn 
in Xew York City, June u, 1S29. in the old Astor Mansion on Lafayette 
Place, adjoining the Astor Library. He was graduated from Columbia Col- 
lege in the Class of 1849. lieing then only twenty vears of age. He was one 
of the most popular men of his day in that college, entered fullv into the col- 
lege spirit, and was proficient and enthusiastic in athletic afifairs. After his 
graduation from Columl)ia, he went on a long foreign tour in Europe, Egypt, 
and the Orient. He profited much from his travels and was especially 
impressed by what he saw in the Orient. As a result of this visit he retained, 
throughout his life, an active interest in Oriental art and literature. 

He entered his father's ofifice as assistant manager of the family's estate 
in houses and lands in Xew York and elsewhere, and after the death of his 
father, in 1S75. when half of the estate became his own by inheritance, he 
greatly added to his holdings. 

Mr. Astor was fond of country life, and to gratify his taste in that direc- 
tion he created an extensive and beatuiful estate at Ferncliff, where he had a 
farm of great productiveness and high cultivation. He built a railroad from 
Saint Augustine to Palatka, in Florida, in 1S75, and constructed several blocks 
in Jacksonville. Florida, and for his services to that State was given a grant 
of eighty thousand acres of land. 

Mr. Astor was a vachtsman of distinction. His first vacht, the Ambas- 
sadress, was probably the largest and finest sailing yacht ever latmched, 
and he made many voyoges in her. In 1884 he had built for him the 
steam yacht Xourmahal, which was one of the finest of its day; and he 
also owned other yachts, including the sailing yacht Atalanta, which won the 
Cape May and Kane cups. He was also fond of horses, and owned many fine 
animals. 

Lender his management the Astor Estate was greatlv enlarged and 
improved, and he possessed to the full the Astor faculty for correct judgment 
in land purchases. He died in Paris, April 25, 1892. 

Mr. Astor married in Xew York, September 20. 1853. Caroline, daugh- 
ter of Abraham Schermerhorn, a member of one of the oldest and most dis- 
tinguished families in the city. The children of that union were four daugh- 
ters and one son, John Jacob Astor, the present head of the family. Of the 
daughters. Emily Astor was married in 1876 to James J. van Alen of X'ew- 
port, Rhode Island, and died in 1881. Helen Astor was married in 1878 to 
James Roosevelt Roosevelt, and died in 1893: Charlotte Augusta Astor was 
married first, in 1879. to J. Coleman Drayton, and seconrl, in 1896. to George 
Ogilvy Haig: and Caroline Schermerhorn Astor was married, in 1884. to 
Marshall Orme ^^'ilson. 



"i04 



HISTORY OF XEjr YORK 




COLOXKI. JOHN JACOB ASTOR 



COLOXEL JOHX JACOB ASTOR .505 

THE present head (3f the Astor family is Colonel John Jacoh Astor, 
who was born at his father's estate at Ferncliff, near Rhinebeck- 
on-the-Hudson, July 13, 1S64, son of William and Caroline ( Schermerhorn) 
Astor. Besides his Astor ancestr}-. which is of German origin, he is de- 
scended from Oloff Stevensen van Cortlandt, who was the first city treasurer 
of New Amsterdam when that office was created in i(')57, was afterward bur- 
g-Qmaster of that city and was a member of the first Board of Aldermen of 
New York, a])])ointed l)v (idvernor Xicolls of Xew ^'ork in 1665; from Colo- 
nel John Armstrong-, one of the heroes of the French and Indian Wars; and 
from Robert Livinoston, who came to Xew York in 1674. and received in 
1686 a royal grant for the famous Living-ston Manor, comprising more llian 
160,000 acres in Columbia and Dutchess Counties, Xew ^'ork. 

Coliinel Astor receivetl his education in St. Paul's School, Concord, and 
at Har\-ard University, being graduated in the Class of i8S(S, and afterward 
spent considerable time in travel, lie then devoted his attention to business, 
becoming acquainted with the details of management of the great Astor Estate. 
Since the death of his father in i8<)_>, he has continued to maintain executive 
supervision over the estate upon the ])rinciples which have through four g;en- 
erations controlled the administrative policv of the Astors. who for a hundred 
years have been buyers and improvers, but seldom sellers, of city pro|)erty. 
Colonel Astor has ])laced upon his ])ro])erties many of the finest hotels, business 
])roi)erties, and residences in the citv, to the symmetry ;m(.l adornment of 
whicli he has been one of the foremost contributors. He has been especiall}' 
a leader in the building of hotels; the first stej) made Iw him in this direc- 
tion being the erection of the .\storia, adjoining the \\'aldorf, which now, 
consolidated in management as the Waldorf-Astoria, enjoys world-wide fame. 
He also l)uilt the St. Regis and the Knickerbocker. 

He was appointed a member of the staff of Governor Levi P. Abirton, 
and served with abilit\-; and later, when the Si)anish-American War was 
declai"ed, entered uiwn acti\e military service. The dav after war was pro- 
claimed, he offered his services to President AlcKinley, in any capacity; and he 
also tendered to the government the free use of his steam yacht, the X(iur- 
niahal. The President declined the yacht as not exactly suited to the govern- 
ment's needs, but gladiv accepted the offer of personal service, and he was 
appointed inspector general of United States A'olunteers, with the rank of 
lieutenant colonel, for which his previous experience on (rovernor Morton's 
staft' admirablv qualified him. He was ordered to Tampa and Cuba with the 
first Army of Invasion. In the resulting campaign, and at the battles and 
siege of Santiago, he ser\ed with such efliciency that he was recommended 
for ])romotion by his chief. General Shafter. After the surrender of Santiago 
he was sent to Wa.shington as bearer of important dis])atches and other docu- 



506 HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

nicnts to the President. When he was chscharged from the army in Xovem- 
ber, i8<)S, it was witli the brevet ranlv of colonel, conferred upon him "for 
faithful and meritorious service." 

Another most notable and ])atrir)tic service on the jiart of Colonel Astor, 
was the recruiting, eciuij^ping- and p,'iving- to the government, of the famous 
Astor Battery of light artillery, the ofifer of which was officially accepted l)y 
the government May 26, 1898. Recruiting actively followed, and drill began 
May 30, and the following day the battery was com])lete with one hundred and 
two men and si.\ twelve-pound Hotchkiss guns, imported from France at a cost 
to Colonel Astor of one hundred thousand dollars. After a season of drill- 
ing, the batterv was sent, via San Francisco, to Manila, arriving in time to 
take i)art in the final capture of that city, August 13, 1898. 

Colonel Astor's scientific education at Harvard has been followed up into 
practical lines of usefulness, and he has designed many inventions and 
improvements of great utility, which he has patented, the origination of which 
reveals the completeness of his engineering attainments. One of the earliest 
of these inventidus was his Pneumatic Road Improver, in\-ented in i8(jj, 
\\ hich received a first prize at the World's Columbian Exposition, in Chicago, 
in 1893. This machine is designed to facilitate the thorough and rapid re- 
moval of worn-out material, or detritus, from the roadbed bv either blowing 
it into the bushes or over the fences at the side of the road, or laving it in 
windrows where it mav be conveniently removed, as desired. 

Another useful invention of Colonel Astor's is a brake for use on bicvcles 
having solid tires. This brake is shaped like a fork with flat prongs, and is 
so designed that, with undiminished grip, it adapts itself to the changing 
shape of the tire as it becomes worn. 

In icp2 Colonel Astor ])atented a marine turbine engine, which he gave 
to the ]niblic in November of that year. The turbine is shaped like a funnel, 
and comj^rises an outer shell or drum and an inner shaft running axially 
through it, these parts being relatively rotatable and each having oppositely- 
set spiral blades. It differs from the ordinar_\- type of turbine in that it has 
no stationarv ])arts other than the journals and foundation frames to carry it. 
The casing of the turbine revolves as well as the shaft, but in an opposite 
direction. This arrangement gives two tandem propellers. The spinning 
motion gi\en to the water b\- the first pro|)eller is neutralized by the second, 
so that but little ])ower is wasted in imparting a rotary motion to the water, 
which, except for its backward motion, is left perfectly still. The invention 
corrects the disadvantage of the extremely high speed recjuired in other tur- 
bines, reducing by one-half the speed at which the propellers are whirled with- 
out reducing the power at the pr()i)ellers, with a theoretical gain in its etfi- 
ciency. The turbine is also greatly reduced Ixith in weight .and size. 



COLOXEL JOHX JACOB ASTOR 5(i: 

A recent and important in\'ention of Colonel Astor's is the Mbratorv Dis- 
integrator. The enormous peat deposits which are to be found in the tem- 
perate zone ha\e presented a most baffjin"- i)roblem to the inventor. Peat is 
a valuable fuel, but the large amount of water it contains renders it necessarv 
to subject it to a drying ])rocess so complicated and expensive that it canmit 
always successfully compete with coal. For that reason the attempt has been 
made, notably in Sweden, to manufacture producer gas from the peat. On 
the whole, the results ol)tained, although encouraging, have not b,een bril- 
liant!}- successful. Still thi'^ method of utilizing peat for power commends 
itself to the engineer because of the enormous amount of gas occluded in 
peat, and because of its poor heat-conducting qualities, as a result of which 
a portion of the peat can be burned without unduly heating other portions. 
This ])roblem of practically utilizing peat bogs commerciallv h\ generating 
producer gas has been taken up by Colonel Astor. He has devised what he 
terms a vibratory disintegrator, an invention which utilizes the expansive 
force of the occluded air and gas to disruj)! the peat so that it mav be thor- 
oughlv and uniformlv heated, as well as the vibrations of a gas engfine, which 
is driven liy the \-ery producer gas generated from the peat. The disinte- 
grating or disrupting effect is attained by means of a novel gas-engine muf- 
fler placed within the gas producer. The sides of the muffler are so thin that 
they can be distended and drawn inwardlv in response to variations in pres- 
sure within the muffler. In order that this relative movement of the opposite 
sides may l)e facilitated, the muffler edges are fluted or accordion-plaited. The 
exhaust gases from the engine cxdinder are discharged into the muftler to 
extend its sides. \Mien they escape from the muffler the sides contract. 
These successive expansions and contractions of the muffler walls are com- 
nniu'cated to the gas within the gas producer, and likewise the gas occluded 
in the pores and interstices of the peat. Hence the peat is disrupted and 
broken up. In order to assist in this disrupting effect the peat chamlier of 
the producer is supported from the gas-engine frame, so that the jarring and 
vibration of the engine is transmitted to the peat. The burned residue left in 
the producer can be utilized as a fertilizer. Besides devising a method of 
extracting a ])Ower gas from peal. Colonel Astor has invented, incidentally, 
a method of utilizing its fertilizing princi])le. He has given the patents cov- 
ering this device to the public. 

Colonel Astor's latest invention is a steamship chair. It is a simple 
device l)y means of which a chair mav be held firnflv to the floor, no matter 
how much the ship pitches, and yet may be easily released and moved about, 
enabling its occupant to place the chair at any desired distance from a table, 
thus eliminating the discomfort often experienced ])y travelers who find the 
ordinary steamship chair, which is rigidlv screwed to the floor, either too near 



508 HISTORY OF .V/I/f YORK 

or too far from the lal)k'. The scheme imulves the use of a vacuimi cup 
l)eneath the chair, so mounted that it may l)c ])ressed into engagement with 
tlic deck or floor to hold the chair liy suction, or the \acuum may ht liroken, 
tlie cu]) lifted, and the chair released. 

LJesides these thoroughly utilitarian results of his scientific knowledge and 
inventi\-e ahilitv. Colonel Astor has made ])ers()nal researciies in speculative 
science, including astronomy and celestial mechanics; his wide reading in those 
sciences lieing made strongly a])parent in his book which was ])ublished in 
iS()4, and entitled, A journe\- in ( )ther Worlds; A Romance of the i''uture: 
a work of fiction based on science, dealing with supposititious life u])on the 
planets Saturn and ju])iter. The literar\' merit of this volume secured for 
Colonel Astor election to the Authors" (,'lub. 

Colonel Astor is a director of the Astor Trust Comjianw Illinois I'entral 
Railroad Com])any, Mercantile Trust Com])any, National Tark P>ank, Plaza 
Bank, Niagara I-'alls F'ower Company, Western Union Telegra])h Company, 
Long- Island Motor Parkway (Inc.), Niagara Junction Railway Company, 
Niagara DevelojMnent Coni])any. and Chicago, St. Louis and New ( )rleans 
Railroad Com])anv; trustee of the Title (iuarantee and Trust Com])any, New 
^'ork Life Insurance and Trust Company, and Hudson-Fulton Celeljration 
Commission; member of the IJoard of Managers of The Delaware and Hudson 
Compan\-; P)oard of Governors of the Autonu)bile Clul) of America. Turf and 
Field Club, Xew])ort Casino, and l)Oard of I'ounders of The New Theatre. 

He is well known as a vachtsman, haxing made cruises in all parts 
of the world; and he is also fond of motoring and tennis. His club 
and societv meml)ershi])s include The Metro])olitan Club, Cnion I lub, 
Knickerliocker Club, Citv Club, .\rm\- and Na\\' Club, .\utomobile Club of 
.\merica. .Authors" Club, The Pilgrims, Church Club, Helta Phi l*'ralernity. 
The Strollers, the Pen Club, The Press Club. The (iraduates' Association, 
New ^'ork ^'acht Club, Rac(|uet and Tennis Club, Turf and Field Club. Cit}' 
Lunch Club. C'it\' Middav Club. Down Town Association. 'rransi)orlalion Club. 
Railroad I'lub of New ^'ork, Riding Club. P.rook Club. Tu.xedo Club. I'ountry 
Club. Westchester F'olo Clul), Aero Club, .\'e\\])ori (lolf Club, Travellers' Club 
of Paris, Cocoa Tree Club of London, .Societ\- of Colonial Wars, Military 
Order of Foreign Wars, Chamber of C'ommerce, .American (Geographical 
Societv, New N'ork Zoological Societv, New A'ork liotanical Garden, Metro- 
politan Museum of .Art, American Museum of Natural History, .New A'ork 
Academv of Sciences. 

He maintains, besides his town house on Fifth Avenue, the beautiful 
estate of bT'rncliff, at Rhinebeck-on-the-Hudson, at which he was born. 

He married, in Philadelpiiia, bAdiruarv 17, iS<)i. .\\a L. Willing, and has 
two children: William \ incent and .\\-a .Alice Muriel. 



C'ORXlUJi'S PC BOIS 



G 



ORNELIL'S DL'r.OlS, insurance broker, was born 



in 



Xew 



York, March 2J, 1S51, his father being Cornehus Du Dois, nier- 
ch;;in, and his mother. Mary Ann ( Delafield ) I )u Hois, was (hstino-nisiied as 
tlie founder of the Nursery and Chikl's I hospital and originator of its 
Annual Charit\- Hall. His faniih', originally of Lille, k'rance, being nerse- 



l.e\(len. 



1 



olland 



whence ins ancestor 



ac(|Ues 



cuted as Huguenots, tied to 
Du Bois canie to Xew York 
in 1654. His grandfather, 
Cornelius Du liois, was 
director or otificer in thir- 
teen prominent corporations 
and charitable organiza- 
tions, and his maternal 
grandfather, John Delafield, 
was president of the Phenix 
Bank and treasurer of 
the Xew \'ork Historical 
Society and X'ew ^'ork 
State Agricultural Society. 

Mr. Du Bois attended 
Churchill's .Militar\- Acad- 
emy, Ossining, Xew \'ork, 
Columbia Grammar School, 
Xew ^'ork City, and the 
University of Deii)zig, Ger- 
many. In i,S;_>, with J. 
Sutherland Irving, he est.ab- 
lished the in-^urance brok- 
erage firm (>\ Du r.ois >K; 
Ir\'ing, which consolidated, 
Ma\- I, 1874, with lr\-ing 
& Frank, as Irving, b'rank 
&• Du Bois, who became 
I niled States managers 
for the Phoeni.x Assurance 
Com|)any. Later they separated, ]\h-. Irving taking the underwriting ])art, 
while Emil H. In-ank and Mr. Du Bois formed the insurance brokerage 
firm of Frank & Du r)ois. specialists in the insuring of railway property. 

Mr. Du Bois is a member of the Holland Society, St. Xicholas Society, 
and Down Town Association, lie married, April 22. 1S74, Katharine B. 
Reading. The_\- ha\-e had eight children, of whom five are livin"-. 




cok.\i-:liu.s du iioi.s 



■.m 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




THEODORE XEWTOX ]'AIL :,11 

THEODORE NEWTON VAIL, president of the American Tele- 
jjhone and Telegraph Company, and head of the entire Bell Tele- 
phone system of the country, was born in Carroll County, Ohio, July i6, 
]S45, the son of Davis and Phoebe (Quinby) \'ail. He is a descendant of 
John \ail. the Quaker j^reacher, who settled in New Jersey in 17 lo, the Vail 
family becoming prominent in Morris County, New Jersey. Mr. Vail's grand- 
father, Lewis \"ail, who was a civil engineer, went in an early day to Ohio, 
and became prominent in that State as a builder of canals and highways. 
Stephen \'ail, an uncle of Theodore Newton Vail, founded the Speedwell Iron 
Works near Morristown, New Jersey, at which was built most of the 
machinery for the first steamship which crossed the Atlantic Ocean, sailing 
from Savannah, Georgia. In these works Samuel F. B. Morse perfected and 
first successfully operated the magnetic telegraph. Stephen \'ail and his sons 
supplied Morse with the money, and Alfred A'ail, being the mechanical genius 
of the combination, contributed the machinery for the telegraph instrument, 
his mechanical ingenuity giving concrete form to the scientific theory of teleg- 
raphy which Morse had invented. It was Alfred Vail also, who devised the 
Dot and Dash Alphabet, which under the name of the Morse Alphabet has 
ever since been used in telegraphing. 

Davis Vail, son of Lewis Vail and father of Theodore Newton Vail, 
was born in Ohio, but at an early age went to New Jersey and became con- 
nected with the Speedwell Iron Works. He married and afterward went Imck 
to Ohio for some years, during which time his son, Theodore Newton, was 
born. When the boy was about four years old, Davis Vail returned to New 
Jersey and resumed his connection with the Speedwell Iron Works until 1866, 
when he removed to Iowa arid engaged in farming upon an extensive scale. 

On his mother's side, Theodore Newton Vail is connected with the promi- 
nent Quinby family of Morris County, New Jersey, his mother being the 
daughter of Judge Isaac Quinby of that county, and a sister of General 
Quinby. who was graduated at West Point and became distinguished as a 
mathematician, was professor of mathematics in Rochester University, and 
was a general in the Civil War; and also sister of the doctors, William and 
Augustus Quinby. She was also connected with the DeHart family of Eliza- 
beth, who were prominent in the early struggles between the Colonies and 
the English. 

Theodore Newton A'ail received a thorough educati(in in the old academy 
at Morristown, New Jersev, and after leaving school read medicine with his 
uncle. Doctor William Quinby, for two years. During that same period he 
learned telegraphy in a local telegraph office, and afterwards, when his father 
went west to Iowa, went with him. He remained in Iowa Init a year or so, 
and went west of the Missouri River. 



IllShHO^ (U- \I:U' YORK 



The L nion Pacific Railroad was then 1)ein,>;' huilt. and he liecanie an ag'ent 
and telegraph oijerator at a small station on that line until in the spring of 
1869. Through the friendly offices of General Grenvile Al. Dodge, chief 
engineer of the L'nion Pacific, he recei\e(l apijointnient as a clerk in the Rail- 
way Alail Ser\ice. which was then in a \erv crude state of organization. At 
that time mail was nut (listril)tited on the cars, as it is now, hut was gathered 
ti]) and carried on to certain large j^ost offices, where it was assorted and from 
there forwarded. This involved much (lela\', and the scheme of sorting the 
mail on the cars was hegun. lint each clerk was left to choose his own way 
of distrihution. When raihwn- clerks met thev would discuss the f|uestion of 
methods, and Mr, X'ail, for his own convenience, made a special study of the 
question of distrihution and dispatch of the mails, and he made a ma]) and 
charts of distrihution for his own use and the use of others associated with 
him, the oljject heing shortest and (|uickest routes to destination. After he 
had worked on this plan for some time, the authorities at Washington called 
him to that city and soon after he was apjwinted assistant superintendent of 
the Railwav ]\Iail Service, under (ieorge I. Bangs, who was one of the most 
])rogressive department officials ever known in Washington. The extensive 
political experience and ac(|uaintance of Air. liangs helloed him in the intro- 
duction of ])rogressive ideas. A scientific plan for the distrihtttion of the mail 
was put into operation all over the country and a practical civil service sys- 
tem was worked out. He took a leading part in the development of the fast 
Railwa\- Alail Service, hy means of which fast mail trains were given the right 
of wav over all others. The mail was sent through from Chicago to Xew 
\'ork in twentx-four hours. Its time has since been reduced to eighteen hours. 
In 1876 Mr. \'ail was a]>]>ointed general su])erintendent, although the voungcst 
of the officers with the Railwax Mail Serxice; this advancement to the highest 
])osition in the service lieing due to his demonstrated ahililv as an organizer, 
lie strengthened the C'ixil .'^erxice idea established bv Mr. liangs, his prede- 
cessor in the office, and his service to the government in this office was of 
great vahie in establishing the railwav mail svstem of this cotintrx' in the 
high place it occupies in the confidence of the business world and the general 
])ublic. 

Mr. X'ail, in his position as general superintendent of the Railwav Mail 
.Service, had gone as tar in that direction as he could g'o without becoming 
an active ijolitician, which he was tiot inclined to do, so in 1878 he had made 
up his mind to leax'e the ser\'ice, and it hapjieiied that at that time ( iardner 
(i. Mubbard, a prominent lawyer of Boston and Washington, who was the 
father-in-law of Alexander Graham Bell, the in\entor of the telephone, asked 
.Mr. X'ail to take the place of general manager ot the American Bell Tele- 
]>hone Gompan;,-, the telei)hone being then oi recent invention. Mr. Wail had 



THEODORE XEIVTOX I' AIL ,jl3 

l)een interested in the experiments which were being made with the telephone 
from its tirst pnhhc tests in the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, 
and was one of the few who [jelieved that it had practical utility and could 
l)e made a commercial success, while nearly all of the rest of the world made 
light of the invention as a mere scientific toy. When Mr. \'ail accei)ted the 
position as general manager of the American Rell Telephone Companv, he 
found it a hard task to convince the public that it could be really used to talk 
over as a business or social convenience. He worked against many obstacles 
in putting the telephone on a permanent basis, devising the ])lan under which it 
has ever since been operated, and the relation of the local to the parent com- 
panies, and in nine years had ])Ut the business on a sound and substantial 
basis. At first it was thought that the telephone was only good for local 
purposes, but Mr. X'ail established the long-distance telephone, not only in 
the face of general opinion that it would lie a failure, but even over the oppo- 
sition of his own associates in the company, and it was also Mr. A'ail who 
introduced the use of copper wire on telephone and telegraph lines, inducing 
Mr. Mason, of Bridgeport, to experiment in drawing copper wire in such a 
way as to im|)art to it the strength necessary to withstand the stretching 
from pole to pole. During his management of the American Bell Telephone 
Company, Mr. \'ail had added to his burdens that of a fierce litigatiim estab- 
lished l)y the Western L'nion Telegraph Company, which denied that Bell was 
the inventor of the telephone. A settlement was afterward reached in which 
the Western Union Telegraph Company conceded practically every point of 
importance. By 18S4 he had established the business on a sound liasis and 
secured national recognition of the telephone as an institution of great pres- 
ent vakte and greater future possibilities. He had organized local companies 
in the ])rincipal cities, all related to the general system, and had established 
the means of working connecti(in between them all bv inaugurating the first 
long-distance telephone system in 18S4. He was [)resident of the Bell Tele- 
phone Company of Xew York from 1885 to 1890, having organized this com- 
pany in 1878. He resigned his position as general manager of the parent 
company and retired from the telephone Inisiness. 

While he was at the head of the telephone btisiness in Boston he had 
established a small farm near by, and when he left the telephone com]iany he 
bought a farm of fifteen hundred acres in \'ermont and established the Speed- 
well Farms and engaged in the raising of French coach horses, Welsh ponies, 
Jersey cattle, and Shropshire and Dorset hornefl sheep. Mr. \'ail is still a 
farmer, but found it impossible to confine himself entirely to the farm. He 
spent much time abroad, and in 1893 he made a trip to South America, where 
he became very much impressed with the Argentine R'epulilic and its oppor- 
tunities, and the need of that country for development of its resources. He 



•M4 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

obtained tlie government concession for building, near Cordoba, an electrical 
station td generate current which, carried by wires to the neighboring citv, 
turn^ llie machinery of factories, furnishes the citv with light and supplies the 
])()wer fur its street railway. He bought a horse-car line in Buenos Avres, 
organized a company, converted it into a trollev line. e(|ui])ped it with the 
l)est cars that could be built in the United States, made it one of the finest 
of modern street railways, buying out all competing lines and extending the 
facilities of the road so as to cover completelv the Argentine capital cit\'. 
Tile company owning the road was organized as a llrilisli corporation, and 
Mr. A'ail had his headquarters in London, btit after he had the companv in 
thorough working order, so that his personal work did not seem to be fur- 
ther needed to keep the enterprise in ]M-oper condition, he retired from the 
company's activities in 1004 and returned to his farm at Lvndoii, A'enuont, 
which had grown by accretions until it comi>rised four thousand acres. 

Back in the early days, soon after he entered the Railway Mail Service 
as a clerk, he married, in Attgust 1869, Aliss Emma Righter, of Newark, 
Xew Jersey, with whom he led an ideal married life, during all the period 
of his working up to the success of his remarkable career, and they had a 
son, Davis R. \'ail, a young lawyer of much promise. In 1905 the great 
sorrow of Air. \'airs life came to him in the loss of both his wife and son. 
With this loss the incentives of a life of leisttre disappeared, and he was 
induced to enter again the activities of the telephone field. In 1907 he took 
the presidency of the American Telephone and Telegra])li C"omi)an\-, the cen- 
tral organization with which are affiliated the thirtv Bell companies that 
operate the local service of their respective sections of the country, and under 
his su])ervision there has been a large extension of the long-distance service 
and manv imi)rovenients in the fitting of the com])an^• for promjit response 
to the constamlx' enlarging demand^ upon its facilities. 

Mr. \'ail divides his time between tlie executive offices of his company 
in Boston, its New ^'ork headciuarters, and his A'ermont farm. He is a mem- 
ber of the leading clubs of New York and Bxislon, and li\es amid the best 
social circles in the two cities. In iip7 he was married a second time, to 
Miss Mabel R. Sanderson, of Boston. 

Mr. Vail possesses the ideal combination of (|ualities for the important 
])Osition which he holds at the head of the telei)lione system of the country. 
No man knows more about the telephone as an institution; few in the coun- 
try lia\e demonstrated to an etjual degree the organizing ability re(|uisite for 
tlie conducting of so great a Imsiness enterprise, while as a financier, Mr. \'ail 
ranks with the foremost in the countrv, energetic, accurate in judgment, cul- 
tivated in manner, (|uick of decision, broadminded. Mr. \'ail represents the 
higliest type of the .\merican corporation exectitive. 



iriLLI.-lM GOODHXOir iriLLCOX 



.31.") 



WILLTA^l GOODENOW WILLCOX was born in Reading, 
Massachusetts, February 8, 1859, son of Rev. \\'illiam Henry 
Willcox, D.D., and Annie (Goodenow) Willcox; and descendant of the 
luiglish emigrant AX'illiani W'illcoxson ( 1635 ), progenitor of many promi- 
nent American famihes variously named AX'illcox, Wilcox and Wilcoxson. 
He was educated in the Tlridgewater ( Alassaclmsetts ) State Xormal School. 

He began in marine 
insurance with A. O. A\'ilh 
cox & Son, January i, 1SS4, 
and from 1889 was partner 
in that firm and its sue 
cessor, Albert Willcox iS.- 
C(nn])anv. Since Albert 
Willcox died, in Augu 
T906. Mr. A\'illiam G. Will 
cox and William Y. Wem] 1 
have continued that firm 
managers of the Sal 
mandra Insurance Coi 
pany of St. Petersbur 
The firm's brokerage bu: 
ness and that of Charles I 
& W. F. Peck and Walk 
& Hughes was taken ov 
by the corporation of Wil 
cox. Peck & Hughes. 

Mr. Willcox is 
director of the Assuran 
Company of America and 
Battery Park National 
l'«ank; member Advisor\- 
Committee of the Staten 
Island Branch of the Corn 
Exchange Bank; president 
of the Board of Trustees of 
the S. R. Smith Infirmary and the Staten Island Academy; trustee of the 
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute; treasurer of the Richmond County 
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; member of the Down Town 
Association, Staten Island and Richmond County Country Clubs. He mar- 
ried, at West New Brighton, S. I., Mav 28, 1889. Marv Otis Gav, daughter 
of Sydney Howard Gay. and has had five children (one now deceased). 




WILLIAM GOODENOW WILLCOX 



51(5 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




TACOl! III'.XKV sen IFF 



JACOB HEXRV SCHJFF r,i7 

JACOB HENRY SCHIFF, distinguished as a banker, financier and 
philanthropist, was born in Frankfort on the Main, Germany, in 1X47. 
He was educated in Germany, and in 1S65 came to New York City. 

He secured a position as a bank clerk, and after a few years of service in 
that ca|)acitv I)ecame partner in the firm of Budge, Schiff & Ci)nii)any, bank- 
ers and lirokers, until i<S75, when he married Therese, daughter of Solomon 
Loeb, then head of Kuhn, Loeb & Company, and was admitted to that firm. 

The firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company was first formed in Cincinnati, 
Avhere thev were for vears successfully engaged in mercantile ])usiness, com- 
ing from there to New York to engage in l)anking. To this firm Mr. Schifif's 
experience and genius for l)anking proved a valuable asset, and it was not 
long before he was taking a most influential part in the management of its 
affairs. On the retirement of Mr. Loeb, in 1885, he became the head of the 
firm, which has constantly increased its im])ortance as a factor in the finan- 
cial world, with large and most influential international connections, ;md close 
relations with leading capitalists at home. 

Personally, Mr. Schiff has attained great distinction as a financier, and 
as financial adyiser to the Standard Oil group of capitalists, the Pennsylvania 
Railroad, the late E. H. Harriman, and other large interests, and liis firm has 
financed many of the most important and extensiye financial operations. This 
firm took the leading part in the financing and management of the organiza- 
tion of the Union Pacific Railway, in i8()7, beginning with the ])urchase of 
that railroad from the government, and the subse(|uent measures liy which 
control of the Southern Pacific and other important railroads was ac<|uired, 
and has been a participant in nearly all of the greater financial activities of 
national or international importance, ('^hie of the most notable of these great 
operations of the firm was the placing of the large Japanese loan in this coun- 
try (luring the war with Russia, in which the firm achieved a signal success. 

^Ir. Schiff' has in recent years resigned most of his directorates in favor 
of his younger partners, but is still a director of the National City Bank. 
National Bank of Commerce, Bond and Mortgage Guarantee Com]xuiy, West- 
ern Union Telegraph Com]:)any, Woodbine Land and lm])ro\-ement Company, 
and various other cori)orations. Pie is a member .and \-ice jiresident of the 
Chamber of Commerce. 

Since the Japanese-Russian War, Mr. Schiff' has been actively identified 
with important financial operations in the Orient, and has made a close study 
of the financial and commercial policies of the various nations connected with 
the question of the open door in China and the de\-elopments in Manchuria 
and Korea resulting from the recent war. He has paid an extended visit to 
Japan and observed conditions closely, so that his opinion on Far-Eastern sub- 
jects has great weight in the country at large as well as in financial circles. 



.-,ls HISTORY OF XEW YORK 

Therefore an address by him before the Republican Club of New York in 
March, ii>io, aroused "reat interest throughout this country and abroad, and 
much comment, favora])le and unfavorable, according to the affiliations and 
sympathies of the writers; Init all recognized the fact that Mr. SchifT's views 
were backed bv the authoritx- of intimate knowledge of his subject and per- 
fect sincerity of opinion. 

In political views Mr. Schiff is a Republican, but he has been influentially 
identified with etTective nonpartisan movements for reform in the municipal 
government of New York. He was a prominent member of the Second Com- 
mittee of Seventv, wlmse well-directed efforts resulted in the overthrow of the 
Tweed Ring, and of the Committee of Fifteen and Committee of Nine, which 
were both im]iortant later factors for the promotion of civic reform in the 
City of New \'()rk. 

Educational and charital)le causes have enlisted Mr. Schiff's close and 
efficient attention, and in the support and direction of Hebrew charities he has 
taken a position of especial prominence, being vice president of the Baron de 
Hirsch Fund and president of the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids. His 
benefactions to charities have lieen many, including $50,000 to the Helirew 
Sheltering Home; $200,000 to be used for the purpose of establishing normal 
schools for the training of Jewish Sunday school teachers, one to be located in 
Cincinnati and one in New York City; $100,000 for a Technical College at 
Hafia, Palestine, besides many other gifts to orphanages, hospitals and syna- 
gogues, given \vith a thorough understanding of the wants of these institu- 
tions, of which he has made a sympathetic study. He was also a liberal c(^n- 
tributor to the Galveston Relief Fund at the time of the flood there, and has 
led in promoting the work of the Young ]\Ien's Hebrew Association. 

His interest in education is very great, and has been manifested in many 
substantial ways. Fie has shown s])ecial eiUhusiasm in the encouragement of 
the studv of Semitic literature, with which he is himself thoroughly conversant. 
Fie founded the Semitic Afuseum at Harvard, and the Jewish Theological 
Seminarv, New ^'ork, and gave a fund of $10,000 to the New York Public 
Lil)rarv toward the purchase of a Semitic library. He also presented to that 
institution the famous Tissot collection of Old Testament jiaintings, valued at 
$,^7,000. He was a founder and the first treasurer of Barnard College. 

Mr. Schiff' is a member of the American Aluseum of National History. 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to which he has made valuable gifts, and 
the American l^'ine .Vrts Societv, and is also a member of the Lawvers" and 
Republican Clubs of New York. 

Mr. and Mrs. Schifl' have their town house at 965 Fifth Avenue, and a 
countrv home at Seabright, N. J. Thev have two children, of whom their son, 
Mortimer L. Schiff, is a partner in the firm of Kuhn, Foeb & Company. 



JULES SliMOX BACHE 



519 



JULES SKAiUX UACllE, senior member of the firm of J. S. Bache 
& Company, bankers and brokers, was l^orn in New ^'ork City, son of 
Semon Bache and EHzabeth (A'^an Praag) Bache. 

He was educated at Charher Institute, New York, and in Frankfort, Ger- 
many. He entered business in 1876, spending three years with his father's 
firm, after which he joined the banking and brokerage house of Leopold Cahn 
& Company. \\\ i8(j2 the 



If /'" 'V'l 'h'/ 







business was reorganized as 
J. S. Bache & Company, Mr. 
Cahn remaining as special 
partner for some _\ears. 

Under the able guid- 
ance of its senior the house 
of J. S. Bache & Company 
has become one of the rep- 
resentative banking and 
brokerage concerns of the 
country. It has member- 
ships in the New York 
Stock Exchange, Philadel- 
phia and Chicago Stock Ex- 
changes, the New York 
Cotton. Cofifee, and Produce 
Exchanges, Chicago Board 
of Trade, and the New Or- 
leans and Liver])ool Cotton 
Exchanges; and maintains 
branch offices at Buffalo, 
Rochester, Albam-, Troy, 
Saratoga Springs, Mon- 
treal, Atlantic City and Bar 
Harbor. Its jirivate wire 
system is most extensive 
and connects with the im- 
portant financial centres. 

Mr. Bache is a director in the National Bank of Cuba, International 
Banking Corporation, Empire Trust Company, New Amsterdam Casualty 
Company, Anniston City Land Company, Oakland Bayside Realty Company, 
New River Collieries Company, Matanzas Railway and Warehouse Company, 
and other corporations in the United States and Cuba; and is a member of the 
New York, Lawyers, and The Lambs Clubs, and Automobile Club of America. 



JULES SEMON BACHE 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




TAMES SPEYER 



J.-^MES SPIIYER 521 



JAlMIiS SPMN'FiR. licad nf the International Banking House of Sjieyer 
& Company, New \'()rk, is of an ancient family. The name of Spire, 
Spira or Speier appears in the chronicles of Frankfort on Main as early as 
the middle of the h^mrteenth Centurv, and the tirst nieniher of the S])eyer 
family, of whom accurate records have been ke])t, and of whum Air. James 
Speyer is a direct descendant, was Michael Speyer, who died in 1686. As 
far back as 171J2, when the French general, Custinc. l)rought three leading- 
citizens to Alayence as hostages to guarantee the jjayment of a war ta.x. one 
of tliem was the imperial court banker. Isaac Michael Speyer. 

James Speyer was born in New York Citv in iSOi. lie \\as educated at 
Frankfort on Alain, and at the age of twenty-two entered the historic bank- 
ing house of the family in that city, and later was in the London and Paris 
branches. In 1SS5 Mr. S])ever returned to Xew A'ork and is now head of the 
American house of Spe}er & Companv, as well as a partner of Speyer Broth- 
ers, of London, and of Lazard Spever-Ellissen, of Frankfort on Main. 

Edgar, brother of Air. James Speyer, and head of the London house of 
Speyer Brothers, was, in 1906, created a Baronet by King luhvard \ 11, and 
in i(p9 was again honored bv the king bv being called to the Privy Cottncil 
with title of The Right Honorable Sir Edgar Speyer, Bart., P.C. Arthur 
von Gwinner ( \Ahose wife is the daughter of Philip Speyer, founder of Speyer 
& Com])any, and a cousin of Air. Speyer) is a member of the Prussian House 
of Lords and director of the Deutsche Bank, T^)erlin. 

The founder of the American firm of Speyer iS: Company, Philip Speyer, 
came to Xew A'ork in 1837. He was joined in 1845 by his brother, Gustavus 
Speyer. At the beginning of the Civil War this firm was largely instrtimental 
in opening a market for United States government bonds in Tuiro])e. The 
house of Spever, with its aftiliations in London. iM-ankfort, Amsterdam, I'.er- 
lin, and Paris, is one of the foremost institutions of the financial world. It 
has lieen identified with many financial transactions of magnitude, including 
the refunding of the I)onded debts of the Lake Shore Railroad Comi)an}- : the 
readjustment of the Central Pacific Railroad Comi)any's finances (carrying 
with it the full payment of the debt of the company to the United States 
Government ) ; the reorganization of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Comjiany : 
the readjustment of the financial affairs of the Mexican National and the 
Alexican Central Railway Companies ; the financing of the L^nderground Elec- 
tric Raihva}-s of London: the financing of the railways in the Island of Luzon 
in the Phili])pines, under agreement with the secretary of war of the L'nited 
States: the financing a system of railways in Bolivia for the government of 
that Republic: the establishment of the Banco Mexicano de Comercio e Indus- 
tria in the Citv of Alexico, and of the Societe Financiere Franco-Americaine 
of Paris, one of the first institutions in France to deal in American securi- 



522 HISTORY OF XHW YORK 

ties. At present Speyer & Company are more particularly the fiscal agents of 
the Baltimore & Ohio, the Rock Island, the St. Louis & San Francisco, and 
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad Com])anies. In 1904 the house of 
Spever placed an issue of $35,000,000 Reiniblic <>f Cuba 5*^* bonds, and again 
in 1909 took an issue of $16,500,000 4'2'< bonds; in i<>04 the firm contracted 
for a $40,000,000 ]\Iexican Government loan, and in 1908 for $_'5.ooo,ooo 
Mexican Government Irrigation 4j^% bonds. 

Mr. James Speyer is a director of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Coin- 
])any; trustee of the Central Trust Company of Xew York; trustee and mem- 
ber Executive Committee Union Trust Compan\- of Xew "^drk; director of 
the Citizens' Saving and Trust Company of Cleveland; trustee (ierman Sav- 
ings Bank in the City of New York; memljer of Board of ^Managers Girard 
Trust Company of Philadelphia; director Bank of The Manhattan Company, 
Mexican Bank of Commerce and Industry, Mexico City; North British & 
Mercantile Insurance Company of London and Edinburgh in the United States, 
The North British and Mercantile Insurance Company of New York; director 
The Rock Island Com])any; \'ice president and director The Societe Financiere 
Franco-Americaine, Paris; trustee Title Guarantee and Trust lomi)any. Under- 
ground bllectric Railways Company of London, Limited, (ieneral Chemical 
Com]iany, Corn Products Refining Company, and i^ackawanna Steel Company. 

In November, 1S97, Mr. Speyer married Ellin L. Lowery, nee Prince, 
daughter of the late John Dvnelc\' Prince. Mr. and Mrs. Sjieyer are actively 
interested in charitable and educational affairs. Mr. Speyer is treasurer of 
the Provident Loan Society; trustee and chairman of Finance Committee, 
Teachers' College; trustee Hospital Saturdav and Sundav Association; mem- 
ber Board of Managers Jsabella Heimath; tlirector Mount Sinai Ilospital; 
meml)er of Finance Committee State Charities Aid Association ; director Xew 
^ ork Peace Society; member of Executive Committee The National Civic Fed- 
eration; trustee and member of the Executive Committee "The Pilgrims"; 
member of Council University Settlement Society. His charity knows no dif- 
ference of race, creed or color. He presented Spever School to Teachers' Col- 
lege, in Ti)02, in Mrs. Speyer's and his own name, and was the founder ()f 
the Theodore Roosevelt Professorship at the Universitv of J-Jerlin. 

In politics Mr. Spever is independent ;md nonpartisan, lie was vice 
president and treasurer of the German-American Reform Union in the Cleve- 
land campaign of 1892; member of the Executive Committee of Seventy 
(through which Tammany Hall was overthrown), and a charter member of 
the Citizens' Union. In 1896 he was appointed by Mayor William J^. Strong 
a member of the Board of Education, Init resigned after one year. He is a 
member of the Citv, Lotos, Manhattan, Plavers', Reform, Lawyers', Whist, 
l\ac(|uet, City Midd.av, and New ^'ork ^'aclll Clubs, and Deutscher X'erein. 



EDWARD FJ'ERETT CLAPP 



E' 



>DWARD EV^ERETT CLAPP, senior member of the prominent 
casualty insurance firm of E. E. Clapp & Company, comes of old 
colonial stock, being son of the late Justice Clapp and seventh in descent from 
Roger Clapp, who was first commandant of Fort Independence in Boston from 
1665 to his death in 1686. Mr. Clapp was born in Holvoke, Massachusetts, 
January 5, 1838, residing later many vears in Newburg, New York. 

In April, 1861, he 
sailed for China. Our Civil 

^\'ar created such a demand i^ 

for ciitton that China com- . ^ 

nienced raising it for ex- 
port, and Mr. Clapp saw his 
opportunity and took up this 
industrv. 

Tn 1875 he established 
in Albany an agencv of 
twelve fire companies, one 
life, and The Fidelitv and 
Casualty, and in 188 r the 
president of The lMdelit\- 
and Casualty persuaded him 
to sell his Albany interests 
and come to Xew York to 
develop the accident busi- 
ness of the company. His 
firm, E. ]•:. Clapi) & Com- 
pany, are to-day managers 
for the States of New ^'ork. 
New Jersey, Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island. The\- 
do a business of one million 
fnur liundred thousand dol- 



lars, making th 



em 



tlu 




EDWARD k\i:ki:tt clapp 



largest accident and health 
agency in the world. 

In 1864 Mr. Cla])p was married to Miss l^liza B. Townsend, of Xew- 
burg. New York. Their residence is at East Orange, New Jersev. He is 
a member of the Union League, Chamber of Commerce, Down Town Asso- 
ciation, Peace Society, Republican Club, Economic Club, of New York; Essex 
County Countr)' Club and New England Societ\-, of Orange: Republican 
Club, East Orange, and Society of Colonial Wars of New Jersey; 32° Mason. 



o24 



HISTORY OF XliW YORK 






1 ' ' 



^■*i-/:fii','|: 




ISAAC NEWTOX SELICMAX 



IS.-l.iC XEJl'TOX SFJJiiM.IX 



I 



SAAC NEWTON SELIGAIAN, the i)resenl head of the banking- 
house of J. S: ^^^ Seligman, was born in New \'ork ('ity, July lO, 
1855, son of Joseph and r>al)ette ( Steinliart ) Seho'nian. 

His father, Joseph Sehonian, 1)orn at I^aiersdorf, Ikivaria, ( ierniany, 
September 22, iSk), was .graduated from the l'ni\ersity of Erhmgen in 
1X38. He was an excellent (Ireek and classical scholar, and following" 
his graduation he took up medical and theological studies. As his ambi- 
tion was for a linsiness career, he engaged in hnancial and commercial 
purstiits in ( lermany tmtil 1843, when he came to the L'nited States. 

After a period of teaching and hlling a cashier's position, Mr. Selig- 
nian established himself in the mercantile business at Greensboro, Alal)ama, 
where he met with success, remaining there until about 1S57, when with his 
l)rothers he united in establishing an iniporling Imsiness in New ^'ork Citv. 

In 1862 Air. Joseph Seligman and liis l)rothers established the Ijanking 
firm of J. & W. Seligman & Company, wdiich soon became a factor of 
importance in the banking world, and established branches in London, 
Paris and Frankfort. The Seligmans were agents for the introduction of 
the bonds of the I'nited States int(_i the European, and ntore esjjecialh' the 
(ierman, markets, and the government, as a recognition of their services, 
made the London branch of Seligman & Company the recognized European 
depository for the funds of the State and Navy Departments. They also 
had a house in San Francisco (later consolidated with the Anglo-Cali- 
fornia Lank), and the Seligman and IleHnian Bank in New ( )rleans, Mr. 
llellman being son-in-law of Joseph Seligman. Mr. Joseph Seligman was 
offered, but declined, the ])osition of secretary of the treasury in the first 
Grant administration. He founded the great Hel)rew Or|)han .\svlum in 
New York, and was one of the organizers of the Ethical Culture Societv of 
New York, to which he gave $70,000. He died, wideh- honored and deeplv 
lamented, Ajjril 25, 1S80. To him and his \\ife, Haliette, whom lie married 
in 1848, there were born nine children. 

Isaac Newton Seligman, now head of the Seligiuan banking firm, was 
the second son. He was educated at Columbia Grammar School and 
graduated from Columbia College, with honors, in 1876. He was a mem- 
Iter of the Columbia crew which won the race at Saratoga, in 1874, over 
tlie crews of ^'ale, Harvard and nine other colleges. He was for a long 
time president of tlie Columbia Boat Club. 

Mr. Seligman began his Ixmking career in the New Orleans l^-anch 
from 1876 to 1878, then cante to New York City, entering the house of 
J. & W. Seligman. He soon evinced a great genius for finance, and on 
the death of his father in 1880, he and his uncle, Jesse, succeeded to the 
management and has been head of the house since the death of Mr. Jesse 



526 HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

Selignian in 1895. The house gained control of the St. Louis and San Fran- 
cisco Raihvay, selling it to Jay Gould; reorganized the American Steel and 
Wire Company, Cramp Steamship Company, and other great corpora- 
tions. Jle is a director of the United States Savings Bank, [Munich 
Fire Insurance Company, and Mount ]\Iorris National Bank; is a trustee 
of the Rossia Insurance Company and the Lincoln Trust Company. 

Mr. Seligman is a memher of the Chamber of Connnerce, and rep- 
resented it in the Chamber of Commerce Celebration in London. 

He has served as a member of the Repul)lican Xalional Finance 
Committee, director of the Sound Aloney League, chairman of the 
Finance Committee and the treasurer of the Citizens' L'nion; also as 
trustee of the ^Manhattan State Hosi)ital for the Insane: member of the 
Executive Committee of the National Conference of Charities and Correc- 
tion; trustee and treasurer of the City and Suburban Homes Company 
(model tenements); member of the Committee of Seven for the Suppres- 
sion of Raines Law Hotels; member of Committee of Nine on Police 
Reform; trustee of the ]\IcKinley Memorial Association; trustee of the 
Grant ^Memorial Association; treasttrer and memher of the Executive 
Committee of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission ; treasurer and 
member of the Executive Committee of the Carl Schurz ^Memorial Com- 
mittee; vice president and treasttrer of the Andrew (ireen ^Memorial Com- 
mittee ; trustee, treasurer and member of the Finance Committee of the 
National Civic Federation: chairman of the Finance Committee of the 
Canal Association of Greater New York; trustee of the Columbia LTiiver- 
sity; of the Coliimbia L^niversity Alumni Association; Civil Service 
Association. New Forest Preserve Association, the People's Institute, the 
CoTjiierative Committee on Playgrounds, etc.: has served as \'ice president 
of the Baron de liirsh Memorial Fund, treasurer of the Waring Fund, 
treasurer of the American Hebrew, trustee of the I'nited Hebrew Chari- 
ties and Hebrew Charities Building ( foundeil I)y his father-in-law): a 
trustee and treasurer of St. John's Guild, trustee and vice president of the 
Legal Aid Society, Civic Forum, Cniversily of Wichita, K;insas, etc.: 
treasurer and trustee of the Citizens" L'nion ; trustee of the Lincoln Uni- 
versity Endowment Fttnd. 

He is trustee and treasurer of the City Club, and member of the 
Lotos, New York Atldelic, National Arts, Columbia Universitw City 
Midday, Lawyers', St. Andrews, Lakewood Country, Garden City (iolf 
and Seabright Chibs. 

He married, in Frankfort, Gerntany, in 1S83, Gul;i Loeb, daughter of 
Solomon Loeb, of the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company, and has 
two children: Joseph Lionel and Margaret X'alentine Seligman. 



LOUIS M.^lURfCfl JOSEPHTHAL 



527 



L 



OL'IS MAI'RICE JOSEPHTHAL, now the senior member of 
j()se])hthal, Louchlieini & Company, bankers and l)rokers, is a native 
of Xew \'i)rk, where he was born October 17, 1868, son of Moriz Josephthal, 
l)anker and merchant, and of Theresa ( Wise) Josephthal His father, born 
in Germany, came to tliis cnuntry in 1835, and his mother was born in Balti- 
more, Maryland. Air. Josejjhthal was Ljraduated from the 0)lle^"e of the City 
of New York in 1887, as 
B. S. He entered btisint 
life in chart^e of the s 11 
department of Willij 
Openhym & Sons, 1887 
1896. He became a meml: 
of the Xew York Stock E 
change Febrnarv 8. 1900; 
a member of the Chica 
Board of Trade, and seni 
member of Josephth I 
Louchheim & Company. 

For nearly twen 
years he has served in tl 
Naval Militia, occupyii 
the grades of pay yeoma 
assistant paymaster, and is 
now paymaster of the Xaval 
Militia of Xew York, with 
the rank of lieutenant, lie- 
ing one of the charter mem- 
bers and organizers of the 
Xaval Militia. He was 
paymaster of the United 
States ironclad Xahant in 
the Spanish-American War. 

He was formerlv sec- 
retary and director of 
Mount Sinai Hospital: is a 
meml)er of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, Naval and Military Order of the 
Spanish-American War, Naval Order of the United States, Societv of Amer- 
ican Wars, Naval Reserve Association, and Army and Navy. Atlantic Yacht. 
and Criterion Clubs, and City Athletic Club. 

He married, in New York, March 28. 1900. Edyth Gtiggenheim, and 
has two daughters: Elinor Clare, and Barbara Edvth. 




LOL'I-S MAURICE JOSEPHTHAL 



V.'S 



HISTORY OF NEir YORK 




WILLIAM SALOMOX 5-29 



WILLIAM SALOMON, one of the most distinguished representa- 
tives of international banking in Xew York, was born in Mobile, 
Alabama, October 9, 1S52, the son of David and Rosalie Alice (Levy) Salo- 
mon. He is a great-grandson of Haym Salomon, of Revolutionary fame, 
who, coming to America in Colonial times, became a distinguished and wealthy 
merchant of New York. He was committed, at Lord Howe's order, to the 
terrible "Provost" prison, but he afterward gained his liberty, tied to Phila- 
delphia and was one of the most valued financial supporters of the patriot 
cause, advancing the then colossal sum of $700,000 to the government. David 
Salomon, father of William Salomon, was a merchant of great distinction in 
Philadelphia, antl later in Xew York. 

William Salomon was educated in the Columbia Grammar School, and at 
fifteen entered the banking house of FMiilip Speyer & Company (afterward 
Speyer & Company, of N^ew York), a branch of the famous Si)ever house of 
Frankfort on the Main. He was connected with the London house, known as 
Speyer Brothers, in 1870, and afterward went to the Frankfort house for two 
years, and returned to the New York house in 1872. In 1875, Ignace Schus- 
ter, resident manager in New York, being- called abroad, Mr. Salomon and 
another young man received joint power of attornev, managing the N^ew ^'()rk 
house until 1878, when William B. Bonn, a partner, was given charge. In 
1882, Mr. Salomon became a partner in Speyer & Company, and continued 
with it, having charge of many of its largest transactions, until January i, 
1899. Fo'' about three years he held the position of chairman of the Board 
of Directors of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. On Januarv i, 
1902, he established his present firm of William Salomon & Company, of 25 
Broad Street, New York, which has attained a position of great prominence 
in international banking. Mr. Salomon's partners are x\lonzo Potter, Clar- 
ence McK. Lewis, Elisha Walker, Stewart Waller, and George Garr Llenry. 

Mr. Salomon is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Philippine 
Railway Company; and a director of the International Banking Corporation, 
Empire Trust Company, Lincoln Trust Company, Standard Trust Company, 
Madison Safe Deposit Company, Standard Safe Deposit Company, and the 
Philippine Railway Construction Company. 

He has been an extensive traveler; takes great interest in works of art 
and antiquity; and is a writer of clear and trenchant stvle, who has made 
many contributions to periodical literature. 

In 1891 he was chairman of the Finance Committee of the New York 
State Democracy (of which Charles S. Fairchild was chairman), which aided 
greatly in the nomination of Gro\'er Cleveland for President in 1892. 

]\Ir. Salomon married, in 1892, Helen Forbes Lewis, daughter of William 
McKenzie Forbes, of Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland. 



5;5o 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



Hill, I"/ ^^\ W ^\^\ 




ERNST THALMANN 



ERXST TH.4LMAXX 531 



E' 



RXST THxA-LMANN, senior member of the firm of Ladenburg, 
Thalmann & Company, bankers, was born in jMannheim, in the Grand 
Duchv of Baden, Germany, in 1S51, the son of M. Thalmann, who was a 
prominent merchant of that city. 

He was educated in excellent schools of his native town, and in Septem- 
ber, 186S, came to the United States as a boy of seventeen, and he entered the 
employ of Greenbaum Brothers & Company, bankers and brokers, with whom 
he remained for six years. He then returned to Europe for one year to study 
financial methods and conditions there, after which time he came back to New 
York, and in 1876 established the banking house of Limburger & Thalmann. 
In 1880 Adolf Ladenburg- became a partner and the firm name became Laden- 
burg, Thalmann & Company, and still retains that title, although there have 
since been some changes in the firm. The present partners are Ernst Thal- 
mann, Benjamin S. Guinness, Walter T. Rosen, Moritz Rosenthal and Ed- 
ward E. Thalmann. 

The firm does a large international business as bankers and brokers, its 
connections extending over almost every part of the globe. It rates as one 
of the foremost banking concerns of the metropolis, and its individual mem- 
bers are men whose large experience and abilities as financiers have been 
gained in connection with many important financial operations, and who have 
gained mastery of the principles and methods of international finance in deal- 
ings with many of the foremost bankers and institutions of the world. 

Besides being at the head of the banking house of Ladenburg, Thal- 
mann & Company, ]\Ir. Thalmann is a member of the New York Stock Ex- 
change. He is also president and director of the United Railways Investment 
Company, and the Barney Estate Company; vice president of the Alliance 
Realty Company, and of the United States and Hayti Telegraph and Cable 
Company; trustee of the New York Trust Company; director of the Birming- 
ham and Atlantic Railroad, Atlanta and Birmingham Air Line Railway, Utah 
Copper Company, Century Realty Company, Cumberland Corporation, Law- 
yers' Mortgage Company, The ]\Iortgage-Bond Company of New York, 
National Railways of Mexico, Northern Alabama Coal, Iron and Railway 
Company, The Omaha Water Company, and the Seaboard Air Line Railway. 
He is also trustee in the United States for the Aachen and Munich Fire 
Insurance Company, Bavarian Mortgage and Exchange Bank of Munich, 
Frankfort Transport, Glass and Accident Insurance Company, and Munich 
Reinsurance Company. 

Air. Thalmann is a member of several societies of the city, and of the 
Lawyers', ]\lidday, and Harmonic Clubs, and the Liederkranz of New York. 
He married, at Cologne, Germany, in 1881, Anna Michaelis, and they have 
two sons. 



532 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



,IU \}m\}\ ITT^ ^ 




ROBERT B. VAN CORTLAXDT 



ROBERT B. J '.IX CORTLAXDT 533 



R 



OBERT B. VAN CORTLAXDT. a prominent banker of New 
York, was born at Kings Bridge, New York, August 14, 1S62, son 
of Augustus and Charkntte Amelia Bayley (Bunch) A'an Cortkandt. He is a 
direct descendant of Okjtf Stevenson van Cortkmdt, who came from Holland 
to New Netherland in 1637, and became one of the most prominent and suc- 
cessful merchants and burghers of New Amsterdam, founding a family of 
the highest prominence in New Amsterdam and New York throughout its his- 
tory; and he was a burgomaster under Stuyvesant. His son, Stephanus van 
Cortlandt. was especially distinguished in the liistory of the city, being one 
of the most prominent merchants of the city and an elder in the Dutch 
Church. \\'hen New Amsterdam became New ^'ork he was appointed by 
Governor Richard Nicolls a member of the first Board of Aldermen of the 
City of New York. June 12, 1665, and in 1667 he was appointed mayor of the 
City of New A'ork by Governor Andros, and \\as the first native-born mayor 
the city ever had. He was again appointed mayor in 16S6 and 1687. He 
was a member of the Provincial Council under Governors Dongan, Sloughter, 
Fletcher, and the Earl of Bellomont; served as colonel of the Kings County 
regiment m Indian Wars; served as revenue collector under Bellomont; was a 
large landed proprietor, and was succeeded in the Council of the province by 
his son Philip. Other \'an Cortlandts have been distinguished in New York 
from that time to this. 

Mr. Robert B. \'an Cortlandt was educated in Switzerland and Germany 
and was graduated from Columbia College in the Class of 18S2. 

He became identified with the banking business, became a member of the 
New York Stock Exchange, September 28, 1887, and has been a member of 
the prominent banking firm of Kean, \^an Cortlandt & Company since January 
2, 1896. The firm is one of the strongest identified with the lianking activities 
of New York City, and is constantly connected with many of the largest 
financial operations. l\Ir. A"an Cortlandt is a director of the Lackawanna Steel 
Compan}-, the Trust Company of America, Toledo Railways and Light Com- 
pany, Detroit L'nited Railway, Electric Properties Company, Publishers Paper 
Company, Southern Steel Com])anv of Gadsden, Alabama ; Westchester and 
Bronx Title and Mortgage Companv; and is president and director of the 
Kean, A'an Cortlandt & Company Realty Company. 

Air. \'an Cortlandt has taken a considerable interest in political affairs, 
and was nominated as a candidate for presidential elector on the Democratic 
ticket for Westchester County in 1008. His home is at Guard Hill, Alount 
Kisco, in W'estchester County. 

Mr. \"an Cortlandt is a memljer of the Society of Colonial AVars, the St. 
Nicholas Society, Knickerbocker, Aletropolitan, and Union Chiles, Down Town 
Association, New York Yacht, The Lambs, and Citv Alidcla\- Clul)S. 



534 



HISTORY OF XEJJ' YORK 




H 



HARRY LAWRENCE NORTON 535 

ARRY LAWRENCE IIORTCJN, who has ever since the close 
of the Civil War been active and prominent in the financial 
activities of New York, is of early New Eng'land ancestry and ancient 
English lineage. In the old country the family line is traceable from the 
Norman Conquest of 1066 to Joseph Horton, Esquire, of the landed 
gentry of Leicestershire, England, with a considerable estate at Mousely, 
in that county, in the early Seventeenth Century. 

Barnabas Horton, son of Joseph, a Puritan in religion, joined a party 
of his co-religionists who sailed from England on the ship Swallow^ in 
1633, and landed at Hampton, Massachusetts. In October, 1640, with 
some companions from New Haven, Connecticut, where he had been living 
for a short time, he went to Long Island and founded there the town of 
Southold, which was the home of the family for several generations. He 
erected there the first frame dwelling house ever built in Eastern Long- 
Island, was a magistrate and prominent in the afl:'airs of that time, and his 
family has produced many citizens of prominence as pioneers, soldiers, 
clergymen and farmers. From there one of his descendants went to 
Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and it was there, on the farm of his 
father, at Sheshequin, that Harry Lawrence Horton, eighth in descent 
from Barnabas Horton, was born, July 17, 1832, the son of William B. 
Horton and of Melinda (Blackman) Horton, who was the daughter of 
Colonel Franklin Blackman of Bradford County. 

Mr. Horton's boyhood was spent on the farm and in the neighboring 
schools, where he received a good common school education, wdiile his 
work on the farm made him a strong, healthy boy of robust physique. 
At the age of seventeen he left home and worked in stores, first at Horn 
Brook, Pennsylvania, and after that in Towanda, Pennsylvania, where he 
received his preliminary business education and experience. Deciding to 
go West, he went from Towanda in 1854 and visited several places in 
Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, until 1856, when he located in Mil- 
waukee as a member of the grain commission firm of Cole & Horton. 

The importance of Mihvaukee as a grain market made it an excellent 
field for the operations of the firm, which was successful from the start, 
and throughout its career, first as Cole & Horton, later Cole, Horton & 
Company, and finally as Horton & Fowkr, it was one of the leaders among 
those operating in grain in ]\Iilwaukee and holding membership in the 
Milwaukee Board of Trade, until in 1865 Mr. Horton decided to come to 
New York as a larger and more metropolitan field of business oppor- 
tunity. 

On arriving in New^ York he established in business as a banker and 
broker, creating the firm of H. L. Horton & Company, which for the past 



530 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

forty-live 3'ears has been successfully engag'ed in business and has a 
standing and reputation second to none in the entire financial district of 
New York. It has membership in the Xew York Stock Exchange, the 
New York Produce Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, and the 
most favorable connections with all markets in America and Europe, 
maintaining a branch house in London and having" an extensive clientage 
in the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. He remains the 
senior member of that firm, his present partners being Frederic W. 
Anness, C. B. ]\Iears. L. T. Watson and Russell (jriswold Colt. 

Mr. Horton was a resident of Staten Island, making his home at 
New Brighton from 1869 to 1878, and during that period was recognized 
as one of the most prominent and progressive citizens of the Borough of 
Richmond; identified with all the movements for the improvement and 
betterment of Staten Island as a place of residence for New York business 
men, and especially prominent in the organization of an improved system 
of water supplv for that borough, having been for many years a director 
and treasurer of the Staten Island Water Supply Company, which is the 
organization through which the towns of Richmond Borough have been 
for several years supplied with water of excellent quality. "Sir. Horton also 
took a prominent part in the solution of the rapid transit problem, having 
been from the first actively identified with the Staten Island Rai)id Transit 
Company, which has made every part of the island accessible, by rapid and 
inexpensive connections, to the business centre of New York. 

While a resident of New Brighton, Mr. Horton was identified in a 
prominent and influential way with the public interests of the city and 
served for some time as president of that village by election, devoting 
himself with public spirit to building up the best interests and promoting the 
welfare of New Brighton and its citizens; and although for some years 
past he has made his home at 144 West Fifty-seventh Street, in Manhat- 
tan Borough, he has by no means lost interest in the progress and pros- 
perity of Staten Island. During a long and prosperous career as a banker 
and financier Mr. Horton has maintained for himself an unquestioned stand- 
ing and honorable reputation in the business world. 

]\Ir. Horton is a member of the Union League, Lawyers', New York 
Athletic and [Manhattan Clubs of New York, the Sul)url)an Riding and 
Driving Club, and the ^Monmouth Beach Golf Club and Country Club of 
Monmouth, New Jersev. 

"Sir. Llorton has been twice married, first in Milwaukee, October 26, 
1858, to Helen Elizabeth Breed, who died, and second in Trinity Chapel, 
New York, October 12. 1875, to Sarah Patten. He has two daughters: 
Blanche, wife of E. F. Mutton, and Grace, wife of E. ]\I. Lockwood. 



FREDERICK J. L/6M/.-J.V 



537 



FREDERICK J. LISAIAX, now at the head of the banking house of 
F. J. Lisnian & Company, was born at BikHngen, near Frankfort on 
the Alain. Germany, July 21, 1865, the son of Gerson and Josephine (Gross) 
Lisnian. He was educated aljroad, came to this country in iSSi, and in 1890 
he went into Wall Street, starting his financial career as a l)ond broker. 

The business expanded rapidly, and since 1895 he has been a member of 
the New York Stock Ex- 
change and head of the firm 
of F. J. Lisnian & Company. 

j\Ir. Lisnian came first 
into prominence by expos- 
ing- the rotten condition oi 
the Richmond Terminal 
System (now merged in the 
Southern Railway ) , and 
since then he has been mi 
many reorganization com- 
mittees. He is now a di- 
rector of the Broadwav 
Trust Company: the Bush 
Terminal Company ; vice 
president of the Railways 
Company General : first vice 
president of the Raleigh and 
Southport Railway Com- 
pany, and a tlirector of the 
Detroit, Toledo and I ronton 
Railway Company, the 
Georgia Coast and Pied- 
mont Railroad Company, 
Chesterfield and Lancaster 
Railroad Company, Okla- 
homa Central Railroad 
Company, Tampa and Jack- 
sonville Railroad Company, 
and a member of the American Advisory Board of the French- American Bank. 

Air. Lisman is known in financial circles as being, probably, the best in- 
formed man in the Cnited States on the subject of the finances of the various 
American railroad svstems. 

Air. Lisman married, June 7, 1892, Leonora Cohen, and they have one 
son, Robert G. Lisman. born Alarch Q, 1893. 




FREDERICK J. LISMAN 



538 



HISTORY OF XEJf YORK 



Wf\{\{\\h 




JAMES (iKAIIAM CAXXOX 



JAMES GRAHAM CAXXOX 539 

JAMES GRAHAM CANNON, president of the Fourth National Bank 
of New York, and one of the most distinguished of American bank- 
ers, was born at Delhi, Delaware County, New York, July 26, 1858, the son 
of George B. and Ann E. Cannon. 

Mr. Cannon was educated in a New York public school and at Packard's 
Commercial School, from which he was graduated in 1876. 

On leaving that institution he entered the Fifth Avenue Bank of New 
York as messenger. After filling every intermediate position he became pay- 
ing teller, and on June 3, 1881, was appointed assistant cashier and elected a 
director and still holds the latter office. He resigned the cashiership, however, 
to accept, March 11, 1890, the position of vice president of the Fourth Na- 
tional Bank of New York, which he held until, in August, iQio, he became 
president, following the death of President J. Edward Simmons. 

Mr. Cannon is also a director of the Bankers' Trust Company; a trustee 
of the Franklin Savings Bank; chairman of the Board of Directors of the H. 
\\'. Johns-]\Ianville Compan}'; also director of the United States Guarantee 
Company, and United States Mortgage and Trust Company. 

Mr. Cannon is nationallv known as one of the most skillful bankers in 
this country, a thorough student of financial science and banking methods, and 
surpassed by none in the country in his knowledge of credits, and has deliv- 
ered many addresses on that subject, which have been collected in permanent 
form and published, including: Bank Credits; Buying Commercial Paper; and 
The Banker and the Certified Public Accountant ; and is an authority on these 
questions. Mr. Cannon has also written many articles on Clearing House 
Practice, and his book on this subject is a standard. His last publication is 
on Clearing House Loan Certificates and Substitutes for Money Used During 
the Panic of 1907. 

He is a member of the Executive Committee and chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Finance and Currency of the Chamber of Commerce; and was for- 
merly president of the National Association of Credit Men. He is a member 
of the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association; a 
trustee of the New York University; president of the Board of Trustees of 
Hahnemann Hospital : vice president of the Packard Commercial School Com- 
pany; member of the Executive Committee of the Congregational Home Mis- 
sionary Society; president of the Westchester County Chamber of Commerce, 
and member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Westchester County His- 
torical Society, New York Academy of Science, and the Transportation, 
Union League, Metropolitan, and Republican Clubs. 

Mr. Cannon married, in New York City, February 17, 1881, Charlotte B. 
Bradley, and has three children: ALabel (Mrs. H. F. Ballantyne), Marguerite 
(Mrs. A. T. Taml)lvn), and James G Cannon, Jr. 



540 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




FRANK ARTHUR VAXDKRLIl' 



FR.IXK ARTHUR J'AXDIiRIJP .". U 

FRANK ARTHUR VANDERLIP, iiresident of the City National 
Bank of New York, was born in Aurora, Illinois, Novenilier 17, 
1864, the son of Charles and Charlotte L. ( W'oodworth ) A'anderli]). 

He was reared on a farm near liis nati\'e city, attended the puljlic 
schools, worked for a time in the machine shops of Ho3-t & Brother [Manu- 
facturing Comjianv, at Aurora, and attended the University of Illinois and 
the University of Chicago. Later he received his x^.M. from the University 
of Chicago, and in June, 1906, LL.D. from the University of Illinois. 

Mr. A'anderlip entered newspaper life as a reporter on the statT of the 
Chicago Tribune and became known as one of the best of his profession in 
that citv, later becoming associate editor and part owner of The Economist, 
the leading financial newspaper of the \\'est. 

Lyman J. Gage, president of the First National Bank of Chicago, when 
called into the cabinet of President McKinley as secretary of the treasurj-, 
March 4, 1897, appointed ]\Ir. A'anderlip as ])rivate secretary, but on June ist 
following, he was promoted to the office of assistant secretary of the treasury, 
where he served with distinction for nearly four years, showing a remarkably 
complete grasp of the larger financial problems of the country. 

He resigned from that office February r, 1901, in order to accept the 
position of vice president of the National City Bank of New York, the greatest 
lianking institvition in America. He proved his executive ability so completely 
that when Mr. James Stillman, the president, resigned that oifice, the Board of 
Directors elected Mr. X'anderlip president of the bank January i, 1909. 

Mr. Vanderlip is also a director of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, 
Southern Pacific Com])any, Cimsolidated Gas Company, L^nited States Realty 
and Improvement Companv, Riggs National Bank of \\"ashington, D. C, the 
American Security and Trust Company of Washington, D. C, Missouri, Kan- 
sas and Texas Railroad Company, Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company, 
Louisiana and Western Railroad Company, the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
Company of New York, and the Century Realty Company. 

Mr. \"anderlip has lieen an extensive contributor to magazines and is 
author of the volumes : Chicago Street Railwavs ; The American Commercial 
Invasion of Europe; Political Problems of tAU-ope; and Business and Educa- 
tion. He is a trustee of the New York University, Stevens Institute of Tech- 
nology, and Carnegie Foundation. He is president of the Board of Gover- 
nors of Letchworth A^illage. 

He is a meml)er of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Metro- 
politan, Century, Union League, and City Clubs of New York, and the Cos- 
mos Club and Commercial Club of Washington. 

Mr. Vanderli]! married, in Chicago, May 19, 1903, Narcissa, daughter of 
Charles Epperson Cox, and has four children. 



543 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




WIl.LARD VI X TON KIXG 



u'lLL.Uxi' rixrox kixc, 543 



WILLARD VINT(3N KING, president of the Columbia Trust 
Company of New York, was liorn in Brooklyn, November 3, 1868, 
son of William A'inton King, cotton broker, and Isabel (Boyd) King. 

He was prepared in the Friends' Seminary, New York City, and was 
graduated from Columbia University, A.B., with highest honors, 18S9, taking 
the prize scholarship in Latin, and election to Phi Beta Kappa. 

He began his business career as messenger with the Produce Exchange 
Bank, leaving it after a few months for the Continental Trust Company of 
New York, and served with it from 1890, through every position to 
secretary, in 1898, and vice president in 1901. In 1904 that company and the 
New York Security and Trust Company were merged as the New York 
Trust Company, of which he was vice president, until he was elected, in 
March, 1908, president of the Columbia Trust Company. 

That company, started shortly before the panic of 1907, had naturally 
made little headway up to the time when, six months after the panic, Mr. 
King's administration began. Since that time, however, the company has 
grown steadily, and has an acknowledged standing as an independent, clean 
and substantial concern, taking only conservative kinds of business. 

The company is almost unique in being independent; for while its board 
represents strong and diverse interests, it has no dictator. This has made it 
popular with those who feel that their affairs should not be subject to the 
scrutiny or the policies of any of the great Wall Street groups. 

Politically, Mr. King usually acts and votes with the Republican Party, 
but he has not sought or held office. He was, however, a member of the 
Commission on Speculation, appointed by Governor Hughes in 1909, to 
investigate the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges. 

Mr. King is a director of the Brunswick Terminal and Railway Com- 
pany, Columbia Trust Company, and City Land Improvement Company. He 
is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, and of the executive 
committee of the New York Trust Companies Association. 

He is a veteran of the Twenty-second Regiment, National Guard of 
New York, a trustee of Columbia University, treasurer of the New York 
Association for the Blind, trustee and treasurer of the American School for 
Classical Studies in Rome, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the 
Delta Upsilon Fraternity, and of the L^niversity Club, Columbia University 
Club, and the Morris County Golf Club. When in town he resides at 21 
\\ est Fourteenth Street, the "Van Beuren Alansion," and his country resi- 
dence at Convent, N. J., is notable, not only for its architectural beauty and 
simplicity, Ijut as the only fireproof house in the jNIorristown district. 

Mr. King married, in New York City, April 26, 1904, Mary Spingler 
\'an Beuren. 



.-)44 



HISTORY or XI-IJ- YORK 




WALTER G. OAKMAN 



WALTER G. O.-iKM.IX 545 



WALTER G. OAKMAN, president of the Hudson Companies, was 
born in Philadelpliia, the son of John and Harriette S. (Campbell) 
Oaknian and receixed his preparatory education in private schools in the citv 
of his birth, afterwards graduatino- from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Upon leaving college he entered the banking house of John S. Kennedy 
& Companv, where he gained a knowledge of financial affairs that was of 
vast benefit in his after life. He was then appointed division superintendent 
of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and soon mastered the 
intricacies of railroading- and general transportation. On retiring from the 
service of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, Air. Oakman 
came to New York City and the next (juarter century of his life was a period 
of intense activity. Din"ing this time he filled the office of vice president of 
the Central Railroad of Xew York; president of the Richmond and Danville 
Railroad svstem. now the greater part of the Si mthern Railroad; and was for 
ten years president of the Gtiarantv Trust Com])any. 

While president of the trust company, IN'Ir. Oakman was vice president of 
the Interborough Rapid Transit Companv. He was greatly interested in the 
question of relieving the congested traftic conditions, and his experience with 
steam roads was of vast assistance when the su])ways were built. He was 
also an important factor in the organization of the Hudson Companies, of 
which he has been president since their formation ; and in the construction of 
the tubes and terminal buildings of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad 
Comixni}', Mr. Oakman's part was an im])ortant one. 

In addition to being president of the Hudson Companies, Mr. Oakman 
is vice president and director of the Jeft'erson and Clearfield Coal and Iron 
Company and a director of the following concerns: Alabama Great South- 
ern Railroad Companv; American Car and Foundry Company; Brooklyn 
Heights Railroad Companv; Brookhn Rapid Transit Company; Buffalo, 
Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Companv; Hudson Street Railroad Com- 
pan_\'; Kings County and Fulton Elevated Railroad Com])any; Long Island 
Railroad Company; Louisville and Nash\'ille Railroad Company; Morristown 
Trust Company; National Bank of Commerce; New York and New Jersey 
Railroad Company; Reynoldsville and Falls Creek Railroad Comj^any, and Rich- 
mond Light and Railroad Company. 

Mr. Oakman is a member of the Metropolitan, Union, University, Rid- 
ing, Down Town, and Railroad Clubs of New York. He is also a member 
of the Automobile Clul) of America, the Century Association of New York, 
the Pennsylvania Society of New York, and of the Alumni Association of the 
L'niversity of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Oakman married Miss E. C. Conkling, at Utica, N. Y. They have 
two daughters, and a son who was graduated recently from Harvard. 



uc> 



HISTORY or Xl-ir ]'()h'K 




SIDXEY CECIL BORG 547 



SIDNEY CECIL BORG, banker, was born in New York City, June 
21, 1874, son of Simon and Cecilia (Lichtenstadter) Borg. His 
fatlier, Simon Borg, who was of German birth, came to the United States 
in 1S57. and became a prominent banker in New York City, and head of 
the tirm of Simon Borg & Company. Mr. Simon Borg was president of 
the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Company ; president of 
the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews: trustee of the United States 
Savings Bank, and member of many charitable and other institutions of 
New York City. He financed the construction of several, and was promi- 
nent in the reorganization of many railroad companies; and bore an im- 
portant place as a financier in New York and the country at large. 

Sidney Cecil Borg received his early education in Sach's Collegiate 
Institute in New York City, and under private tutors; afterward entering 
Yale University, he was graduated in the Class of 1895 of the Sheftield 
Scientific School of that University, of which he was the class historian. 

After graduation from Yale, he was admitted as a partner to the firm 
of Simon Borg & Company, bankers, of 20 Nassau Street, in which firm he 
has ever since continued and of which he is now the senior member. The 
prestige gained by the house, established by his father, as one of the most 
substantial and reliable in private banking business in New York City, has 
been maintained by the conservative and efficient methods of the present 
head of the house. He has acted as a member of a large number of reorgani- 
zation and protective committees, including those of the Chicago Great 
Western Railroad, the Detroit Southern Railroad, Cincinnati, Findlay and 
Fort Wayne Railroad, Houston Oil, Kirb)' Lumber Company and other 
important corporations. 

]\Ir. Borg is a trustee of the United Hebrew Charities, the Jewish 
Protectory and Aid Society, the Advisory Board of the Madison Avenue 
Depository and Exchange for Woman's Work, the Advisory Board of the 
Society of Sanitarv and Moral Prophylaxis ; member of the Academy of 
Political Science, National Department of Health, Mount Sinai Hospital, 
the Educational Alliance, ]\lontefiore Home, Legal Aid Society, the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art, People's Institute, American Museum of Natural 
History, Civic Forum, and many other societies. 

He is a member of the National Arts Club, the Automobile Club of 
America, Reform Club, Century Golf Club, Deal Golf Club, and the 
Economic Club of New York City. 

Mr. Borg married, in New York, November 24, i8g8, Madeleine Beer, 
and has two daughters: Margery, born 1899, and Dorothy, born 1902. 

He has a city residence at 35 West Seventy-second Street, and a 
countrv home, "Ouarrv Hill," at Irvington-on-Hudson, N. Y. 



548 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




1. 1 Mils BB.X ,11. 1 HAGGIN 549 



JAMES BEN ALI HAGGIN — The pioneers of California were men 
of capacity as well as bravery, and among them have developed men 
of national prominence in many fields of endeavor. The days of '49 are now 
far distant, and the men who, out of the o])portunities of that early day in 
the land of gold, carved their way to fame and fortune, are getting fewer 
in number from vear to vear. Of those who remain James B. Haggin is the 
best kno\\n. 

]\Ir. Haggin is by birth a Kentuckian, born in Harroilsburg, Mercer 
Countv, in 1827. His second name is indicative of his maternal ancestry, 
his mother's maiden name having been ]\Iiss Adeline Ben-Ali. His family 
was one of the foremost in the Blue Grass region, and he was educated at 
Danville, Kentucky, by the best masters. Being destined for the legal pro- 
fession, he recei\-ed a thorough preparation and was admitted to the bar of the 
State of Kentucky. 

He began practice in Shelbyville, Kentuckv, but later went to Natchez, 
^Mississippi, and after that to New Orleans, where he was beginning to make 
his mark as one of the younger members of the brilliant bar of that city, when 
he, like manv other voung men of ambition, inspired by reports from the new 
land of opportunit}', made his way to California, arriving there in 1850 via 
Panama. 

The earliest bar of San Francisco included many young men who after- 
ward became distinguished in jurisprudence, statesmanship or finance. Mr. 
Haggin's first activities were in the line of his profession, as head of the law 
firm of Haggin & I.atham, his jjartner Ijeing ^Milton S. Latham, who, like 
himself, afterward became one of the most distinguished citizens and gover- 
nor of the Golden State. Subsequentl)' he formed a partnership in the prac- 
tice of law with Lloyd Tevis, who in time became recognized as the foremost 
lawyer of San Francisco. 

At that period California was a great field iov active and competent law- 
yers, for laws and property rights were then in their formative period, and 
great mining and other enterprises were being developed. His professional 
earnings, like those of many others, went into mining ventures, but unlike the 
majority, his investments were wiselv made, and increased to such a degree 
that he was finally impelled to abandon law practice for mining and other 
financial interests. He had succeeded greatly at the bar, but the results 
attainable in his new field were more alluring. His success in the mining field 
was constant, and was bv no means confined to California. He obtained many 
interests in mines in that State, and years afterwards was one of the first 
operators to become interested in the Black Hills of Dakota, where he became 
chief owner of the famous Homestake and other mines, and in Butte, Mon- 
tana, he became interested with Marcus Daly in the great copper developments 



r.5(i HISTORY OF NEJV VORK 

of that region, l)eside owning valuable mining properties in old and New 
Mexico and in Arizona. 

After leaving the practice of law, Air. Haggin continued his association 
with Lloyd Tevis in other matters, the two organizing and retaining the con- 
trolling interest in the Kern County Land Com])any of California, one of the 
greatest land companies ever organized on the Pacific Coast, owning about 
four hundred thousand acres of land in one of the best farming regions of the 
State, most of which he still retains. 

Mr. Haggin and Mr. Tevis, at an earlv date, became the owners of a 
large tract near the City of Sacramento, which he improved, under the name 
of Rancho del Paso, which became famous. There he added largelv to his 
already great fortune by phenomenal success in the culture of cereals and hops, 
and also in the raising of vast herds of high-grade cattle and sheep. The 
fame of the ranch, however, came chiefly from the results attained in the 
breeding- of thoroughbred racing stock. True to his Kentuckv origin, Mr. 
Haggin has always been an enthusiastic horseman, and he established him- 
self as breeder of many of the best horses on the American turf, and pur- 
chased as yearlings the celebrated racers, Firenzi and Salvator. In i8S6 
Mr. Haggin determined to introduce horses of his breeding to the East, and 
with his son, Ben Ali Haggin, took a choice lot of animals from the Rancho 
del Paso to Kentucky, and entered them in the best races of the East. They 
met such success that Mr. Haggin bought the celebrated Elmendorf and adja- 
cent farms, comprising about eight thousand acres, near Lexington, Kentucky, 
and established horse-breeding stables there. The Haggin Stable took a lead- 
ing jtlace on the Metropolitan turf and on all the iirincipal race tracks the 
Haggin colors went out to frequent victories. Since the death of his son Ben 
Ali Haggin, who was his partner and associate in his horse-breeding and 
racing interests, Mr. Haggin has retired from the turf, but still continues on 
his Kentuckv farm and California ranch the l)ree<liiig and raising of thor- 
oughbred horses. 

While the breeding of the thoroughbred ;it l^lmcndorf is an important 
industry, Mr. Haggin has within the past few _\ears introduced the breeding 
of the Shorthorn and Jersey breed of cattle on a very large scale, and is per- 
haps second to none in this or any other country in this line of intlustry. In 
a short time he will have completed the best equii)ped dairy i)lant in the United 
States, and Elmendorf is likely to become the Experimental Station, or used 
as such, by the Agricultural Department of the University of Kentucky, of 
which Professor Scoville is the chief. 

Mr. Haggin's varied enterprises have been so uniformly successful that 
he has accumulated a very large fortune, not by the fluctuations of stock mar- 
kets but by judiciously selected and well watched investments. Judgment and 



JAMRS BEX ALI HAGC.IX 551 

not luck constituted the chief factor in his success. As lawyer, miner, real 
estate operator, agriculturalist and horse-breeder, he has attained leading rank, 
applying himself with e(|ual adaptability to each of these varied pursuits. He 
is now president and treasurer of the Honiestake Mining Company ; president 
and director of the Cerro de Pasco Improvement Company ; vice president and 
director of the Jalapa Railway and Power Company; director of the American 
Car and Foundry Company; International Steam Pump Company; Louisville 
and Atlantic Railroad Company; the C)\-amel Company; and the Oriental Con- 
solidated Mining Company. 

Mr. Haggin has, probably, a lietter recollection of the important men 
and events of the earlv davs of California than anv other living man. His 
]iosition there was, from the first, one of acti\-itv and ])rominence. He saw 
the opportunities which otirered in that new land as clearlv and improved 
them as wisely as an\- of the Argonauts \\ho went there in that earliest pioneer 
period. He did his part toward the building n\) of that wonderful State, 
with as much thoroughness and efficiencv as the best of his contemporaries, 
and he fairly and fully earned the rewards wliich c;une to him. The broaden- 
ing influences of successful pioneering ha\e liel])ed to give him the self-confi- 
dence and boldness of initiative which ha\e brought success to his many 
enter])rises and enabled him to be at the heatl of such a diversity of interests. 
In New York, as in California, his abilities and executive etificiency have 
crowned with success his manv enter]) rises. 

His business activities have not debarred him from social enjoyment. In 
San Francisco, which was his home for man\- years, he was the friend of prac- 
tically all of the men who were the makers of California; in Kentucky, home 
of his boyhood and nuich of his later life, he has hosts of friends, and in Xew 
^'ork, which is now his home, he has long enjoved high social as well as busi- 
ness standing. Fie is a member of the Cnion, Manhattan, Metro])olitan, 
Tuxedo, Riding, and Turf and Field Clubs. 

While Mr. Haggin was a voung lawver at Natchez, Mississippi, he mar- 
ried the daughter of Colonel Lewis Saunders, wh(.> was the leading member 
of that bar. She died May .23, 1804. There were five children of that mar- 
riage, two sons and three daughters. Mr. lien Ali Haggin and one of the 
(laughters died, and the surviving children are Louis T. Haggin, a successful 
business man of Xew ^'ork, and Mrs. Lounsbery, wife of Richard P. Louns- 
bery, of Lounsberv- & Companv, bankers. 

On December 30, 1897, Mr. Haggin again married, his second wife being 
Miss Pearl \'oorhies, of \'ersailles, Kentuckv. who was a niece of his first 
wife, and was a young ladv of fine education and culture, and of the best social 
standing. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Haggin have mafle their home 
chiefly in Xew \'ork, at 5S7 V\i\\\ Avenue. 



ooa 



HISTORY OF XEJr YORK 




CHARLES HATHAWAY 553 



c 



HARL1^:S HATHA\\\\\'. head of the hrni of Hathaway, Smith, 
Folds & Company, 45 Wall Street, New ^'ork City, was born at 
Delhi, X"ew York, December 27, 1S4S, and was educated at the Delaware 
Academy, Delhi and Williston Seminary, East Hamj^ton, ^Massachusetts. 

His hrst Inisiness experience was as clerk in the Delaware National Bank 
of Delhi, New York, where he remained until 1S71, when he entered the 
service of the United States Government at Washington as an employee of 
the Navy Department. One year later Air. Hathaway was appointed fleet 
clerk of the Asiatic squadron and was attached t(i the old flagship Hartford, 
accomjianying the fleet to China and Japan. His api)ointment was made at 
the instance of Rear Admiral lidwin Stewart, who was paymaster at that time 
and wlio is an uncle to Air. Hathaway. On the return of the fleet, in it~^75, he 
decided to resign his position, with the I'nited States Government. His early 
experience as a l)ank clerk had created a desire for financial pursuits and he 
determined to confine his future eft'orts in that line. With this end in view he 
returned from the (3rient and associated himself with the firm of Piatt & 
Woodward, where he gained much valuable experience and became a mem- 
ber of the firm in iSSg. Mr. Piatt and Air. Woodward retired from active 
business in 1S94, the firm becoming Charles Hathaway 1^ Com])any, and its 
former active members becoming special partners. 

In January, i<;io, the firm name was changed to Hathaway, Smith, Folds 
& Company, now one of the Ijest known in the entire covmtrv, numbering 
among its clientele some of the largest mercantile houses and corporations in 
the United States who borrow money in the open market. 

The firm confines itself exclusively to the negotiation of commercial paper 
and has a high rating in every large city of the United States and abroad. 

Its resources in its line are unlimited and the largest transactions are 
conii)leted in a manner most satisfactory to the many clients of the firm. 

Mr. Hathaway is a Republican in ])olitics, but beyond being interested 
in good government, takes no active part and has never sought pulilic ofiice. 

He is well known in cluli circles, being a member of the Union League 
of New York Q\X\\ a governor in the Essex County Country Club of Orange, 
New Jersey, a member of the Down Town Club, and Saint Andrew's Society 
of New York City. 

Mr. Hathaway was married, in Platteville, Grant County, Wisconsin, on 
October 5, 1SS2, to Miss Cora South wortli Rountree, and is the father of 
four sons: Stewart Southworth Hathaway, born July 25, 1884; Harrison R. 
Hathaway, born September 3, 1886; Rol^ert Woothvard Hathaway, born Octo- 
ber 20, 1887, and Charles Hathaway, Jr., born September 4, 1893. 

Mr. Hathaway's New ^'ork address is 45 Wall Street, and he has a hand- 
some home on Prospect Street. East Orange, New Jersey. 



554 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



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ARTHUR IJIRTIS LEACH 



A 



ARTHUR BURTIS LEACH 555 

RTHUR BURTIS LEACH, head of the hanking firm of A. B. 
Leacli & Company, was horn in Detroit, Michigan, Septemher 30, 
1S63, the son of W'ilham and Matilda (Shaw) Leach. His father was of 
Enghsh descent, and his mother of L'isli and American descent; his father was 
an accountant hy profession. 

Arthiu" B. Leacli was a student at the Detroit High School until 1880, 
when he hecame a clerk with the prominent firm of Buhl, Sons & Company, 
of Detroit, Michigan, and a year later went to Fargo, North Dakota, where 
he was clerk with A. E. Henderson, hardware dealer, for some months. In 
1881 he organized the firm of Campbell & Leach, hardware dealers, at Devils 
Lake, North Dakota, which he conducted until 1885, when he became assist- 
ant cashier of the Bank of Devils Lake, at that place. He was afterward em- 
ployed b_\' the then prominent banking firm of S. A. Kean & Company, of 
New York and Chicago, until i88g, when, in association with the late John 
Farson, he organized the firm of Farson, Leach & Company, continuing in 
that firm until 1906. He then purchased the interest of Mr. Farson and 
organized the present firm of A. B. Leach & Company, of 149 Broadway, of 
which he has since been the head, with offices in New York, Chicago, Bos- 
ton and Philadelphia. Air. Leach has established for himself a prominent 
place in financial circles, and he has greatly enlarged his business in general 
banking and in placing on the market of large blocks or entire issues of muni- 
cipal and corporate bonds and other securities. 

The former firm of Farson, Leach & Company, and the present firm of 
A. B. Leach & Company have been identified with many large financial trans- 
actions, and the business is one of national scope, the house taking a promi- 
nent part as bankers in the financing of large enterprises. Mr. Leach brings 
to the business the benefit of wide experience, trained judgment and the pres- 
tige of success, and has made his firm one of the leading private banking insti- 
tutions of the country. 

Mr. Leach is a Republican in politics and an active supporter in the prin- 
ciples and candidates of the party. He has served as presidential elector 
for the State of New Jersev, of which he is a citizen, having his residence at 
321 Scotland Road. South Orange, New Jersey. 

He is president of the Alichigan Society of New York; a member of the 
L^nion League of New York, the Union League of Chicago, New York Club, 
the Railroad Club of Nev.- York, the Chamber of Commerce of the State of 
New York, the Algonquin Clul) of Boston, Arts Club of Philadelphia, and the 
Queen City Club of Cincinnati, Ohio. 

He was married, at Detroit, Michigan, February 3. 1889, to Maud Camp- 
bell, and they have four children: Helen, Maude, Ferry W. and Margaret 
Leach. 



5o(i 



HISTORY OF A'£Jr YORK 




ROi'.F.RT TIKXRV MCCrunV 



ROBERT HENRY McCURDY 



R 



OBERT HENRY McCURD\', banker and now head of the banking 
and brokerage firm of McCurdy, Henderson & Company, was l)orn 
in New York City, May 26, 1859, the son of Richard A. and Sarah Ellen 
(Little) McCnrdy. His ancestry is derived from Scotland and the North of 
Ireland, his first American ancestor, John McCnrdy, coming to this country 
about 1740, and settling in Lyme. Connecticut, where the family became dis- 
tinguished in business and the professions, one of the family, Hon. Charles J- 
McCurdy, having been lieutenant governor of the State, and after\\-ard a judge 
of the Superior Court of Connecticut. AuDther, Robert H. jMcCurdy, born in 
Lvme, Connecticut, in 1800, who was the grandfather of the j^resent Robert 
H. McCurdy, became one of the most prominent merchants of New ^'ork, 
being head of the great commission dr\' goods firm of McCurdy. Aldrich & 
Spencer, from 1828 until his retirement, in 1857. Lie was one of the founders 
and a trustee of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, trustee of the Conti- 
nental Insurance Company, director of the Merchants' Exchange Bank, and 
the American Exchange National Bank, and a prominent member (if the 
Chamber of Commerce of New York, where his portrait now hangs. Lie was 
a citizen of much distinction, organized the Lmion Defense Committee at the 
outl)reak of the Civil \\'ar. and was one of the founders of the Laiion League 
Clul). Lie died in 1880. His oldest son, Richard Aldrich McCurdy, who was 
born in i8_^5, \\as graduated from the law school of Harvard Lhiiversity, in 
1856, and afterwards practised law in New York City with Lucius Rol)in- 
son, afterward governor of New York. He became attorney to the Mutual 
Life Insurance CompauA- in i860, was elected its vice president in 1865, and 
its president in 1885, holding that office until 1906, when he resigned. He 
married Sarah E. Little, who died at Morristown, New Jersey, May i, 1910. 

Their onlv son, Robert Llenrv McCurdv, enjoyed the advantage of an 
excellent education. Lie spent two years at school in Europe, and was fitted 
by a private tutor for Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 
1881. 

Upon leaving college in 1881, after a few months of tra\'el, he entered, in 
December of that year, the service of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of 
New York, in its New York agency, where he became a close and accm^ate 
student of the underwriting profession, antl where he remained until 1886. 
In that _\ear the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York decided to do 
business in foreign countries, and in inn'suance of that determination it estab- 
lished a foreign department for that business, and Mr. Rol^ert H. McCurdy 
was made superintendent of that department, holding that position contin- 
uously until 1903. 

The company's new departure in that direction imposed upon Mr. Mc- 
Curdy many jiroblems of great importance in connection with the organizing 



558 HISTORY OF XEir YORK 

of the plans and proi^ranis of publicity for the extension of the company's busi- 
ness in various foreign countries where the national laws and customs were 
so variant as to make the establishing of the company's business in each one 
a separate ])roposition. [Nlr. McCurdy pro\-ed to be in every respect equip- 
ped for this unique international task, and met every difficulty as it arose with 
consummate ability. The result was that the [Mutual Life Insurance Com- 
panv soon became an international institution, and the business of the company 
in its foreign de])artment grew with remarkable rapidity. During the period 
covered bv Mr. McCurdv's management the business of the company was ex- 
tended to all of the covmtries of Europe and to Mexico. Australia, and South 
Africa. During- the period between 1886 and 1905, the premiums collected 
bv the foreign department amounted to over $98,000,000, and the insurance 
issued and ])aid for exceeded $488,000,000. On July i, 1903, Air. Robert H. 
McCurdv was elected a trustee of the [Mutual Life Lisurance Company of 
X'ew York and was appointed its general manager, continuing in that relation 
until December, 1905, when he resigned. 

In 1908 [Mr. [McCurdy associated himself with Xorman Henderson and 
Lewis H. Hatzfeld, surviving partners of the old established banking firm of 
Henderson & Company, taking the place of the late [Mr. Charles R. Hender- 
son as senior partner, under the firm name of [McCurdy, Henderson & Com- 
panv, at 24 Nassau Street. New York. The firm has membership in the New 
York Stock Exchange, and conducts a general Ixanking and stock exchange 
business. [Mr. [McCurdy is a director of the First National Bank of Morris- 
town, New Tersev, the International Bell Telephone Company, Limited, 
O'Rourke Engineering Construction Company, Registrar and Transfer Com- 
panv of New York, and the Windsor Trust Company of New York; and is 
interested in other companies. 

[Mr. [McCurdv is a Republican in national politics, but has held no politi- 
cal or public offices, and has not taken any very active part in political affairs. 
He has the best social connections, and he is a member of many of the lead- 
ing societies and clul)s, including the Chamber of Commerce of New York, 
Union Cltib, University Clul), Harvard Club, Down Town Association, City 
Lunch Club. New York Yacht Club, Morristown Club. [Morris County Golf 
Club, Okeetee Club. Flat Brook Valley Club. W hippany River Club, Rock- 
away Hunting Club, and several others. He has his city residence at 39 East 
Fift^•-first Street, and a country place at [Morris Plains, New Jersey. 

Mr. McCurdy has traveled frequently and extensively in all the countries 
of Europe, Northern Africa, the Levant. Cuba, [Mexico and in various other 
countries. 

He was married, in [Morristown, New Jersey, on September 19, 1898, to 
[Marv Sucklev. 



SAMUEL S. COXOJ-RR 



559 



SAMUEL S. CONOVER, president of the iMdelity Trust Company, 
was born in Passaic, New Jersey, January 13, i86(j, tlie son of [acob 
B. and Arabella (Bog-art) Conover. He is of Dutch descent through Wol- 
fert Gerretsen \an Couwenhoxen, who enn'grated from Amersfoort, Holland, 
in 1630, and settled near Albany, Xew \'()rk, afterwards residing on Manhat- 
tan Island, and in l(^S7 being enrolled among the burghers of Xew Amster- 
dam. ]\Ir. Conover began 



has active business career 
in 1 89 1, with the Fourth 



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National Bank of New- 
York, as private secretar\- 
to J. Edward Simmons and 
James G. Cannon, president 
and vice president of the 
bank, remaining with that 
institution for about ten 
years and becoming man- 
ager of the credit depart- 
ment of the bank. PI is 
training under these dis- 
tinguished bankers was an 
admirable ]M"ei)aration for 
the responsible positions he 
has since filled. He was 
elected vice president and 
director of the Irving Na- 
tional Bank in 1902, and 
became president of that 
bank in 1906, resigning in 
1907, to accept the presi- 
dency of the Fidelity Trust 
Company. Mr. Cono\'er 
gives to his duties abilities 
of a degree that insures for 
the institution a safe and 
efficient administration. He is also trustee of the Irving Savings Institution 
of New York, and a trustee of the Hahnemann Hospital. He is a member 
of the Union League Club, Lawyers' Club, and the Chamber of Commerce, 
and resides in New York. 

Mr. Conover m.arried, in 1S94, Emma F. Shaffer, and they have one 
daughter. 




SAMUEL S. CONO\ EU 



560 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 




I'EKCV kI\lX(,TUX I'YXK, 21) 



PERCY RIJ'IXGTON PVNE. 3d 561 

PERCY RI\'lXGTON PYNE, 2(1. now the head of the firm of Pyne, 
Kendall & Hollister, bankers and brokers, was born in New York 
City. June 23, 1882. the son of Moses Taylor and }*largaretta (Stockton) 
Pyne. 

Both paternally and maternally Mr. Pyne is of ancient English descent, 
his paternal grandfather, Percy R. Pyne, having come to this country from 
England in 1828. The old Pyne family house in England was the "Shute" 
House, in Devonshire, which still stands. Among the famous English rela- 
tives in this line were : Colonel John Pyne, memlier of Parliament, of Currv 
Mallet, mentioned in DTsraeli's life of Charles I (volume 5, page 4), 1638; 
James Pyne, who lived at Brook House. Kent, until he sold it to Sir William 
Cheney, 1400: John de Pyne. member of Parliament. 1332; Sir Thomas de 
Pyne. 1314; Sir Robert de Pyne, 1243: Sir Thomas de Pyne, of Combe Pyne 
and Shute (High Sheriff of Devon) 1240; Sir Herl)ert de Pyne, 1225; Nich- 
olas de Pyne. crusader under Richard I, iiyi; Gilbert de Pyne, who com- 
manded the troops employed in the siege of the Castle of Brionne under the 
Duke of Normandy. 1090; and the Sire des Pyne. who settled in England in 
1066, being of the one hundred and eighteen knights who fought at Hastings. 

Mr. Pyne's grandfather, Percy R. Pyne, who came from England, was 
president of the National City Bank and was prominent as a philanthropist. 
He married Catherine S. Taylor, daughter of Closes Taylor, one of the fore- 
most merchants and financiers of the city in his day. He was the head 
and practical creator of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railway. 
Through another line of paternal descent Mr. Pyne includes among his ances- 
tors James Rivington, founder and publisher of Rivington's Gazette, who was 
a very prominent figure in the history of the City of New York, before, dur- 
ing, and for sometime after the Revolutionary period. 

The maternal ancestry of Mr. Pyne extends back to men of great promi- 
nence in the American Revolution and the Continental Congress, his mother, 
who was born Margaretta Stockton. l)eing daughter of General and Mrs. Rob- 
ert F. Stockton, of New Jersey. Mrs. Stockton having l^een, previous to her 
marriage. Miss Potter, of Washington. General Stockton's father was com- 
modore Robert Stockton ("Fighting Bob"), and his grandfather was Richard 
Stockton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, who was the descend- 
ant in the fourth generation of Richard Stockton, who came from England 
before 1670, and after residing for several years on Long Lsland, purchased, 
about the year 1680, a tract of 6408 acres of land, of which Princeton, New 
Jersey, is nearly in the centre. John Stockton, father of Richard, one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, inherited "Morven," the Stockton 
family seat in Princeton, and was for many years chief judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas of Somerset County, New Jersev. General \\'ashington often 



lUSroKY 01' Mill' YORK 



>t()i)|)c<l at ■'M(ir\cn," which is still standing', and in which the tenth genera- 
tion 111 the taniih' nnw li\-e. 

Moses Taylor l'\ne, father of Percy Rivington Pvne, 2d. is a graduate 
of Princeton in the Class of i^JJ and LL.I!. and L.H.D. of Columbia. He 
has large interests in railway and industrial corporations, and is a director of 
tlie Cit_\- National Bank of New York, and other institutions. 

Percv Rivington Pvne, jd, was prepared for college at St. Paul's School, 
Concord, New ] I'unpshire, recognized as one of the foremost preparatory 
schools of the country, and from there he went to Princeton University, from 
which his father and sexeral other ancestors had been graduated, and com- 
pleting his course after four }cars of scholastic and social prominence, was 
graduated I'>achelor of Arts in the Class of 1903. 

In ii)04 Mr. Pyne began his financial career in connection with the 
Farmer's Loan and Trust Company, and in Kjoj he became associated with the 
management of the ]\Ioses Taylor estate. 

(_)n February 8, ioo<j, ]\lr. Pyne organized the banking and stock broker- 
age firm of Pvne, Kendall & llollister, with oftices in the new National City 
ISank Building at 55 Wall Street, and has since l)een successfully engaged 
in business in that connection. He is a member of the Board of Directors 
of the Commercial Trust Company of Jersey Citv, the East River Gas Com- 
])any. New Amsterdam Gas Company, Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad, 
Cavuga and Sus(|uehanna Railroad, Delaware, Facka wanna and Western Coal 
Company, and is i)resident and director of the F'ros])ect Company of New Jer- 
sey. He is also a trustee of the Fast Side Ijranch of the Young Men's 
Christian Association. Mr. Pvne lirings to his business and social life a 
splendid equipment of natural ability, with all the advantages of a thorough 
education, excellent jihysical training, culture, and a long honored name, and 
his firm has already taken ;i place of ]M-ominence in the financial world, ^h. 
P_\ne lias attained distinction among the younger men identified with the 
great financial activities of Wall Street. 

In social life he has attained esi)ecial prominence, and is a member of 
the most im])ortant clul.s and societies of this and other cities, including the 
Union, Rac(|uet, University and Princeton Clubs and Down Town Association 
of New ^'ork City; the South Side Sportsmen's Club, Meadow Brook, Rock- 
away Hunt, Garden City Golf, l.laltusrol Golf, Abirris County Golf and West 
Jb-(.)ok G(.)lf Clubs and Princeton Gr.aduates" Club ; .\utomobile Club of Amer- 
ica : .\utomo])ile .Association of London, the Abator Car Touring Society (of 
which he is \ice president and director). The Touring Club of France, The 
.Aero Club of New ^'ork, .American Museum of Natural History, Short Beach 
Club, r.adminlon Clul), Underwriters' Club, The Pilgrims, Tuxedo Club and 
.St. .Nicholas .Society, also the Princeton Club of Philadcliihia, and others. 



HAMPDHX El'AXS TE.XEK 



5(« 



H 



AAIPDEN EVANS TExXKR, president ol 
Institution, was Iwrn in Ireland, November 
Hampden Evans, of Scotch-Irish, and Ehza (Frost) Tener 



the Irving Saving's 
7, 1865. the son i_)f 



)f English par- 



entage. 



Beginning in 1SS2, he was with the (Jliver Iron and Steel Company of 
Pittsburgh for aliout three years; 
about 1888, \vhen he entered 



then with the Continental Tube Works until 
I 




the ser\-ice of the Carnegie 
Steel Comi)any. in which, 
after holding various posi- 
tions of increasing responsi- 
bility he became one of the 
junior ]>artners. Me retired 
from th.at company just 
prior to the organization of 
the United States Steel Cor- 
poration, mo\-ed to New 
York Citv in it)Oi, and has 
since l)een affiliated with 
hanking interests. 

He was a director of 
the Irving National Bank 
from i()OJ until it was 
merged. January i, 1907; 
was one of the organizers, 
in 1007, of the Fidelity 
Trust Compan\-, and is now 
a director of that company, 
and of the Alontclair ( New 
Jersey ) Trust Company, and 
of the Bloomfiekl { New 
Jersey) Trust Company. He 
l)ecame a trustee of the 
Irving Savings Institution, 
February, 11)07; '^V'ls chair- 
man of its Finance Committee for 1908 and 1909; was elected its president 
January, 1910. and is now giving to that bank an efficient and successful ad- 
ministration. In ii)io. Mr. Tener was appointed bv Mr. Andrew Carnegie 
a trustee of the United States Steel-Carnegie Pension Fund. 

Air. Tener is a member of the Chamlier of Commerce and of the Union 
League, and of the Lawvers' and Transportation Clubs of New ^'ork. 



HAMPDEN EVANS TEXER 



564 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 






til ,V ',A iVIl '13 
1] I I' '111 #,II1 J 











WASH IXGTON KN'KKETT CONNOR 



ir.lSIIIXCrOX RVRRETT CONNOR 565 



WASHINGTON EVERETT CONNOR, one of tlie most dislin- 
qnislied financiers in New York, and long a leading figure of the 
New York Stock Exchange, is a native of tlie old village of Greenwich, which 
later became known as the "old Ninth Ward," New York City. He was 
born December 15, 1849, the son of Cleveland A. and Eliza (Lrimber) Con- 
nor. His family is of English derivation and was transplanted in America by 
John Connor i)revious to 1765, and Mr. \\'ashington E. Connor is a descend- 
ant of his son, John Connor, Jr., born Eebruary 6, 1771, who married Janet 
Sayre. born November 23, 1775. The house in which Mr. Washington E. 
Connor was born, on Spring Street, stood next to that in which his grand- 
father had been born, and which, with some adjoining property, had been 
owned by Mr. Connor's father for more than half a century. His father, 
Cleveland A. Connor, was a well-known merchant and banker, who for over 
thirty-six years was connected with the \'illage Bank, which was for a long 
time the financial headquarters of the people and institutions of the old (ireen- 
wich Village. 

Washington Everett Connor received his early education in the ])ublic 
schools and was afterwards for eighteen months in the Free Academy, now 
the College of the City of New York. He had a good record in college, being 
a bright student, especially in mathematical studies, for which he early mani- 
fested a great aptitude. 

On leaving college he entered business life in 1866 as a clerk in the bank- 
ing house of H. C. Stimson & Company, bankers and brokers, and there ac- 
quired a thorough training in the business of Wall Street, and established a 
wide acquaintance among influential financial men. He became a member of 
the New York Stock Exchange, October 6, 1871, and soon became a promi- 
nent figure in the financial world, with a reputation for great ability in the 
liandling of stock exchange matters and for his devotion to the interests of 
his clients. 

Mr. Connor's genius and ability attracted the attention of the late Jay 
Gould, whose judgment of men has never been excelled for keenness and 
accuracy, and in 1881 the firm of W. E. Connor & Company was formed, with 
George J. Gould as a general partner and ^Ir. Jay Gould as a special partner. 
This firm for many years was the confidential representative of the interests 
of Jay Gould, and had charge of the most important of his operations in Wall 
Street, and Mr. Connor was also a favorite broker of the late Russell Sage 
and many other of the most prominent capitalists operating in Wall Street 
in that day. 

No man ever held a more influential position in connection with the 
operations of the New York stock market than did Jay Gould, who was the 
successful general in many a hard-fought financial campaign, in which the 



566 HISTORY OT \IU\' YORK 

coc")ix'rati(in and administrative ai:)ility of ]\Ir. Conner was a valualile factor in 
the snccessfnl outcome. 

The larg'c l^rokerage Imsiness which he l)uik tip for his firm, together 
with extensive private operations on his own account, secured for Air. Connor 
a most sul)stantial fortune. While engaged in the Ijrokerage l.iusiness Mr. Con- 
nor was es])ecianv distinguished for his al)ihty to keep liis own counsel, and 
this he did to such an extent that during the famous \A'estern Union Tele- 
graph campaign, which resulted in the transfer of the control of that corpo- 
ration from the A'anderbilts to Jay Gould, ]\Ir. Connor, Avho personally con- 
ducted all of the operations, ditl it so quietly that A\'all Street carried the im- 
pression that his firm was heavily short of stock, when in fact it was the prin- 
cipal owner of it. This misapprehension had been so general among the 
brokers that it had f<;itmd its way into the newspapers of the city, and several 
articles had been jjredicated upon it to the effect that ]\Ir. Gould had at last 
met his AA'aterloo. 

At one time during the panic of i^^84 it was ascertained that W. E. Con- 
nor & Company were Ijorrowers to the extent of $12,000,000. and a combina- 
tion was formed to drive them into bankruptcy. This combination began their 
attack bv a heavv assault u])on Missouri Pacific stock, but [Messrs. Connor and 
Gould so outmatched their adversaries that when the day of reckoning came, 
one hundred and forty-seven houses were found short of Missouri Pacific and 
were forced to "cover" at heavy losses to themselves and at a great profit to 
W. E. Connor & Compan\-. Mr. Jay Gould retired from A\'all Street in 1886, 
and in the following vear Mr. Connor also retired from the brokerage busi- 
ness. He retained, however, an active interest in many railway and other 
corporations for se\eral years, but more lately has given up, largely, director- 
ships in cori)orations, devoting his attention to the care of his own large prop- 
ertv interests. 

]\Ir. Connor has long been prominent in the Masonic fraternit}', in which 
he has served as [Master of St. Nicholas Lodge, No. 321: District Deputy 
Grand [Master, Grand Treasurer of Grand Lodge of the State of Xew \ ork. 
Grand Representative of Grand Lodge of England. Air. Connor is a mem- 
ber of the American Geograi^ihical Society, [\Ietro]iolitan Aluseum of Art, The 
American Society of Natural History, and is a member of the Union League, 
Lotos. Republican and National Arts Clulis of New York; also of The .Amer- 
ican, Boston and Larchmont Yacht Clubs, New York Athletic Club and Rum- 
son Country Club. He takes active interest in many forms of recreation, but 
especiallv in xachting, with wliich he has for years been inl1uentiall\- identi- 
fied; and has a favored i)lace in the best society of the metro]iolis. 

He married, in Lond(in, June 25, 1S87. Louise Hynard, and has one son, 
Wayne Everett Connor, born April 13, 1888. 



F.nir.^RP U'.lSSl-RMAXX 



r,6r 



E" 



DWARD WASSERAIAXN, of the firm of W'asserniann Brothers, 
stock hrokers, was born in San Francisco, California, April 8, 1859, 
son of August and Regina Wasserniann. His father was a native of 
Munich, Bavaria, and a graduate of the I'niversity of [Munich. He came to 
New York in 1840, and in the same year, going to San Francisco, founded 
the Alaska Commercial Company, which liecame a very important enterprise. 

Edward ^^'assermann 
was educated in the San 
Francisco Fligh School, 
later in a school at Frank- 
fort on the Main, and in the 
University of Heidelberg, 
and also studied art in Ger- 
many. 

In 1879 he was appren- 
ticed to a banking house in 
Frankfort on the Main. 
Four years later he went to 
Paris, where he was for 
two years with the Raphaels ||l[ 
and the Credit-Lvonnais, 
and after traveling through j | 
Europe, he returned to Xew l| 
York City in 1884, and es- 
tablished the firm of Was- 
serniann Brothers, which 
has main offices at 42 Broad- 
way, and four uptown 
branches. He has been a 
member of the New York 
Stock Exchange since 1S88. 

Mr. Wasserniann is a 
connoisseur in several 
branches of art and owns a 
fine collection of paintings, 

tapestries, oriental porcelains and (jtlier objcfs d'art. He is a meni])er of the 
Criterion and Law_\-ers' Clubs of New ^'ork, Aut(jniobile Club of America, 
and the Royal Ulster Yacht Club of Bengore, Ireland. 

He married, in New York Citv. Februarv 23, 18S7, Emma Seligman 
(now deceased), daughter of the late Jesse and Henrietta Seligman. He 
has three children: Jesse A., Renee Henrietta, and Edward, Jr. 




KDW AKD W'ASSEkMA.X N 



568 



IIISrORY Of XHIJ- YORK 




WALTHER LUTTGEN 



irALTHER LUTTGEX 5(30 



WA[.THER LUTTGEN. one of the best known of the representative 
bankers of New York City, enjoys the ahiiost unique distinction 
of more than a half century's connection with the firm of which he is now a 
member. He is of German descent and nativity, born in Solingen, Germany, 
lanuary 7, 1839, son of Carl August and Johanne (Struller) Liittgen. 

He attended public and private schools in Germany until 1854, when he 
came to New York with his parents and then, after a year at school here, he 
entered upon a business career with a custom-house broker from 1S55 to 
1S57, then with a hardware importing house until 1S59, when he entered the 
house of August Belmont & Company. He beg'an his employment as a junior 
clerk, afterward becoming connected in closer and more contidential relations 
with the business until in 1880 he was admitted to a partnership in the firm. 
During fiftv-one years, as employee and partner, he has been a valued aid and 
counselor of the Belmonts, father and son, and has been at all times an active 
factor in the large operations of the firm, which has always been one of the 
foremost in the financial activities of New York, and identified with the finan- 
cing of many great national enterprises. 

He has been identified with many im])ortant corporate enterprises, and 
during the past twenty-five years has been a director of the Illinois Central 
Railroad Company; is a director of the Rapid Transit Subway Construction 
Company and identified with various other important interests, which have the 
benefit of his active participation and experienced counsel, so far as the exact- 
ing duties of the large banking house of August Belmont & Company, many 
of which are placed in his hands, will permit of his undertaking to take part 
in other enterprises. 

Mr. Liittgen is one of the most prominent of the German-American citi- 
zens of New York, and has a large personal following. He formerl}- was a 
resident of New Jersey, and held various minor and local offices, but never 
was an aspirant for political office. He is, however, much interested in poli- 
tics in the larger sense, being strongly Democratic in principle and favoring 
a taritT for revenue only as a present economic expedient, but eventually of 
free trade as the best permanent policy. 

He is a member of the Metropohtan Museum of Art, the American 
Museum of Natural History, American Geographical Society, New York 
Zoological Society, New York Botanical Society, Legal Aid Society, German 
Society, German Hospital, Down Town Association, New York Yacht Club, 
Automobile Club of America, New York Athletic Club, and Columbia Yacht 
Clul). He has his town house on West End Avenue, and his country home 
at Redding, Connecticut. 

Mr. Liittgen married, in Brooklyn, May 23, 1S66, Amelia \'ictoria Bre- 
meyer. and has two daughters: Florence Amelia and Gertrude Marion. 



570 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 



„. I \ \ '" nTWW /An* .Mil 

I 

J 




lOUX IXSLKV I!LA!R 



JOHy IXSLF.]' ni.JIR 571 



JOHN INSL1<:V BLAIR, capitalist, financier, ])liilantln-()i)ist, and one 
of the distinguished Americans of the Nineteenth Centurv, was liorn 
near Belvidere, Warren Count}', New Jersey, Au^'ust 22, 180J, the son of 
lames Blair, a farmer, and a direct descendant from John Blair, who came to 
this country from Scotland in 1720. 

Mr. Blair attended the village school during the winter until he was 
eleven rears old, when he hecame clerk for a cousin in a store at Hope, New 
Jersey, and was thereafter self-sui)porting. Eight }-ears later he and his 
kinsman, Jnhn Ijlair, started a general country store at Illairstown, New Ter- 
ser, of which he hecame sole proprietor two vears later. He estal)lished 
liranch stores at Marksborough, Johnsonsburg and Huntsville, New Jersey, 
continued in the mercantile business for forty years, and established flour 
mills, textile and other industries, and was postmaster of Blairstown for 
forty years. 

About 1833, with associates, he engaged in developing iron mines near 
Oxford Furnace, a forge that had been in operation since ante-Revolutionary 
days. He was one of the organizers in 1S46 of the Lackawanna Coal and 
Iron Coni])any, built several railroads and took a leading ])art in the building, 
in 185^'), of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. 

He built the first railroad across the State of Iowa, and afterward built 
more than two thousand miles of railroad in that State and Nel:)raska, and 
other roads in Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Dakota, Texas. More than 
eighty Western towns were laid out through his instrumentalit\-. and he be- 
came one of the original directors of the Cnion Pacific Railroad Company and 
controlling owner of many large corporations, East and West. 

In connection with his large financial interests he became founder of the 
well-known banking firm of Blair & Company, which is one of the most im- 
])ortant in the financial district of New York. 

He was a prominent Presbyterian layman, and, besides donating land and 
building, endowed with $150,000 the Blair Academy in Blairstown. He 
also gave more than a million dollars to Presbyterian institutions, founded 
professorships in Princeton and Lafayette and made generous contributions 
to Western colleges. In the eighty towns which he laid out in the West, 
more than one hundred churches were erected, largel}' through his generosity. 

He was an actiye Republican from the organization of the party, dele- 
gate to every national convention, and once nominee of the party for gover- 
nor of New- Jersey in 1868. 

He married, in 1826, Nancy Locke, daughter of John Locke, and had 
two sons: Marcus L. and DeWitt Clinton Blair; and two daughters: Emma 
L., who married Charles Scribner, the publisher; and Aurelia, who married 
Clarence G. Mitchell. Mr. Blair died in 1899 at the age of ninet}'-seven. 



572 



HISTORY OF XFJr YORK 



iifi(!i\ilf''^''^i'^ffp/^ ^ T'^i^m^ 




i.i-:ml;j-:i, colkman isexedict 



L 



LEMUEL COLEMAX BENEDICT 573 

EMUEL COLEMAN BEXEJMCT, of the stock brokerage t^rm of 
Benedict, Drysdale & Conipanw \\as Ixirn in Brooklyn. New York, 
lune 30, !(%/, son of Coleman and Mar\- A. ( Clcland ) Benedict. 

Mr. Benedict is of an old New ^'ork family of English origin, his 
earliest American ancestor being Thomas Benedict, who came from 
England to New Netherland in 1662. and on March 20, 1663, was 
appointed a magistrate by Director-General Stuyvesant. From him w^ere 
descended men of jM-ominence and distinction in many vocations, some of 
whom were active and ])rominent on the American side dm'ing the Revo- 
lutionary War, and also in the Union Army during the Civil War; while 
others were men of mark in many lines of professional and business life. 
Jesse W. Benedict, his grandfather, was a prominent lawyer, and his law firm 
the oldest and one of the most highlv respected in this cit\'. Coleman Bene- 
dict, father of Lemuel C. Benedict, was a stock broker, well known and highly 
esteemed in the financial circles of the metropolis. 

Mr. Benedict was educated in the Polytechnic Listitute of Brooklyn 
and the Ury House School at Foxchase, Pennsylvania, and having com- 
])leted his educational jireparation, he secured employment, in the autumn 
of 1884, with the prominent firm of William Wall's Sons, rope manufac- 
turers, and remained with that firm for four years, leaving on account of 
illness. After a period of rest and recuperation, he secured employment 
in 1SS9 with ^I. C. Bouvier, stock broker, of New York City, and in that 
connection made himself thoroughly familiar with stock market oper- 
ations. On January 2, 1890, he purchased a seat on the New York Stock 
Exchange, and became a member of the firm of James McGovern & 
Company, which firm succeeded Coleman Benedict & Company, and on 
December 31, 1904, upon the retirement of Mr. McGovern, who was a 
leading figure in the financial district, and one of the principal members 
of the firm of Coleman Benedict & Companv. Mr. Benedict, with Mr. Rob- 
ert A. Drysdale, a partner of James McGovern & Company, formed the pres- 
ent firm of Benedict, Drysdale & Company. 

During his twenty years' connection with Stock Exchange business 
Mr. Benedict's firm has been identified with many large financial operations. 
It is one of the best known engaged in \\a.\\ Street business and commands a 
large and influential clientele. 

"Sir. Benedict is a Repulilican, although not active in political affairs. He 
is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Raccjuet and Tennis Club, New 
York Yacht Club, Atlantic \\acht Club, Calumet Club, the New York Stock 
Exchange Luncheon Club, and the Society of Colonial ^^^ars. 

He married, in Richmond, \ irginia, June 4, 1908, Carrie Bridewell, 
and thev have their home at 216 \\'est Seventv-second Street. 



574 



HISTORY OF XEjr YORK 




CHARLES HAY DEN 5T5 



c 



HARLES HAYDEX, senior nieniber of the firm of Hayden, Stone 
& Company, bankers and brrikers, of Boston, New York and other 
cities, and one of the best-known financial men of the country, was born in 
Boston, [Nlassacliusetts, July (;. I'f^jo, the son of Josiah W. and Emma A. 
(Maxwell) Hayden. 

After a sound preparatory education he entered the [Massachusetts Insti- 
tute of Technology, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor 
of Science in the Class of iS()2. 

In hV'bruarv, iSij2, in association with Galen L. Stone, he established, in 
Boston, the firm of Hayden, Stone & Company, which has from its inception 
done a successful business, the voktme of which has increased each year from 
its origin, not only in the parent house at Boston, but also by establishing 
other offices in New York City: Portland, Maine: New Haven, Connecticut: 
Detroit, Michigan: Bar Harbor. Maine: and Newport, Rhode Island. There 
has been added to the membership of the firm N. B. MacKelvie, the active 
head of the New York house, and J. A. Downs, both of whom entered the firm 
in 1906, and Eelix Rosen, who became a member of the firm in 1908. The 
Boston house, at 87 Milk Street, has especially large interests in the handling 
of copper and metal stocks, which form so important a feattire in the activi- 
ties of that market, but are also identified with all leading lines of securities, 
while in the New York office, at 25 Broad Street, the firm are brokers in 
general lines of stocks and bonds, with connections and facilities stirpassed 
by no other firm for transactions of this kind on behalf of their clients, among 
whom are included manv prominent financial instittitions, capitalists and in- 
vestors throttghottt the country. 

Mr. Hayden is known as a man of sound financial judgment and 
excellent executive abilitv, and is officer or director of many important cor- 
porations. He is trustee and a member of the Executive Committee of the 
Boston and Worcester Electric Companies : treasurer and director of the Con- 
tinental Zinc Company: director and member of the Executive Committee of 
the Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company, and the Shannon Copper 
Company : and a director of the National Shawmtit Bank of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts : also a director of the Utah Copper Company, Nevada Consolidated 
Copper Company, Ray Consolidated Copper Conipan}-, Chino Consolidated 
Copper Company, Nevada Northern Railway Company, Twin City Rapid Tran- 
sit Company, and the American Pneumatic Service Comjjany: and treasurer 
and director of the United Telephone Company. He is a member of the New 
\ ork Stock Exchange and the Boston Stock Exchange. 

Mr. Hayden was major and aide-de-camp on the general stafif of the 
Massachusetts A'okmteer Militia: was disbursing officer of the United States 
in [Massachusetts during the Spanish-American \\'ar, and is now paymaster 



576 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

general of the Massachusetts \ (»kinteer MiHtia; and he is one of the most effi- 
cient officers in the military estaljHshment of the Bav State. 

He is a memher of the Theta Xi h'raternity, of the University Ckib, 
Algonquin Chili, Boston Athletic Club, Art Club, Country Club, and Exchange 
Club of Boston, and of the Nahant Club of Xahant, Massachusetts, having his 
residence at the latter club. He is also a member of the New York Yacht 
Club, Eastern Yackt Club and Boston ^'acht Club, and of the Massachusetts 
Automobile Club; steward of the National Steeplechase and Hunt Associa- 
tion, and member of the Metropolitan Cluli of W'ashing'ton, U. C, and the 
Metroi)olitan Clul) of Xew ^'ork. 

Galen L. Stone, the other of the original members and founders of the 
firm of Hayden, Stone & Company, is a nati\'e of Boston, and since completing 
his educational preparation has been actively identified with large financial 
activities. Ele is one of the soundest knanciers in that market ; a close stu- 
dent of the market and possessing a most complete knowledge of values, and 
more especially is this the case in reference to copper stocks and such other 
stocks and bonds as are most largely handled on the Boston Exchange. His 
sound and expert judgment and thorough financial insight have been valu- 
able factors among the many which ha\e contributed to give the firm of Hay- 
den, Stone & Company the prestige it has attained in the financial world. 

His tested qualifications as a judicious executive and able administrator 
have brought about his selection for membership in several directorates in- 
cluding some of great importance. He is a director of the Old Colony Trust 
Company, one of the greatest of the financial institutions of Boston, the At- 
lantic, Gulf and West India Steamshii) Company, United States Smelting, 
Refining and Mining Company, the Massachusetts Electric Street Railway 
Company, Lake Copper Company, Clyde Steamshi]) C<im])aiiy, Mallorv Steam- 
ship Company, New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company (Ward Line), 
New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company (of ]NLiine), and other cor- 
porations. 

He is married and has ifmv children; lives in Brookliiie, JNLassachusetts, 
and has his summer li(^me at ALirion, Massachusetts. 

The close connection of the firm with the various markets, through niem- 
])ership in llie New ^'(irk and Boston Stock Exchanges and through a clien- 
tele of national breadth, has given it an organization which is directed in such 
a way as to give the firm an effectiveness, such as few houses enjoy, for the 
carrying out of financial campaigns in the stock market. The house is con- 
stantly identified with many of the most important operations on the New 
York and Boston l^xchanges. The New N'ork house, under the immediate 
management of Mr. N. ]'>. MacKelvie of the firm, has been steadily ])rosperous, 
and is regarded as one of the strongest in the metrojiolis. 



JOSEPH TATE 



JOSEPH TATE, banker and ]iroker, was horn in TompkinsviHc, Staten 
Iskmd, December 28, 1849, the son of James and Ehza])etli (McLean) 
Tate. The family, orig-inally from the north of Ireland, has I)een settled in 
this conntry for several generations. 

Mr. Tate was educated in public schools, and at the private school con- 
ducted by Rev. John H. Sinclair at Stapleton, Staten Island. 

On leaving school he 
was employed in a W'a I 
Street house, later beconi 
ing a clerk, first witii 
Nathan Cohen & Compan 
and afterward with Jamt 
Boyd, and in 1870 entere 
the employ of Closson \ 
Hays, remaining there unt 1 
its dissolution in 188 
when he became partner in 
the firm of E. St. John Ha_\ 
& Companv, its successoi 
which was in turn succeede 1 
in 1899 by Tate & Hays, c 1 
71 Broadway, bankers an 
brokers, now composed c 
Joseph Tate, William Henr\- 
Havs and .\ugustus Kna]i]). 
The firm has meml)ershi]) in 
the New \"ork Stock I'.x- 
change and is one of the 
best known of the houses 
now connected with ihat in- 
stitution and operating on 
its floor. Mr. Tate is also 
president and director of 
the Eighth Avenue Rail- 
road Company and Ninth 

Avenue Railroad Company. He is a member of the National Geographic 
Society, the Navy League of the LTnited States, and the New York, New York 
Athletic, Economic, and Staten Island Clubs. 

He married, at Staplet(in, Staten Island, November 16, 1875, Annie Liv- 
ingston Warner, and has one daughter, Annie Warner, who married Erank 
De \A'itt Pitkin. 




TOSEPII TATE 



5TS 



HISTORY OJ- Mill' YORK 




HEXRV SAXDEKSON 579 



H 



KXR^' SAXDERSOX, now senior member of the Xew York Stock 
Exchange firm of Sanderson & Brown, is a native of Titusville, Pa., 
where he was born December 20, 1867, son of Edward P. and Elise (Cras- 
sous) Sanderson. He is of EngHsh descent on his father's and French on his 
mother's side, and his maternal great-grandfather was governor of the Island 
of Martinique, in the West Indies. On the paternal side his first American 
ancestor was John Sanderson, who came from England, about 1765, to Amer- 
ica, settling in I'ennsylvania. His jiaternal grandfather, Joseph AI. Sander- 
son, was a noted educator and classical scholar and author of P>iography of 
the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. 

Henry Sanderson was educated in public schools and privately, and be- 
coming interested in the subject of electrical illumination, he was one of the 
pioneers in the electric lighting interest in Xew York City, becoming secre- 
tary, in i88<), of the Mount Morris Electric Light Company, the American 
Electric Light Company of Xew York, and the Yonkers Electric Light Com- 
pany of Yonkers, X. ^'. He afterward became president of those corpora- 
tions, which he sold, in 1S9S, to the Whitney-Brady syndicate; and assisted in 
organizing the present X^ew York Edison Company. In ii)oo he established 
and became president of the X^ew York Transportation Company and the 
Fifth Avenue Stage Company, and in iqoi he organized and became presi- 
dent of the first trolley express service in Xew York State, the Metropolitan 
Express Company, operating between X'ew York City and Westchester. In 
1905 he came to Wall Street, organizing the Stock Exchange firm now known 
as Sanderson & Brown, of which he is the senior member. He is now a 
director of the X^ew ^'ork Transportation Company, Metropolitan Express 
Company, Fifth Avenue Coach Company, Metropolitan Securities Company, 
Motor Cab Company of X"ew York, Taximeter Carriage Company, Eagle Gold 
Mining Company, Park Carriage Company, and Yonkers P'lectric Light and 
Power Company, and is identified with a number of large interests as a stock- 
holder. The lianking firm of Sanderson &: Brown is one of the best known 
in Wall Street. 

yir. Sanderson is a Republican in politics, and is well known in social 
life. His favorite recreation is motoring, and he is president of the Auto- 
mobile Club of America. He is also a member of the Metropolitan Club, 
New "S'ork Yacht Club, Xew York Athletic Club, Liederkranz, New York 
Railroad Club, Rumson Country Club, Red Bank Yacht Club, and the Penn- 
sylvania Society of New "S'ork. He has his town home at 130 East Sixty- 
seventh Street, and a country house at Locust Point, New Jersey. 

Air. Sanderson married, at Irvington-on-Hudson, X^ew York, February i, 
1893, Beatrice Walter, and has two children: James Reed Sanderson, born 
November 12, 181)4, and Flenry Geottrey Sanderson, born August 10, 1899. 



580 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



♦'i3 

'III I 



"1*1! 



l|lll|lil'Will'''lJJ 



W//A 1' 

I W ,1 



'I 

'1', III ill . . 




llEXJAMIN I'.UTTERS BRYAN 



B' 



Bll\J.L\II\ RrTTHRS f^R)'A.\ 5«1 

I-:X|.\.M1X r.L'TTKRS 1;R\AX. who has lono- held a position of 
distinction in the j^rain commission trade, was born in Savannah, 
Georq-ia, Octoljer ii, iSfio, the son of James W'ilham Findlay Bryan and 
Alhson AFclntyre ( Bntters ) llrvan, botli of whom were born in Scotland. His 
fatlier, who came from ( ilasqow, Scotland, where he was in the i^'rain and 
provision Inisiness, came to America abont 1850, and settled in Savannah, 
Georgia, where, dnring the Civil War, he joined the Savannah Gnards, and 
was killed at Charleston, Sonth Carolina, in 1SO2. 

In boyhood Air. Bryan was sent to .Scotland, where he was educated in 
the Carleton Commercial Academv, (ilasg'ow. 

He started upon his business career in 1S76 with the old firm of Dunlop 
Brothers, grain and flour merchants, in Glasgow, Scotland, afterward leaving 
them to enter his uncle's firm, 1). Butters & Company, grain ship])ers, in Mon- 
treal, Canada. ReceiA'ing an offer from the liank of Montreal, he was engaged 
in the ser\'ice of that institution for about four years, at the end of which 
time he left to again enter the grain business, in Chicago. For tiie past 
twenty-five vears he has been connected with and active in the Chicago Board 
of Trade grain commission and Xew \'ork stock and cotton brokerage l:)usi- 
ness, and partner in the old and \\ell-known firm of F. G. Logan & Company, 
who were succeeded by Logan & llryan, the present firm. 

Mr. Bryan, as director of the Chicago Board of Trade and chairman of 
its Promotion Committee, was at the head of nmcli hard work done for that 
institution in the interests of that and other exchanges, as well as at Wash- 
ington, D. C, and all o\-er this conntr\-, serving as a member of the Com- 
mittee of Four, representing the Chicag(j Board of Trade in defending legiti- 
mate exchanges before President Roosevelt and Congress in 190K. 

He is a member of the Xew \'ork Stock Fxchange, Cotton Fxchange, 
Coffee Exchange and Produce b'xchange, Xew Orleans Cotton Exchange, 
Chicago Board of Trade, and other exchanges. 

Mr. Bryan established the first private wire between New "S'ork and the 
Pacilic for expediting and handling brokerage business, as well as establish- 
ing the well-known Logan tt Br\-an ])ri\ale wire svstem covering over twenty 
thousand miles of territory in the Cnited States and Canada and doing a stock 
brokerage business with all exchanges, lie makes his business head(|uarters 
at the X"ew ^'ork office of Logan & Brvan, 1 1 i Broadway. 

He is a member of the L'nion League and other clubs in Chicago and of 
the Calumet Club in Xew \'ork Cit\-. His citv residence is at the Holland 
House, and he has a countrv residence at .\llenhurst. New Jersey. 

Mr. Bryan married, in Chicago, Mary Clara Taylor, daugbler of James 
Madison Taylor, of Philadelphia, and has had three sons : James T. Bryan, 
born 1891 ; Benjamin Butters Bryan, Jr., I)()rn 1S93; and one deceased. 



582 



HISTORY OF XEir )-ORK 







ANSEL OrrENHEIM 



A 



ANSEL OPrnXflFJM 583 

NSEL OPPENHEIM, one of the most successful of the enterpris- 
ing- and progressive men who found iheir wav to fortune and (hs- 
tinction by an intelhgent reahzation of the o])portunities afforded by the 
growth of the Northwest, is a native of New ^'ork City, born here January 
5, 1847, the son of Isaac and Henrietta (Worms) Oppenheim. His father, 
Isaac Oppenlieini, was a native of Germanv, wlio came to this country in 
1842 and engaged witli much success in the mercantile business in New ^'ork 
City. 

Mr. Oppenheim received an excellent education in the puljlic schools and 
college of New York. He commenced the study of law at an early age, re- 
moving- to Sparta, \\'isc(msin, in 1874, and continued his studies after he was 
married. His marriage took place June Ji, 1869, to Josie Greve, daughter 
of Herman Greve. x^t that time Mr. Greve lived at Sparta, Wisconsin, and 
he had a well-established position and a high reputation throughout the State. 
He went to Saint Paul in 1885, and at the time of his death was one of the 
largest owners of Saint Paul real estate. Mr. Oppenheim was admitted to 
the bar of Minnesota in 1878, at Saint Paul, of which city he became one of 
the foremost citizens. 

Possessed of keen insight and judicial mind, Mr. Oppenheim had every 
qualification, in addition to technical knowledge, to make him successful at 
the bar, and he formed a copartnership with the Hon. John Brisbin, and 
engaged in the practice of law at Saint Paul, Minnesota. He did not, how- 
ever, continue long in professional work, a study of the conditions in Minne- 
sota and the Northwest having convinced him that in the real estate Inisiness 
he would find a more readv road to financial success. He and his father-in- 
law organized a firm under the title of H. Greve & Company, and they en- 
tered upon a career of large dealings in real estate. That firm ])urchased the 
Saint Paul City Railway in 1880, and Mr. Oppenheim, after that, became in- 
terested in many of the most important and successful investment enterprises 
in the Minnesota capital. He was a member of the firm of Oppenheim & Kal- 
man who, with associates, built the Metropolitan Opera House in Saint Paul, 
which at the time of its building was regarded as the finest edifice of its kind 
in the Northwest ; and he was president of the Union Stock Yards of Saint 
Paul, Minnesota, when they were built. 

He acquired other interests, and he participated very actively in railway 
undertakings and particularly in the Chicago, Saint Paul and Kansas City 
Railroad, which was afterwards merged in the present Chicago Great Western 
Railway, of which he was vice president and director, that company owning an 
important railway system extending from Chicago northwest to Saint Paul, 
and southwest to Kansas City. He is still interested as director in numer- 
ous corporations in Saint Paul, including the Interstate Investment Company, 



.-,si HISTORY or xinr vork 

Limited, of which he is vice president, and tlie Metropolitan (Jpera House of 
Saint P'auL 

There is no man who has better judgment of values and investments in 
the Northwest than Mr. Oppenheim, and he is an authority upon that subject, 
fre(|uentlv interviewed by the tinancial papers of New York with regard to 
Northwest conditions and investments; and he has also written several arti- 
cles for London tinancial journals on subjects pertaining to Minnesota and the 
Northwest. 

■ Mr. Oppenheim is public si)irited, antl has never been so al)sorbed in his 
business as to be indilTerent to questions of general welfare. liefore he left 
New York for the West, he served as a member of the Thirty-seventh Regi- 
ment of the National Guard of the State of New York, and after becoming 
a citizen of Saint Paul, he received several civic appointments, being appointed, 
in i(S,So, a member of the Board of Ecjualization of the State of Minnesota, 
and in i8(;o was a member of the Assembly of the City Council of Saint Paul, 
Minnesota. He is a Democrat in politics, and served as chairman of the 
Democratic County Committee of Ramsey County, Minnesota, at Saint Paul; 
was also chairman of the State Democratic Committee of Minnesota, and he 
was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention which nominated Gro- 
ver Cleveland for the first time for President of the United States at Chicago 
in 1S84. 

Air. ( )|)penheim has most valuable financial connections. East, West and 
abroad, and a large acquaintance with y\merican and foreign capitalists, which 
has been of valuable assistance in his extensive operations. He has his office 
in the Op])enheim Building, at Saint Paul, Minnesota, and a New York office 
at 31 Nassau Street, and is a nonresident member of the National Democratic 
Clul) of New "S'ork City. lie is also a member of the Town and Country 
Club of Saint Paul, the Minnesota Club n\ Saint Paul, and The Historical So- 
cietv of Minnesota and of several other societies; and is a member of the 
Masonic Order. 

Mrs. Oppenheim holds a verv iirominenl i)lacc in the best social circles of 
Saint Paul, and is also well known in New Yovk Society; is an author of 
several books and a fre(|uent contribut(.)r of verse to leading magazines. She 
has been verv largelv identified with charitable and civic inqtrovement work 
in Saint Paul. 

Mr. and Mrs. ( )ppenlieini have three sons. Tlie eldest of these, Her- 
man ( )])])enlieim, born |ul\- H), 1S70, is a law\-er l)y i)rofession and has served 
as assistant corporation attorney of Saint I'aul. The seccMid son, Lucius 
Julius Oi)penheim, who is a member of the New ^"ork Stock Exchange, mar- 
ried, in H)Of), Genevie\e Thomas, of Baltimore; and the third son is Greve 
0])penheim. 



CEORGIl IVASHINGTOX YOUXC, 



585 



G 



EORGE \\ASHINGTON N()L\\(i, l.anker. was Ixini in Jersey 
City. X. J.. July I, 1864, l)eing- the son of I'eter and Mary 
(Crosby) \'ouno-, Iwth of Scotch-Irish extraction. He was eckicated in iml)- 
Hc and high schools, and took a scientific course in Cooper L'nion. 

He entered a lawyer's office at thirteen, later entering- the I Indson County 
National Bank, of which he became receiving teller at eighteen. The same 
year he received appoint- 
ment from President Arthur 
and passed the entrance 
examination for the United 
States Military Academy, 
but his father's illness and 
death precluded him from 
entering. 

Continuing in the bank- 






ing business, he was elected 




secretary and treasurer ot 
the New Jersey Title Guar- 
antee and Trust Compan\- 
at the age of twenty-one; 
and at twenty-eight became 
vice president and treasurer 
of the United States Mort- 
gage and Trust Company, 
and a year later its presi- 
dent, serving as such twelve 
years, until in March, 1905, 
he established the private 
banking house of George 
W. Young & Company, now- 
one of the most prominent 
in New \'ork. 

Mr. "^'oung is a mem- 
ber of the Chamber of 
Commerce, the Zoological 

Society, Metrojjolitan Museum of Art, Automobile Club of America, 
numerous leading clulis of New \uvk, Chicago and New Jersey. 

He has been twice married and has a daughter, Dorothy, and a son, 
George Washington, Jr. His present wife is Lillian Xordica, one of the most 
distinguished grand opera singers of the age. ?le is a resident of New Jer- 
sey, his home lieing at ( )akwood l^irm. Deal T.each. N. f. 



(U-:oRr;E w.xshington young 



and 



58 G 



HISTORY OF .\7;ff YORK 



fllljjl^^\\^^\ 



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RICHARD PURDV LOUNSBERY 



RICHARD FURDV LOUNSBRRV 581 



R 



ICHARD PURDY LOUNSBERV, head of the linn of Lounsbery 
& Company, one of the n:ost prominent of those connected with the 
New York Stock Exchange, was horn in I'.edford. New York, August 9, 1845, 
the son of James Lounsl)ery, a prominent (h-y goods merciiant of New York 
City, and of Ann Philhps ( Rundle ) Lounsbery, daughter of Solomon Rundle, 
of Peekskill, New York. 

He is descended on both sides from early English settlers, of New Eng- 
land and New York, his earliest paternal ancestor having been Richard Louns- 
bery, who came from Yorkshire, England, in 1643, and settled at Rye, New 
York. His mother was a descendant of Rev. George Phillii)s. who was min- 
ister on the Arabella, the ship in which Governor Winthrop came from 
England, in 1630, and in that Phillips family have been many men of distinc- 
tion, including John and Samuel Phillips, founders of the Phillii)s Exeter and 
Phillips Andover Academies; John Phillips, the tirst mayor of Boston; Wen- 
dell Phillips, the orator, and Bishop Philli]is Brooks. 

Richard Purdy Lounsbery was educated in the Bedford Academy under 
General James W. Husted, and was instructed by Rev. Robert Bolton, who 
wrote the History of Westchester County, and was prepared for college by 
Professor Albert W. Williamson. 

Mr. Lounsbery went into Wall Street with Henry Knickerbocker in 
1863, that firm later becoming Mills, Knickerbocker & Company, bankers and 
brokers, with whom he remained until January i, 1S67, when he went into 
the bond and gold business with W. S. Fanshawe, under the firm name of 
Lounsbery & Fanshawe. That firm did a large business, principally for Jay 
Cooke & Company, Fisk & Hatch, J. P. Alorgan, and Stern Brothers of Lon- 
don. The firm made a substantial fortune during the Black Friday Panic of 
September, 1869; the members retired and went to Europe in December, 1869. 
Mr. Lovmsbery became a member of the New York Stock Exchange May, 
1869. 

After returning from Europe, Mr. Lounsberv traveled through the West, 
visiting California in 1871. While in the \A'est he became interested in min- 
ing, making investigations that gave him a valuable practical knowledge of 
mining methods and operations, forming an esi)ecially efifective foundation for 
the large business in mining securities which he subsequently undertook. He 
bought some mines in Utah, and built smelting works in 1872, the first shaft 
furnace to reduce silver and lead ores in this country. His connection with 
the actual organization, equipment and management of mines, continuing for 
over six years, and the knowledge he gained in regard to the various mining 
districts of the Pacific coast, gave direction to his business plans, and when he 
returned to Wall Street, in 1877, it was to take up the banking and brokerage 
business with a specialty in mining securities, backed by a fund of expert 



HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 



knowledge of the mining situation such as few other men on the street pos- 
sessed in equal degree. 

He established the tirni of Lnunshery & Haggin, in association with 
Ben Ali Haggin. That firm built up a very successful business in which the 
handling of the securities of prominent gold, silver and ci)p])cr mining corpo- 
rations was a leading, though by no means an exclusive feature, the opera- 
tions of the firm covering all the varied departments of a general banking and 
stock brokerage business. That partnershij) continued until 1884, when ]\Ir. 
Haggin retired and the firm of Lounsherv tS: C'ompanv succeeded, the present 
members of which are Mr. Lounsbery, Walter Dead}', and Philip ]\I. Lydig. 
The firm is one of the strongest and best known in the Wall Street district, 
having participated in many of the most extensive financial operations during 
its long connection with the Stock Exchange. Among the important opera- 
tions of the firm were the placing of the ( )ntario (silver), Homestake (gold), 
and Anaconda (copper) stocks on the Xew ^'(lrk Stock Exchange. 

Air. Lounsberv is interested financially in a number of mining corpora- 
tions, and is a director of the Mutual Trust Com])anv. of Westchester County, 
New York. His high standing in the business comnumity is based upon a 
record in \\hich are displaved uniform lovalty t(i the interests confided to his 
care and the skill of the exiierienced financier in the conducting of negi")tia- 
tions and the planning and direction of stock market campaign, in which his 
success has been such as to fullv justifx" his rejnitation as one ()f the best in- 
formed and most skillful of the financial men of the Wall Street district. He 
enjoys much ])ersonal ])o|)u]arit\- and has many valuetl friendships, as well as 
business connections, among the leading men of "the street." 

Air. Lounsbery is a Republican in ])olitics, though not politically active, 
and he is a vestryman of St. Matthew's Church (Protestant Episcopal), in 
Bedford, Xew ^'ork. 

Air. Lf)unsl)erv is fond of outdoor sports, including hunting, fishing, and 
yachting, and he has numerous social and clul) aftiliations. He is a member 
of the Metropolitan Aluseum of Art, the American Museum of X^atural His- 
tor\', the X'ew York Zoological Society, Xew \'ork Horticultural Society and 
Botanical (hardens, the St. Xicholas and Xew England Societies of X^ew 
'^"ork ; is a member of the C"it\-. Union League. Metropolitan, X'ew York 
Yacht, Xew ^'ork Athletic, (Irolier, Rocky Mountain. City Midday, Stock 
Exchange Luncheon, and Riding Clubs, of Xew York; the St. James Club of 
Montreal, the h^)rest and Stream, and Saint Jerome Clul)s of Canada. 

Mr. Lounsberv married at San b'rancisco, California. August 21, 1878, 
Edith Haggin, daughter of James T>. Haggin. They have three children: 
James Ben Ali Haggin Lounsberv, who married Rhea Sea\'er ; Edith Louns- 
bery, who married Henrv Pierej^ont Perrv: and Ricliard LounsI)ery. 



N' 



XOKM.-iX BRUCE REAM 589 

( )RAIAX BRUCE REAM, one of the most i)roniinent of American 
capitalists and men of affairs, was born in Somerset County, Penn- 
sylvania, November 5, i''^44. His boyhood was spent on the farm and in 
acquiring an education in the common and normal schools. He taught school 
for one term and then started in as a farmer, also procuring a ])hotograi)h 
outfit and dividing his time between the two occupations, until the call of Mr. 
Lincoln for troops roused in him a desire for service. He enlisted as a pri- 
vate in the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania \'olunteers, went to the front and took 
jiarl in the battles of his regiment, was promoted to first lieutenant for gal- 
lantrv in action, rmd continued in the serx'ice until inca])acitated bv wounds 
received in battle near Savannah, Cicorgia, and returned to his home a com- 
missioned officer before he had attained his majoritv. 

As soon as his wounds would permit, he went to work as clerk in a store 
at PIarneds\'ille, Pennsylvania, where he was employed in 1865 and tS66, and 
then, having saved some monew he went W est, and started in business for 
himself at Princeton, Illinois, in iS6(), afterward establishing in business in 
live stock, grain, real estate and agricultural im])lements in ( )sceola, Iowa, 
and continuing those enterprises imtil 1S71, when he went to Chicago, enga- 
ging in a live stock and grain commission business. He continuetl in that 
business until iSSS, in the meantime making sagacious investments in real 
estate, street railwav and bank stocks, railroad stocks and other conservative 
and well-chosen securities, so that when he retired from the commission busi- 
ness to devote his attention to the management of his personal interests and 
investments he had already attained an important place in the list of the most 
prominent, as well as the wisest, of the ca])italisls and financiers of Chicago. 

Mr. Ream has been a director of the b'irst National Bank of Chicago for 
many years, and also a director of the Pullman Company, and lie is a trustee 
of the estate of the late George AI. Pullman. He has been a member of the 
Board of Directors of the United States Steel Corporation from its incorpo- 
ration, and is also a member of the Finance Committee. He is a director of 
numerous railroad companies, prominent among which are the Baltimore and 
Ohio, Erie Railroad, Chicago and Erie, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, 
Cincinnati, Hamilton and Davton. New "S'ork, Susquehanna and Western, 
Pere Marquette, Seaboard Air Line, Bror»klvn Ra])id Transit, and others; and 
director of the International Harvester Com])any, the National Biscuit Com- 
pany; trustee of the Metropolitan Trust Company of New "S'ork, New York 
Trust Company, and several other corporations. 

Mr. Ream has a country home in Connecticut; finds his chief recreations 
in art, and literature, and is a connoisseur of paintings, including in his col- 
lection some of the finest specimens of mediaeval and modern art. He mar- 
ried Miss Carrie Putnam, at Madison, New York, in 1876. 



590 



illSTOKY OF NEW YORK 




G 



GEORGE THEODORE SMITH aiH 

EORGE THEODORE SMEITl. now ])resident and director of the 
First National Bank of Jersey City, New Jersey, is a native of 
New York City, where he was l)orn, April _'(), 1S55, the son of Charles Tap- 
pan and ^Martha Elizal)eth Smith. He is descended of an old New England 
family, of which the first American ancestor was Charles B. Smith, who was 
mayor of Portland, ]\Iaine. Charles Tappan Smith, father of George Theo- 
dore Smith, was best known as a constructor of telegraph lines in the early 
davs of telegraphy. 

His son, George Theodore Smith, was educated in Grammar School Num- 
l)er 35 and the College of the City of New York, until 1872, when he entered 
the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad C()ni])anv, in which he remained for 
thirtv-seven years, serving in various positions, the last of which was that of 
general agent of the company in New \'ork, in charge of the commercial and 
operating features, in which he continued until lyog, when he became presi- 
dent of the First National Bank of Jersey City, New Jersey. Mr. Smith has 
long l)een identified with important financial and corporate interests and he is 
identified with a numljer of important companies as ofiicer and director ; is 
vice president and director of the E. L. Young Com])anv: vice president and 
director of the American Graphite Company; president and director of the 
Joseph Dixon Crucible Company; \-ice president and director of the Colonial 
Fife Insurance C()m]);iny of America; president and director of the Pavonia 
Trust Company; vice president and director of the New Jersey Title, Guar- 
antee and Trust Company; director of the Bayonne Trust Company, the Ber- 
gen and Lafayette Trust Compan_\-, Peo])le's Trust Company, Trust Company 
of New Jersey, W^est Hudson Countv Trust Companv, and Raritan River 
Railroad Company; and is a member of the Board of Managers of the Provi- 
dent Institute for Savings. 

.Mr. Smith is a Democrat in j)iilitics and jirduiinenl in the party in Jer- 
sey City, and influential in the cmincils of the |)art\-. though not a politician. 
His position as one of the leading financiers and citizens of Jersev Citv has 
been earned in a career of great activitv in business, and the api)lication of 
sound judgment and marked executive and administrative ability. 

He is a member of the Automobile Clul) of America, the Lawyers' Clul), 
Traffic Clulx and Railroad Clul) of New ^'ork Cit}- ; the Carteret and Jersey 
City Clu])s of Jersey City, New Jersey ; the Essex County Country Club and 
Automobile Club of New Jersey, at Newark. Besides his city residence in 
Jersey City, Mr. Smith has a country home at Elberon, New Jersey. 

He married, in Saint John's Protestant Episcopal Church, in Jersey City, 
April 25, 1882, Hattie Louise Young, and of that marriage there have been 
two children; Edward Young Smith, who was born October 7, 18S3 and 
died in July, 1889, and Natalie Young Smith, born July 2, 1887. 



HISTORY or xi-ir )-urk 







vmr "■ 





lOHX HENDERSON EMANUEL, ) K. 



JOHN HEXDERSOX EMAXUEE. JR. 593 

JOHN HEXDERSOX EMANUEL, Jr., who has ol)t:iined a promi- 
nent standing in the financial circles of N^ew York as head of the Stock 
Exchange firm of Emanuel, Parker & Com])any, is a native and lifelong resi- 
dent of Brooklyn Borough. He was born May f^, 1S70, being the son of John 
Henderson and Margaret Waters (Sayre) Emanuel. His father was for sev- 
eral years engaged in a successful lousiness as a grain and provision broker, 
and the son's training was directed with a view to his preparation for an active 
business career. 

He was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn until 1886, when he 
entered upon the activities of business life as an emplovee at the house of J. P. 
Morgan & Company. In that great banking institution he remained, in 
various departments, until KJ05, act[uiring there a broad and com|)rehensive 
knowledge of banking principles and methods, and an ac(|uaintance with invest- 
ment values and with prominent people in the world of finance, which con- 
stituted an admirable preparation and equipment for the independent lousiness 
in which he has since been engaged. 

In 1905, with associates, Mr. Emanuel established the Stock Exchange 
firm of Emanuel, Parker & Company, bankers and brokers, of which he is the 
senior member, the other partners being Grenville Parker, Sanmel A. Walsh, 
Jr., and Charles E. McElroy. The principal offices of the firm are at 15 Wall 
Street, Xew York City, and a branch office is maintained at Albany, Xew York, 
in which city the firm have also established an extensive banking and liroker- 
age business. Mr. Emanuel has earned the reputation of being one of the best 
informed and most successful of the younger representatives of financial in- 
terests in Wall Street, and his firm has steadily increased in prestige and busi- 
ness, and now has a large and influential clientele. 

Mr. Emanuel has traveled extensivel)' in practically all sections of the 
United States and Mexico. He is a Repul)lican in his political affiliations, but 
he has not been active in political aft'airs beyond the ordinary duties of a citi- 
zen and a voter. 

Mr. Emanuel enjovs an excellent social standing and is a member of a 
good many societies and clubs, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 
American Museum of Xatural History, the New York Zoological Society, New- 
York Botanical Society, New York State Historical Society, and the Brooklyn 
League ; and he is also a mem]:)er of the Union League C\uh of New York 
City, the Railroad Club, Crescent Athletic Club of Brooklyn, the Marine and 
Field Club, and the Englewood Golf Cltib. He has his home at 304 Clinton 
Avenue, Brooklyn Borough. 

He married, in Brooklyn, New York, November i, 189S, Jennett Idele 
Englis, and they have two children: Jennett Englis Emanuel, l)orn December 
13, 1900, and Henderson Emanuel, born July 24, 1904. 



594 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




RUEL WHirCOMB POOR 595 



RUEL \\HITC0^1B POOR, prominent in the financial life in New 
York City as having been for the past eight years president of the 
Garfield National Bank, was born in New London, New Hampshire, Sep- 
tember 29, i860, the son of William Gay and Delina Ann (Freeto) Poor. 

He is of English ancestry and old New England lineage, being a direct 
descendant from Daniel Poore, who sailed from Southampton, England, in 
the ship Bevis, Captain Robert Batten, master, in May, 1638. He lived in 
Newbury. [Massachusetts, for about ten years, and then settled in Andover, 
Massachusetts. He was the ancestor of a numerous family, among whom 
were included Revolutionary soldiers of prominence and men of distinction 
in business and professional life. W. G. Poor, father of Mr. R. W. Poor, 
was a scythe manufacturer in New Plampshire. 

Mr. R. W. Poor was educated in the public schools and at Wilton 
Academy, in Wilton, Maine. He began his business career in October, 
1877, with the Page Belting Company at Concord, New Hampshire, con- 
tinuing in the service of that institution until July, 1881, when he went to 
Littleton, New Hampshire, where he began his successful career as a 
banker, as a clerk in the Littleton Savings Bank. He afterward became 
connected with the Littleton National Bank of the same place, in a similar 
capacity, and was promoted to cashier of that bank in 1S88. He con- 
tinued to serve that bank until November, 1888, when he resigned the 
ixtsition in order to take one that had been offered him with the Garfield 
National Bank of New York City. With that institution he has ever 
since continued, steadily advancing in its service, being appointed assist- 
ant cashier, in January. 1891, and cashier of the institution in January, 
1892, continuing in that ofifice for ten years until April 30, 1902. when he 
was elected to his present office as president of the bank. Under his 
executive direction the bank has enjoyed a career of marked prosperity 
and constantly enlarging- business, including among its depositors and 
customers many of the leading business men, firms and institutions of the 
metropolis. 

He is a life member of the New England Society in the city of New 
\ork. of the New Hampshire Societ}', the Maine Society, and of the 
Empire State Society of the Sons of the Revolution; is a member of the 
Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, and also of the Lotos 
Club, New York Athletic Club, and the Masonic Club of New York City. 
He has his city residence at 320 West One Hundred and First Street, and 
a country place at Bethlehem, New Hampshire. 

Mr. Poor married, in Wilton, Maine, October 18, 1884, Ida AL Sawyer, 
and they have two daughters: Helen Llilda Poor, born June 25, 1899, and 
Ruella Poor, born July 17, 1905. 



596 



HISTORY OF Xliir YORK 



MililV^ : *" Hill. 



It 



\\ 



",m}\ 




ELIAS S. A. DE LIMA 



ELI AS S. .1. PELIMA -V.ir 



E' 



LIAS S. A. DE LIMA, who has lon^- lieen one of the prominent 
mercliants of New York, was born on the Island of Cura<;ao, Dutch 
West Indies, being the son of S. A. de Lima, merchant, and Sylvia Senior 
A. de Lima, his family being of Dutch extraction. He attended a Dutch 
school on the Island of Curacao until the age of fourteen, then went to 
Germany, where he completed his education at the Gymnasium Andreanum 
in Hildesheim. 

He came to the United States in iSSo, entered the house of D. A. de 
Lima & Company, one of the leading firms doing business with Latin America, 
in which he became a partner in 1S83. Since the death of Mr. D. A. de 
Lima in i8gi he has been the senior member of the firm. He is also presi- 
dent of de Lima, Cortissoz & Company, a firm which, like that of D. A. de 
Lima & Company, is largely and actively interested in business with Latin 
America and the West Indies. 

Mr. de Lima became president of the Hungarian American Bank in 
igo8, and conducted this institution very successfully; but in 1910 he and 
his friends sold out the control of that bank which they held. He then 
became the head of one of the largest financial institutions of the City of 
Mexico, the Banco INIexicano de Commercio e Industria, with which promi- 
nent Mexican interests, the Deutsche Bank of Berlin, the international banking 
house of Speyer & Company, and some other leading American financial men 
are closelv identified. 

Mr. de Lima, who has always been a Republican in politics, has taken 
an active part in the affairs of the country through the commercial organi- 
zations of which he has been a member, especially through the New York 
Board of Trade and Transportation. He has been especially active in efTorts 
to develop our foreign commerce through the reform of the Consular Service 
and the wide discussion of methods of fostering our foreign trade. 

He was chairman of the committee appointed in March, 1906, by the 
Board of Trade and Transportation, and composed of Hon. W'illiam Mc- 
Carroll, Hon. Charles A. Schieren, Hon. Oscar S. Straus, INIr. Charles A. 
Moore and Mr. Henry W. Peabody, which arranged for a National Convention 
which was held in Washington for the purpose of discussing the best meth- 
ods of reforming the Consular Service. The work of this convention was 
enfinently successful and resulted in the passage of Senator Lodge's bill which 
has placed the Consular Service of the United States on a footing of high 
efiiciencv. 

In February, 1907, Mr. de Lima conceived and brought about, through 
the New York Board of Trade and Transportation and other leading busi- 
ness organizations of the country, the most important National Commercial 
Convention ever held in Washington, for the purpose of considering the 



5!)s HISTORY Of XEW YORK 

measures best calculated to develop our foreign commerce and disseminating 
information in regard thereto. 

President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Root, Secretary of Commerce 
and Labor Oscar S. Straus, Secretary of War Taft, and many other men 
prominently connected with the National Government and with the Govern- 
ment oi several of the States, took an active part in the deliberations of the 
convention, which has resulted in great and lasting lienefit to our foreign 
trade. 

His firm brought action against the United States Customs authorities 
for the recovery of duties on products imported into the United States from 
Porto Rico after the annexation of the island. The action was successful 
and resulted in determining the tariff relations between our insular posses- 
sions and the United States. 

When President Roosevelt was endeavoring to establish stable conditions 
in Santo Domingo by a treaty with that country, and his eft'orts seemed to 
have been defeated in the Senate, Mr. de Lima instituted and carried on a 
campaign throughout all the States whose Senators were opposing the ratifi- 
cation of the treaty, and did nutch to enlighten inHuential men and the gen- 
eral public on the questions at isstie b\' writing several exhaustive articles on 
the subject. The treaty was finally ratified by the Senate. 

His educational preparation, wide travel in European and Latin-American 
countries and in the West Indies, his knowledge of foreign languages, his 
familiarity with foreign trade and its requirements, his experience in bank- 
ing, especially in international banking, and his intimate knowledge of Latin 
America, place him in the ranks of those best qualified to deal with what is 
perhaps the most pressing commercial question before this countrv. namely, 
the proper adjustment of our relations with Latin America. 

Air. de Lima never sought public office, but in 11)04 lie was elected by 
both the Republicans and Democrats of Larchmont, Westchester County, a 
trustee of that village, and he was again unanimously elected to that office 
in 1906. In i()oS both parties nominated him and he was elected president of 
that village, and there were general expressions of regret when he declined 
a reelection in lOOQ. 

He is a director of- the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, 
a member of the Chamljer of Commerce of New York; was one of the 
founders and has since been one of the most active members of the Japan 
Society of New York, and is a member of the New A'ork City Club, Repub- 
lican Club, New York Athletic Cluli, Larchmont Yacht Club and of the Pil- 
grims Societv. 

•Mr. de Lima married, in New \'ork City. February 14, looi. Miss Lucie 
Robinson Spanneut. 



SAMUEL FERXOX MJXX. JR. 



599 






SAMUEL \^ERNON MANN, Jr., l)roker, born in Flushing, L. I., 
May 2, 1873, son of S. Vernon and Harriet Cogswell (Onderdonk) 
Mann, is descended from Richard Mann, who came from England to America 
in 1644, and on his mother's side is of Dutch and father's side English 
extraction. His direct ancestry also includes Roger Williams of Rhode Island, 
Hon. Samuel Vernon, judge of the Superior Court of New])ort, R. I., and 
^^'illiam Ellery, signer of 
the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. 

He was educated in ' 
Flushing Institute, the 
Berkeley School in New 
York, St. Mark's, South- 
l)oro, Mass., and graduated 
from Harvard in 1895. 

He was with F. S. 
Smithers & Company from 
September, 1895. to April. 
i8q6; then went with hi- 
father, who had been in 
the time-loan business foi 
t\\enty-five years. He b( - 
came senior partner (■!' 
Mann, Bill & Compan> . 
May I, 1905, and formeil 
the firm of Mann. Bill cc 
Wave, July i, I'joy. He 
joined the New York Stock 
Exchange July 16, 1907, for 
the purpose of lending call 
money. 

He is an Independent 
in politics, and was on the 
City Committee of the Citi- 
zens' Union in 1905. He is 
a member of the Sons of the Revolution, the Harvard Club, Institute of 1770, 
Alpha Delta Phi, and the Hasty Pudding, and Signet Clubs of Harvard. 

He married, at Flushing, L. I., April 11, 1899, Helen Wagstaff Colgate, 
and has three sons: S. A'ernon Mann, born August 16, 1900; Robert Col- 
gate Vernon Mann, liorn September 10, 1901, and Lloyd Onderdonk Vernon 
Mann, born September 8, 1902. 




SAMUEL VERNON MANN, JR. 



BOO 



HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 




HENRY LATHAM UOHJiRTY 



H 



HEXK)- LATHAM DOHERTY 601 

RXR\' LATHAM DOHERTY, banker ami enoineer, has been for 
years a prominent fio'urc in the ori^'anization, management and 
financing of gas and electric properties, though he is still a young man. He 
was horn in Columbus, Ohio, JMay 15, 1S70. l)eing the s<:)n of Frank Doherty, 
engineer and inventor, and of Anna (McElvain) Doherty. His ancestry is 
English, Scotch and Irish, his first American ancestor, William Doherty, 
having come to the United States about iSoo, and having been one of the 
early adjutant generals of the State of Ohio. His maternal grandfather, who 
was State Librarian of Ohio, participated in the War of 1812, being brevetted 
for bravery in Perry's victory on Lake Erie. 

Mr. Doherty was educated in the public schools until he was twelve 
years old, and afterward by self-study. In 1SS3 he entered the employ of the 
Columbus Gas Company as an office boy, and continued with that company 
until 181/). advancing from one position to another until he finally became 
chief engineer and assistant to the manager. In iS(/j he went to ^Madison, 
Wis., as manager of the Madison Gas and Electric Company, and later 
became its president; and since that time he has filled, successively or simul- 
taneouslv, the positions of engineer of the Columbus Electric Company; gen- 
eral manager of the St. Paul ( Alinn. ) Gas Light Company; St. Paul Edison 
Company; constructing engineer for the Jacques Cartier Electric Company of 
Quebec, Canada; chief engineer for Emerson McMillin & Company, New 
York; chief engineer and general manager of the American Light and Trac- 
tion Company; engineer and manager, and afterward president of the Denver 
Gas and Electric Company. 

]\Ir. Doherty is now senior member of the firm of Henry L. Doherty & 
Company, bankers ; is president of the American Gas and Electric Company 
of Xew York; Atlantic Citv (N. J.) Electric Light Comiiany; Canton (Ohio) 
Electric Company; Consumers' Electric Company of ^\'heeling, V\ . Va. ; Den- 
ver Gas and Electric Company ; Doherty Operating Company, New York ; 
Empire District Electric Company, Joplin, ]Mo. ; Improved Appliance Com- 
pany, New York; Improved Equipment Company; Knoxville (Tenn.) Gas 
Company; Lebanon (Pa.) Gas and Fuel Com])any; Lincoln (Neb.) Gas and 
Electric Light Company; Marion ( Ind. ) Light and Heat Company; Mont- 
gomery (Ala.) Light and Power Company; ]\Iuncie (Ind.) Electric Lighting 
Company; Pueblo (Colo.) Gas and Fuel Company; Rockford (111.) Edison 
Company; Scranton (Pa.) Electric Company; Si)okane Falls (Wash.) Gas 
Light Company, and the Summit Count v Power Company of Dillon (Colo.). 
He is also a director of the American Light and Traction Company of New 
\ ork ; the Cuml)erland and Westernport Electric Railway Company, of Cum- 
berland (Md.); the Easton (Pa.) Gas and Electric Company; Rotary INIeter 
Company, New York; and Union Gas and Electric Company, Cincinnati. 



603 HISTORY OF XEIT YORK 

On the side of ph}sical and industrial improvement, ]\Ir. Doherty has 
orig-inated vahial)le and meritorious improvement on gas meters, gas benches, 
g-as purification ( notably in the abolition of purifying houses and the intro- 
duction of outdoor purification), photometrical research on arc lamps, bench 
fuel improvement, the displacement gas calorimeter, producer gas free from 
hydrogen, for gas engine use, and others. Before he left the Columbus Gas 
Company he had done effective pioneer A\-ork in the introduction of the Wels- 
bach lamp as a competitor of electric lightings, with which he had remarkable 
success. He invented appliances for handling, washing", drying and cleaning 
the glassware and brass work: a carrying device for glass chinmcys, device 
for blowing dust from the check plates of the Bunsen tulles, and devices for 
distant control of lamps for shop windows, signs and theatrical uses. 

Mr. Doherty inaugurated a systematic propaganda, when general man- 
ager of the Madison Gas and Electric Company, by extensive newspaper 
advertising; the organizing of the Housekeepers' League, which secured the 
largest membership of any nonsecret org-anization in Wisconsin; and making 
an arrangement with the Board of Education liy which gas cooking was taught 
in the public schools ; and other valuable jiioneer work. 

Mr. Doherty received the award of the first Beall gi)ld medal for a 
paper on "Cooking With Gas," read before the American Gas Light Associa- 
tion in iSgS; presented a paper on "Equitable Competitive and Uniform 
Rates" before the same association in 1900; and has been a leading promoter 
of new methods for more complete cooperation of gas company and electric 
lighting corporations, and the greater usefulness of professional organization. 

He is a member and past president of the National Electric Light Asso- 
ciation. Northwestern Electrical Association, and Ohio Gas Light Association; 
is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
American Academy of Political and Social Science, American Civic Alliance, 
American Gas Institute, American Economic Association, American Institute 
of Electrical Engineers, American Society of Heating and A'entilating Engi- 
neers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Societv for the 
Promotion of Engineering Education. Canadian Electrical Association. Illu- 
minating Engineering Society, National Commercial Gas Association, National 
Electric Light Association, New York Electrical Society, New York Acad- 
emy of Science, Natural Gas Association of America, New York Historical 
Society, Metropolitan iNIuseum of Art, Pacific Coast Gas Association, The 
Eranklin Institute and \A'iscc)usin Gas Association. 

Mr. Doherty is a member of the Engineers', Economic, Electrical, Law- 
yers', Lotos, and Pen Clubs, New York; Columbus and Engineers' Clubs, 
Columbus; Commercial and Country Clu])s of Lincoln: Countrv. Denver, Engi- 
neers', and Denver Athletic Clubs of Denver, and ]\linnesota Club, St. Paul. 



EBEN ERSKINE OLCOTT 



G03 



E' 



BEN ERSKINE OLCOTT, of the firm of Olcott & Corning, consult- 
ing mining engineers, and president of the Hudson River Day Line, 
was born in New York City, March li, 1854, the son of John N. and Euphe- 
mia (Knox) Olcott, and on both sides descended from some of the earliest 
settlers, from Holland, of New Amsterdam. 

He was educated in the old Thirteenth Street School, presided over by 
Thomas Hunter ; the Col- 
lege of the Citv of Nev ill 1 I 
^"ork and the School 01 
Mines of Columbia College 
being graduated in 1874 
and was engaged in mining 
in the United States, Vene 
zuela. South America and 
Mexico. 

In 18S4 he married 
Kate Lawrence van Sant 
voord, daughter of the lat( 
Commodore \'an Santvoord 
founder of the Hudsoi 
River Day Line; and afte 
the death of Mr. Van Sant 
voord's only son. Mr. Olcot 
went into business with hi 
father-in-law as general 
manager, and upon Commo 
dore Van Santvoord's deatl 
became president of the line. 
Lender him the great steam- 
ers Hendrick Hudson and 
Robert Fulton have been 
constructed. 

Mr. Olcott organized 
the Hudson Tri-Centennial 
Association, the first body 

to prepare for the Hudson-Fulton Celel)ratioii ; was a memlier of the Commis- 
sion in charge of the celebration, and chairman of its Clermont Committee. 

Mr. Olcott is a director of the Lincoln National Bank, the Lincoln Safe 
Deposit Company, and the Catskill Mountain Railway. He is a past president 
of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and of the United Engineer- 
ing Society. 




EBEX ERSKINE OLCOTT 



604 



HISTORY OF XFJV YORK 










WILLIAM IIKXRV MOOKL 



WILLIAM HRXRY MOORE 605 

WIl.LIAiAI HENRY MOORE, lawyer ami financier, was born in 
Utica, N. Y., October 25, 184S. son of Nathaniel E. and Rachel A. 
(Beckwith) Moore. His family dates back to colonial days in New England, 
but both his parents were born in New York, and his father was a successful 
merchant and highly respected citizen of Utica, until his death in 1890. 

Mr. Moore was educated in the seminary at Oneida, N. Y., the Cortland 
Academy at Homer. N. Y., and Amherst College, but was compelled l)y ill 
health to al)and()n his studies. He settled temporarily at Eau Claire, Wis., 
studied law there in the office of W. P. Bartlett, and was admitted to the bar 
in i8;r2. After that he entered the office of Edward A. Small, a corjioration 
lawver of Chicago, became his partner until Mr. Small's death, in 18S1, and 
then with his younger brother, James Hobart Moore, established the firm of W. 
H. and J. II. Moore, which afterward became a leading figure in law and 
in finance. Among its clients were the American and Adams Express 
Companies, Merchants' Dispatch Transportation Company, Vanderbilt Fast 
Freight Line, and many large corporations and business houses of Chicago. 
Mr. W. H. Moore was the trial lawyer of the firm, and gained a knowledge 
of procedure and an alertness in forensic combat e((ualled l)v few. licsides 
courtroom work the firm became distinguished for its advisory skill, and l)ecame 
the trusted counsel for many large interests. 

The firm became a leader in the organization of large industrial coni])i- 
nations, notablv the Diamond Match Companv, a Connecticut corjtoration of 
$3,000,000 capital, which Mr. Moore, in 18S9, consolidated, with several 
competing companies, into the Diamond Match Company of Illinois. In 1890 
they combined several Eastern cracker companies into the New York Biscuit 
Company with $10,000,000, and to a leading part in the management of these 
companies until, in i8()6, after a long period of panic and depreciation the firm 
of \\'. II. and J. H. Moore failed for several million dollars. By arrangement 
with creditors the firm was given the ojiportunity to recuperate without being 
formally declared insolvent, and in much less time than anticipated, paid all 
debts and soon resumed their financial operations on a larger scale than before. 

The New York Biscuit Company, which they had organized, had become 
involved in a fierce trade war with the American Biscuit and Manufacturing 
Comjiany, a Western combination. Taking hold of this situation, Mr. Moore 
finally consolidated these two companies and the United States Baking 
Company into the National Biscuit Comi)anv in i8(;8. 

The Moores eiTected a practically complete consolidation of all important 
tin plate mills into the American Tin Plate Company, in December, 1898; 
formed the National Steel Company, in Feliruary, 1899. and the American 
Steel EIoop Companv, in April, 1899. Thev obtained an option on the 
Carnegie Steel Company, in May, 1899, but the monetary stringency following 



liiK; HISTORY OP NEW YORK 

the death of Roswell P. Flower prevented tlieni from carrying out their plans 
of purchase of that company. They later organized the American Sheet Steel 
Company, and in March, lyoi, the American Can Company. 

On Fehruary 2^, njoi, an agreement was signed by the representatives 
of a syndicate headed by J. Pierpont Morgan, formed to take over the principal 
steel interests of the country, among which were the American Tin Plate, 
National Steel, American Steel Hoop, and American Sheet Steel Companies, 
controlled by Mr. Moore, now owned by the United States Steel Corporation. 

In 190 1 Mr. Moore was the leading spirit in the acquisition of the control 
of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, in which, besides his brother, 
he had as associates Daniel G. Reid and William B. Leeds. Mr. ]\Ioore 
planned, and with his associates carried out, a campaign of growth and 
expansion which has increased the mileage of the Rock Island System from 
3600 to 15,000 miles, and its property valuation from $116,000,000 to over 
$900,000,000. This they accomplished by the purchase of the Choctaw, 
Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, the leasing of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and 
Northern, the acquisition of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, and 
other large additions. The control of this great system has made Mr. Moore 
and his associates recognized in Wall Street as a group of large financial power, 
familiarly known as "the Rock Island crowd," although their holdings and 
operations include many other railway and industrial securities. 

Mr. Moore is a director of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway 
Company, the Rock Island Company, and other Western railroad companies; 
the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, Lehigh Valley 
Railroad Company, L^nited States Steel Corporation, LTnited States Rubber 
Company, American Can Company, National Biscuit Company, First National 
Bank of New York, Continental Insurance Company, Fidelity-Phenix Insur- 
ance Company, and other corporations. 

He is a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Metro- 
politan, Union League, Lawyers', Down Town, Army and Navy, Racquet and 
Tennis, New York \'acht, St. Andrews and Garden City Golf Clubs, Myopia 
Hunt Club of Massachusetts, Calumet and Chicago Clubs of Chicago. 

Mr. Moore finds his chief recreation in horses, and is the fortunate 
possessor of one of the finest stables of harness horses in the world. He owns 
the famous "F^orest King," winner of the Waldorf-Astoria Cup, and is each 
year a leading exhibitor at the horse shows in Madison Square Garden. He 
has offered a prize, known as the Forest King Challenge Cuii, for the best 
horse suitable for a gig. 

Mr. Moore married, in Chicago, in 1879, Ada Small, daughter of Fdward 
A. Small, his first law partner, and they have had three sons: Hobart Moore, 
who died in 1903, Edward Small Moore, and Paul Moore. 



RICHARD CHARLES J'EIT 



607 



R 



IL'HARD CHARLES \'E1T. who has from boyliood been connected 
with the Standard Oil Company, was born in Xew York City, 
November 17, 1855. tlie son of Charles A. and Ernestine (Morse) \'eit; and 
is of German descent. He was educated in Public School Xo. 12, in 
Brooklyn, until he was twelve years old. 

He became, on April 15, 1S69, office boy with the firm of Rockefeller, 
Andrews & Flagler, which 
afterward changed to the 
Standard Oil Company. He 
was given charge of the 
shipping department when 
the Standard Oil Company 
was formed, and in 1S80 
assumed charge of the 
Lighterage Department of 
the Standard Oil Compan^' l\ 
of New York, now the 
Marine Department, which 
operates a fleet of seventv- 
eight tank steamers and 
many sailing vessels and 
barges of its own, liesides 
a \-ery large numljer of 
leased vessels. Air. A'eit 
has been a stockholder of 
the Standard Oil Companv 
for years, and has interests 
in other corporations. 

He is second vice presi- 
dent of the J. Hood Wright 
Memorial Hospital, mem- 
ber of the American [Mu- 
seum of Natural History, 
Metropolitan Museum of 
Art, and the New York 
Zoological Society; is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Atlantic 
\acht Club, member of the New York Yacht Clul), and Lotos Clulis, and a 
governor of the latter. 

He married, December 2, 1880, :\L'iry K. Stobo, and they have three 
sons: Russell C, Arthur Stobo and Kenneth Alden. He resides at i;i West 
Seventy-first Street, and has a country place at Sea Gate, New York Harbor. 




RICHARD CHARLES VEIT 



G(i8 



HISTORY OF XnU- YORK 






\\ i , 




JAMES JEROME MILL 



J.LMI-S JI:h'()MI-: HILL cm 



JAMES JEROAIE HILL, premier railniad man of America, and chief 
of the practical develojiers and ex])ansionists of the domestic and in- 
ternational commerce of the conntry, is of Canadian hirth and Scotch and 
Irish ancestry. He was born on a farm near Gnelph, Ontario, September i6. 
iS^R, his parents being James and Ann ( Dnnbar ) Hill. 

He assisted in the work of the home farm and attended Rock wood Acacl- 
eni\-, a local school uiider the anspices of the Society of Friends. After his 
father's death, in 1853, he went to work in a country store. 

In 1856 he came across the border, and after a tour from the Atlantic 
Coast west to Minnesota, he became a shippiniL^; clerk with J. W. Rass & Com- 
panv, agents for the IHibmiue an<l Saint Paul Packet Conipan\'s line of .Alis- 
sissipi)i River steamboats. From that time on he became a student of trans- 
portation proldems, and in 1865 became agent for the Northwestern Packet 
Con:panv's line of Mississippi River steamboats until iSfjj, when it was 
u'.erged with the IXavidson Line, and he engaged in a general transiiorlation 
rnd fuel Imsiness. 

The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad had been Imilt and put into operation 
from a terminus near the steamboat landing in Saint Paul, westward through 
Minneapolis to the prairie countrv bevond, with a branch up the Mississippi 
Ri\'er toward Saint Cloud. Mr. Hill bjcame station agent in Saint Paul for 
that company, organized Hill, Griggs & Company, a fuel antl warehousing 
firm, in 1869, and in 1870 formed the Red River Transportation Comjianv, 
operating steamboats on the Red River of the Xorth between Minnesota and 
Manitol)a points. He was the first to ])lace coal on the Saint Paul market; 
and estaljlished, in 1872, the tirst regular through transportation ser\-ice be- 
tween Saint Paul and Fort Garry. W'hh C. F. Griggs, E. X. Sanders and 
William Rhodes, he formed, in 1875, tlie Xorthwestern Fuel Companv, ever 
since the leading coal organization of tlie X'orthwest, but in 1878 sold out his 
interests in fuel and steamboat com])anies. 

With associates Mr. Hill gained control, in 1878, of the bankrujit Saint 
Paul and Pacific Railroad Company, through the purchase of its l)ontls, and 
reorganized it in 1879 as the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Rail- 
way Compaii}-, with Mr. LI ill as general manager. He became its vice ])resi- 
dent in 18S2 and its president in 1883. He jjioneered the project for a trans- 
continental railway from the Great Lakes to the Pacific, lietween the Inter- 
national Ixmndary on the north and the Northern Pacific Railwa_\- on the 
south, and ])ractically realized it by beginning, in 1880, the extension of the 
Hill Lines westward. By 1893 the system had been extended to Puget Sound, 
with a branch starting from the main line in Central Montana by way of 
Great Falls and Helena, to Butte. In 1890 the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and 
Manitoba Railway Company and its properties were taken o\er b}' the Great 



(11(1 HISTORY OF XEJy YORK 

Xortliern Railway Company, of which Air. Hill was president until April i, 
I'joy, and has since heen chairman of the Board of Directors. 

For the l)etter handling of trans-Pacific trade the Great Xorthern Steam- 
ship Company was organized, and two of the finest and largest steamships 
ever, u]) to that time, constructed in an American shipyard were built for the 
trade. lUit one of the ships was lost and American ownership of seagoing 
vessels was found to lie too nuich of a handicap. So that the eftort to main- 
tain a regular Asiatic trade has not been continued ; Intt at the other end the 
company operates large and swift passenger steamers connecting Dultith with 
Chicago and Lake Erie ports. 

Mr. Hill's great success has resulted from indomitable energy and 
stiperior 1)usiness capabilities, greatly augmented by i)ersistent optimism in 
regard to the great Northwest. That region has been benefited greatly by 
the practical way in which he has worked to make his forecasts of future de- 
velopment come true. Mr. Jlill, while remaining at all times at the helm 
of control in Great Northern affairs, has also large interests in other railroad 
companies and banks, and he is a director of the Chicago, Burlington and 
Ouincy Railroad Company, Colorado and Southern Railway Compau}-; the 
Chase National Bank, First National Bank, First Security Company, Man- 
hattan Trust Company, and Alercantile Trust Company, of New York; and 
the First National Bank of Chicago. 

Air. Hill's entire career has been constructive, and his connection with an 
enterprise has always resulted in development. He has especially been a sup- 
porter of measures for the welfare of Saint Paul and the Northwest, and 
aUhough not of that comnumion, has aided the efforts of Archbisho]i Ireland 
by large benefactions to his work, giving $1,500,000 of the $5,000,000 required 
for the building of the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Saint Paul and $500,000 
toward estal)lishing the Catholic Theological Seminar}- in the same city. 
Without regard to denomination he has endowed many colleges, and has taken 
an interest in the growth of colleges of various den(Mninations. 

Mr. Hill has a beautiful residence on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, and 
another on Sixty-fifth Street, near Fifth Avenue, in New York Cil\-, where 
he has a notable collection of paintings and a comprehensive li])rary: for he 
is a man of artistic and cultured tastes, and now, as always, a student. He is 
an authority on economic subjects, and his views on matters pertaining to 
the i)ublic welfare, especially upon those tliat are continental in their sweep, 
are regarded as authoritative, and are constantly sought. 

He is a member of the Cnion. Metro])olitan, Down Town. Larchmont 
A'acht, New ^^)rk A'acht, Manhattan, and Jekyl Island Clubs. 

Air. Hill married, at Saint Paul, Minnesota, August K). i^^J. Mary 
Theresa Alahe^'an, and they have nine children. 



LOVIS J. HOROWITZ 



Oil 



L 



OUIS J. HOROWITZ, president of the Thompson-Starrett Com- 
pany, was born in Chenstochowa, Russia. January i. 1S75, the son 
of Salo A. and Anna (Cohen) Horowitz. 

He was educated at the Chenstochowa University, and in i8y2 came to 
New York. His only assets were a purpose to succeed, exceptional business 
ability and 
in Brooklyn. 



untn^mg energy , 



and in 1900 he engaged in the real estate business 

Bil 



He became 
jiresident of the Brookl; 
Heights Improvement Coi 
pany. 1902-1903 ; preside 
of the Assembly Caterii 
and Supply Company. 190 
1904; secretary of tl 
Brooklyn Amusement Coi 
pany. 1903-1904; and trcci 
urer of the Standard An 
Realtv Company, 1904-19C 

In 1903 the Thorn I 
son-Starrett Company, o 
of the l)est known of tl 
building corporations of tl 
countr}', had become son: 
what crippled because of 1; 
and inefficient organizatic 
Some leading financial i 
terests which had acquir 
a large proportion of tl 
company's stock select 
Air. Horowitz as the fina 
cial man to take up the 1 
habilitation of the compar 
and in 1904 he was elect 1 
its vice ]n-esident and gCii- 
eral manager. Although 
the panicky period of 1907 
intervened, the company is now the most successful organization of its kind 
m this country; and is building scores of the most important buildings now 
under construction in the principal cities east and west. 

He is a member of the Railroad and Democratic Clubs of New York and 
the Laurentian Club of [Montreal. He married, in Brooklyn, July 14, 1903, 
JMary C. Decker. 




LOUI.S J. HOROWITZ 



(!12 



HISTOKV Of XEW YORK 



ll 



llll ' }\ 



,1 «\' 







SAMUEL KEA 



SAMUEL REA 613 



SAMUEL REA was born in Ilollidaysburg, Blair CViunty, Pennsyl- 
vania, September 21, 1855. His mother, who dietl in i()o8, was a 
daughter of Thomas IMair Moore, of that county, and his father, James D. 
Rea, who died in 1868, was a well-known resident of Hollidavsburg. 

Mr. Rea entered the railway service in 1871, and was for two years 
engaged in engineering work on Morrison's Cove, Williamsburg and Bloom- 
field branches, Pennsylvania Railroad: from 1874 to 1873 he held a clerical 
position with Hollidaysburg Iron and Xail Comi^anv; in 1875 reentered the 
service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was for two vears assistant engineer 
in charge of construction of chain suspension bridge over Monongahela River 
at Pittsburgh; 1877 to 1879, assistant engineer P'ittsburgh and Lake Erie Rail- 
road; 1879 to 1880, assistant engineer in charge of construction of extension 
of Pittsburgh, \'irginia and Charleston Railway; 1880 to 1883, engineer in 
charge of surveys in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and revising and 
rebuilding Western Pennsylvania Railroad; 18S3 to 1888, princiiial assistant 
engineer Pennsylvania Railroad; 1888 to 1889, assistant to secontl vice presi- 
dent same road; 1889 to A]n-il, 1891, vice president ^Maryland Central Railway 
and chief engineer Baltimore Belt Railroad; April, 1891 to ALiv, 1892, out of 
service on account of ill health; July i, i8(;2, to February 10, 1897, assistant 
to president Pennsylvania Railroad; February 10, 1897, to June 14, 1899, first 
assistant to president same road; June 14, 1899, to October 10, 1905, fourth 
vice president Pennsylvania Railroad System East of Pittsburgh and Erie, 
Pennsylvania; October 10, 1905, to ]March 24, 1909, third vice president; 
March 24, 1909, to date, second vice president ; and in connection with his 
former duties was placed in charge of engineering and accounting depart- 
ments; also second vice ])resident Northern Central Railway, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore and Washington Railroad, and West Jersev and Seashore Railroad 
Companies, and a director of Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and others. 

For many years Mr. Rea was interested in and was one of the incorpora- 
tors of the North River Bridge Company, chartered by Congress to bridge 
the Hudson River and establish a terminus in New ^'ork fur railroads using 
ferries from the New Jersey side. W'hen other railroads failed to join the 
Pennsylvania Railroad in this project, that company, after very careful exam- 
ination and report, determined to build its own tunnels under the Hudson 
River and the East River with a large station in New York City, and Mr. 
Rea was given direct charge of this work. As part of this project, may be 
considered the construction of the New York Connecting Railroad jointly by 
the Pennsylvania and the New York, New Haven and FLartford Railroad 
Companies; which, with tlie tunnel extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
Company, will form a through route for railroad transportation between 
Southern, Western and New England States. 



r.i4 



HISTORY OF A'ZIff" ]'OA'/v' 




RALPH PETERS Oi: 



R 



ALPH PETERS, i)rcsiclenl of the Lung Island Railroad Company, 
was born in Atlanta, Ga.. November 19, 1853, and is a descendant 
of the Pennsylvania family of that name. 

The familv is of Eng-lish and Scotch extraction and was fonnded in 
America in 1740, by ^^'illiam Peters, at one time commissioner in the colony 
of Pennsylvania. Richard Peters, his son, was a great friend of Washington 
and head of the family (hiring the Re\-(ilntion. He was a commissidner for 
war and afterwards secretary of war under the Continental Congress. Fol- 
lowing the Revolution, Richard Peters was made judge of the United States 
District Court for Pennsylvania, famed for his learning and his lavish enter- 
tainments in his beautiful mansion at Belmont, in Eairmount Park. 

This was the great-grandfather of Ralph Peters, whose parents were 
Richard (distinguished engineer) and Alary Jane (Thompson) Peters. 

Ralph Peters was educated in jntblic and private schools in Atlanta and 
Baltimore and was graduated B.A. from the University of Georgia in 1872. 

He then entered the service of the Atlanta Street Railways and relin- 
quished their superintendenc}' to go to the Pennsylvania Railroad, becoming 
successively division superintendent of the Logansport, Ind., and Cincinnati 
divisions, and eventually general superintendent at Columbus, Ohio, until 1005. 
During his early career with the comi)any he had filled other positions with 
subsidiary lines and when elected president and general manager of the Long 
Island Railroad, was one of the best e(|uipped railroad men in the country. 

Taking hold of a property that was struggling under many disadvantages 
and looked upon as a summer excursion proposition, without equipment or 
facilities to meet the demands of the busy season, and with no business to 
meet the expenses of the dull season. ]\lr. Peters has made it an all-year- 
round proposition and develo])ed a railroad property ha\-ing gross earnings 
of $26,433 per mile per annum ; a most ^-aluable adjunct to the Pennsylvania 
Railroad as a distributor of its traffic in the greater city of Xew^ York, besides 
bringing into close touch with the city a great and productive area. 

In addition to his railroad interests, ]Mr. Peters is a director of the Equi- 
table Trust Company, Franklin Trust Company, Queens Count}- branch of 
Corn Exchange Bank, and the Matawok Land Company. 

He is a member of the Lawyers Clul), Railroad Clul) of Xew ^'ork, Xew 
A'ork Yacht. Garden Cit}-, and Garden City Golf Clubs ; the Sons of the Revo- 
lution, Ohio. Georgia and Southern Societies, and Society of Colonial ^^'ars in 
Ohio. 

]\Ir. Peters has offices in the Pennsylvania Station in Xew York City, and 
his residence is at Garden City, Long Island. He married Eleanor H. Good- 
man, in Cincinnati, June 7, 1882, and has six children: Eleanor Hartshorn, 
Pauline Faxon, Ralph, Jr., Dorothy. Helaine Piatt, and Jane Brentnall Peters. 



G16 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




GEXEKAL EDWIX AUGUSTUS MCALPIN 



G' 



GEXERAL f-nil'lX .lUGUSTUS McALPlX 01 r 

EXERAL EDWIX AUGUSTUS McALPIX, who has attained dis- 
tinction in business, poHtical and military hfe, was l:)orn in New 
^'ork City, June 9, 1848, the son of David Hunter AIcAIpin and Adelaide 
(Rose) McAlpin. His paternal grandfather. James McAlpin, of sturdy Scotch- 
Irish stock, came from Belfast, Ireland, and settled in Dutchess County, New 
York, where he was a grocer. His forliears were among the Scots who enii- 
grated from Scotland to Ireland in Cromwell's time, and were of the ancient 
Clan Alpine, famed in history and song. 

Edwin A. McAlpin attended the public schools of New York, and Phil- 
lips Academy, Andover, 3*Iassachusetts, being graduated during the early part 
of the Civil ^Var. He ardently desired to take part in that memoral)le con- 
flict, and twice actually enlisted, but his father's authority w^as interposed to 
keep him from the risks and dangers of war during his days of immaturity 
and adolescence. The war closed before he was seventeen years old. 

His father, who established himself in the tobacco manufacturing business 
several vears before the war, took Mr. AIcAlpin into the office of his manu- 
factory, on Avenue D, and he afterward became a partner in the firm and 
later corporation, and, after his father's death, its president, until the entire 
business, then the largest of its kind, was sold to the American Tobacco Com- 
pany. He has now largely retired, excejit for a few directorships, from the 
activities of business life, devoting his attention to his property interests. 

In i86g he entered the National Guard of New York as a i)rivate in the 
Seventh Regiment. He resigned from that regiment, January 29, 1875, to 
accept a commission as first lieutenant in the Seventy-first Regiment, of which 
he was later promoted successively captain, major and colonel. After eigh- 
teen years of service he resigned with the record of one of the ablest of regi- 
mental commanders, but in 1895 Governor Morton appointed him adjutant 
general of the State, with rank of major general. His skill and zeal bore 
their impress in marked improvements in the service under his administration. 

He became a resident of Ossining in 1878, served a term as postmaster 
there, and another as mayor and has several times been an elector on the Re- 
publican presidential ticket. He became one of the leaders in the League of 
Repuljlican Clubs movement, was president of the Xew ^'ork State League, 
1889-1892, and president of the Xational League of Repulilican l"lu])s in 1895. 
He is a member of the Board of Trade and Transportation, Chamber of Com- 
merce, St. Andrew's Society, Society of Colonial Wars, and the Army and 
Navy, L'nion League, Lotos, New York Athletic and Republican Clubs. 

He married, in New York City, October 2~. 1870, Annie, daughter of Dr. 
Benjamin Brandreth. ]\lrs. Mcx\lpin died March 10, 1908. General McAl])in 
has five sons: Colonel Benjamin 15.. Rev. Etlwin A., Jr., David IT. 3d, Dr. 
Kenneth R., and J. Roderick ;\IcAli)in. 



018 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



mmnm\m\ttfii!mmi\mnmw 




GEORGE BRUCE CORTELYOU 



GEORGE BRUGE GORTELYOU t'19 



G 



RORGE BRLX'E CORTELVUU lias had a career in life which, 
in its details, is one of the most inspiring in our age. It is that of 
a man whose advance, while rapid, has been step by step, who, to use a common 
expression, has "made good" in every sjjhere of service to which he has been 
called, and who has shown breadth and capacit}- in every phase of duty, from 
the daily routine of clerkship to the highest places of ])ublic and business life. 

Mr. Cortelyou is a New Yorker of one of the oldest families, his first 
American ancestor having been Captain Jacciues Cortelyou, who, coming from 
Holland to New Amsterdam about 1642, during the administration of Wilhelm 
Kieft as director general of the province, became founder of New Utrecht, 
one of the "five Dutch towns" of Long Island, and served for a considerable 
period as surveyor general of the colony of New Netherland. 

George Bruce Cortelyou was born in New York City, July 26, 1862, son 
of Peter Crolius Cortelyou, Jr., and R(^se (Seary) Cortelyou, his father l)eing 
in business as a type founder. 

After attending the public schools for several years, ]\Ir. Cortelyou pur- 
sued his further education in the Nazareth El all Military Academy, 1S73, was 
graduated from the Hempstead (L. L) Institute, 1879, State Normal School 
Westfield, Mass., 1882, entered the New England Conservatory of Music, 
Boston, 1883, and attended and graduated from Walworth's Stenographic 
Institute, 1883-1884. He engaged in general law and verbatim re])orting in 
the City of New York in 1883, and served as principal of preparatory schools 
in New York from 1883 to 1889. Several years later he took the law 
course in Georgetown University and in Columbian (now George Washington) 
University, graduating from the former in 1895, with the degree of LL.B. and 
from the latter in 1896, with the degree of LL.]\I. The degree of LL.D. has 
been conferred upon him by Georgetown University, University of Illinois, 
and the Kentucky Wesleyan Universitv. 

Mr. Cortelyou had become a stenographer of surpassing excellence and 
accuracy, and this accomplishment was a stepping-stone in the reniarkal)Ie 
advancement which attended his career in the public service from 1889, when 
he was appointed secretary to the Appraiser of the Port of New York. He 
was afterward, consecutively, private secretary to the post-office inspector in 
charge at New York, the Surveyor of the Port of New York, and the Fourth 
Assistant Postmaster-General at Washington. He was selected as confidential 
stenographer in November, 1895, and executive clerk in February, 1896, to 
President Cleveland, remaining in the Executive Mansion in the same capacity 
when the McKinley administration came in, in March, 1897: was appointed 
assistant secretary to President McKinley on July i. 1898; secretary to the 
President, April 13, 1900; reappointed ?\larch 15, 1901 ; and on Sejitember 16, 
1901, reappointed by President Roosevelt. 



c-.'it HISTORY or \l-ll' YORK 

Both of these great Presidents showed great regard for Air. Cortelyou, 
and a liigh appreciation of his administrative and executive abihty, and when, 
in igo^, the Department of Commerce and Lal)or was created, witli a 
secretary, who became tlie ninth member of the President's Cabinet, Mr. 
Roosevelt nominated y\v. Cortelvou, Feliruarv i6, 1003. for the ]ilace, and he 
was confirmed the same day. He filled it for a vear and a half, when he 
resigned the ])ost in order to be free to take up the duties of chairman of the 
Republican National Committee, to which oflice he was elected June 2 7,. i<}04. 

In that capacity Mr. Cortelvou had full charge of the national campaign, 
which resulted in the election of Theodore Roosevelt as President of the United 
States, by the largest popular vote and greatest plurality ever given to a 
jiresidential candidate. After Air. Roosevelt's election he called Air. Cortelyou 
i)ack to his Cal)inet, in which he served for the entire four vears, being appointed 
postmaster-general, Alarch 7, 1905, serving until 1907, and appointed Secretary 
of the Treasury, Alarch 4, 1907, serving as such until March 8. 1909. 

Air. Cortelyou then accepted his present position as president of the 
Consolidated Gas Companv of New York, one of the greatest public utility 
corporations in the world, for the duties of which the experience and training 
of Air. Cortelyou constituted a most admirable preparation. 

(Jne of the most noteworthy of his characteristics is a remarkal)le genius 
for administration, for thorough organization of forces entrusted to his 
ilirection, and for the creation of svstem for their utilization. liis service as 
secretary to President AIcKinlev brought these characteristics into strong 
relief in the relation of the President (who was also a Republican candidate) 
to the campaign of 1900, and still more in the following year during the trying 
period of the assassination and death of President AIcKinle\', when the duty of 
arranging details, and dealing with tact and judgment with many unusual 
situations, brought to public view the fact that the man of method who had 
made such an efficient secretary was also a man of power, with executive ability 
fitting him for higher duties. His selection to the chairmanship of the Republican 
National Committee after the death of the keen and forceful Senator Alark 
Hanna. led to some misgivings on the part of manv party leaders; but here, 
again. Air. Cortelyou showed the completeness of capacity that has always 
been his when new and untried duties have been thrust u])on him. 

Mr. Cortelvou is a member of the Holland Societv, the Chamber of 
Commerce, Union League, Press, Graduates and Rejuiblican Clubs. His city 
residence is at Riverdale-on-IIudson. and country home at lialesite, L. I. 

He married, at Roslyn, L. I., in 1888, Lily Aiorris Hinds, daughter of 
Dr. Eiihraim Hinds, president of the Heni])stead Institute, Hempstead, L. I. 
Of tliis ni.arriage have been born \'\w children: George Pruce. Jr., i88(): Wil- 
liam W'inthroi), i8()i ; (irace, 181)7; Helen, i8i)(), and Peter Crolius, !<jo8. 



WILLIAM IIODKLR BRADLEY ii-,'1 

WILLIAM HOOKER HRADLEV, chief engineer of the Consoh- 
dated Gas Coni])any, who for forty years has been ])niniinently con- 
nected with gas-works construction and ()])eration, lias lieen an important fac- 
tor in the development and progress of gas in this country. 

Mr. Bradlev was born in New Haven, Conn., August 2'^, i''^,>''^. the son 
of Charles and Sarah (Stanley) pjradley. His ancestors were luiglish. who 
settled here in the Colonial days, and b:)th l)ranc]ies (if liis familv were promi- 
nent in the early history of Connecticut, an uncle of his mother. Dr. Charles 
1 looker, lieing at one time professor of medicine at \'ale I"^niversitv. Mr. 
ISradlev's education was acquired in his nati\-e town; after which he served 
several vears in the mechanical (lei>artnient of a manufacturing concern ;ind 
then entered the ser\-ice of the Contini'Utal IrdU \\'orks. of Lniokh-n. 

At the close of the Civil \\ ar, Mr. Lradley estalilished a machine and 
boiler works in the Pennsyh'ania oil li?lds. He built and navigated the onlv 
steam vessel on Oil Creek up to that time, and his advanced methods were a 
great stimulus to trade in those stirring davs. 

Mr. Bradley returned to New \'ork in 1870 and resumed his connection 
with the Continental Iron Works, devoting his energies to the erection of gas 
plants in all parts of the country, the last plant constructed under Mr. Brad- 
ley's su])ervision being that of the Municipal Gas Works, New \ork Citv. 
This was a water-gas plant of the Tessie du Motay type. It was the earliest 
of its kind erected, and has been, with modifications, in constant use ever since. 

Mr. Bradley's knowledge of gas and construction lirought to him the 
appointment of chief engineer of the Municipal Gas Companv, in 1S76, and 
after the combining of several of the conii)anies in 18S4, he was continued in 
that position and in 18S6 was made chief engineer of the Consolidated Gas 
Company, embracing six of the conipanies operating on Manhattan Island. 

It was largely through Air. Bradlev's etTorts that the Consolidated Gas 
Company decided to remove its entire plant to Astoria. Lie had foreseen the 
necessity of increased facilities and his foresight made possilile llie great de- 
\-el(ipment of the works. 

Mr. Bradley's career has been <iue of progress, and he is a recognized 
authority in every branch of the art of gas making. He has been a member 
of the American Gas Light Association since 1875, and he is now j)resident 
of the American Gas Institute. He has also been for vears a member of 
the Society of Mechanical Engineers; the Engineers' and Lotus Clubs; the 
Metropolitan ^Museum of Art: the Museum of Natural History; the Sons of 
the Revolution, and is an honorary member of the New England Association 
of Gas Engineers. 

Mr. Bradley married Miss Elizabeth \\'hitlock, of New Ha\-en, Conn., 
and four children have been born to them. 



HISTORY Of XEir YORK 




D 



D.IRinX PliAKL KIXGSLEY G-23 

lARWIN PEARL KINGSLEY, now president of the New York 
Life Lisurance Company, is a native of A^ermont. His ancestry 
goes back to England whence, in the early part of the Seventeenth Cen- 
turv, three brothers Kingsley came to Xew England, one settling in 
]\Iaine, one in Massachusetts, and one in Connecticut. Each of these 
became the progenitor of good American families. The Massachusetts 
branch is the one to which Mr. Kingsley belongs, his direct family 
having been transplanted to \'ermont by his great-great-grandfather, who 
had been born in Massachusetts. One of his grandsons, Nathan Kingsley, 
established himself in Grand Isle County, Vermont, where his descendants 
have lived, for the greater part, ever since. One of these was Hiram 
Pearl Kingsley, who was a successful farmer at Alburgh, X'ermont. He 
represented Grand Isle County in the A'ermont Legislature, and was a 
leading and highly respected citizen. He married Miss Celia P. LaDue, of 
Huguenot ancestry, who now lives at Burlington, \>rmont. Mr. Darwin 
Pearl Kingsley was born of that marriage, at Alburgh, A^ermont, May 5, 1857. 

After completing his common-school education, ]\Ir. Kingsley was 
fitted for college at Barre, A'ermont, and in 1S77 was matriculated at the 
University of Vermont. He worked his way through academy and uni- 
versity by farm work, school-teaching, etc., by his own efforts obtaining 
the funds necessary for this purpose, and received from the University 
of Vermont the degree of A.B. in 1881, that of A.M. in 1884, 'infl that of 
LL.D. in 1904. 

Upon his graduation, in 1881, Mr. Kingsley went to Colorado and 
during 1882 was a school-teacher in that State. After the removal of the 
L'te Indians from their reservation, he became one of the most active of 
the pioneers who developed, and attracted settlers to. Western Colorado. 
He became editor of the Grand Junction (Colorado) News in 1883, and 
made that paper prominent not onl}- in the ])romotion of local interests, 
but also as an exponent and advocate of the principles of the Republican 
party. He acquired much facility as a public speaker and rapidly attained 
a place of prominence in politics in Colorado. He was a delegate from that 
State to the National Republican Convention in 1884, and in 1886 was 
nominated by the Republican State Convention and elected to the office 
of State auditor and insurance commissioner of Colorado. In that position 
he acquired an insight into the subject of life insurance which turned the 
current of his business career from journalism into underwriting, which 
he took up upon the expiration of his term of office in the State Insurance 
Department of Colorado. 

With a view to a career in life insurance, Mr. Kingsley went to 
Boston and became connected in that citv with the branch office of the 



• i-.'l HISTORY OP \l:ir ]'OKK 

Xew A'ork l.ifc Insurance l'(inii)any in iX8i;. There he developed a 
des^'ree of aliiHty and aptitude which sunn marked him for ])romotion, and 
in ]8ij2 lie was called to Xew ^'ork to take tlie important i)osition of 
superintendent of a_i;'encies of the company, a ])osition which he held for 
six years. In iSi^S he was elected trustee and a vice jiresident of the com- 
l)'iny. holding" these ])<isitions until elected, June 17, 11)07, president of the 
com])an\-, where he has displa}'ed aldlities ]dacin^' him in the front rank 
of life insurance cxecuti\-es in this country. He is an authority on the sul)- 
iect, and in writing's and addresses has discussed a wide range of life 
insurance iirohlems. Some of these ])ai)ers and addresses have l^een col- 
lected into a \dlume and i)ublished under the title The First lUisiness of 
the \\'<irld. He is also an occasional contributor to reviews and maga- 
zines on insurance and ntlier subjects, and is a noted after-dinner s|)eaker. 

The 1905 investigation of life insurance left ^Ir. Kingsle}"'s reputation 
untouched b}- even the breath of scandal, and he heartily approved every 
line of the legislation that followed which was in the interest of better 
and safer management. But he registered a \-igorous protest against its 
radical features, especially those which ^•iolated economic laws and those 
whicli x'irtuallv t(^ok the management of companies out of the hands of 
those res])onsil:)le for their conduct. He continued his assaults upon these 
features of the law imtil he stood practically alone in the matter, declaring 
that nothing is ever jiermanentl}' settled in this country until it is settled 
right. < )ne by one the radical features of the law have been modified, the 
last change — made in June, njio — l)eing the removal of the arl)itrary limit 
u])on new business. Mr. Kingsle}' is an ardent advocate of the federal 
sui)ervision of all interstate insurance, and has ])ublished several able 
articles on the subject. 

Mr. i\ingsle\- is a direct(n- of the Louisville and Xaslndlle Railroad 
C(im])an\-, and of the Citizens' Central X'ational Rank of Xew ^'(n-k. He 
is a trustee and a nKnd)er of the I'inance Committee of the L'nix'ersity of 
X'ermont. He is a mendter of the X^ew ^'ork L'hand)er of Connnerce, of 
the University, Union League, }ilerchants", St. Andrew's Coif, and other 
clubs of X"ew \'ork, and of the X'ew England Society of Xew \"ork. 

He married, first, at Milton, X'ermont, June nj, 18S4, Mary ]\I. 
Mitchell, who died at I'.rookline, ]\Lassachusetts. in August. 1890, leaving 
him one son, A\ alton Pearl Kingsley. He married, second, nn Decendier 
3, 1893. in Xew ^'ork Cit}-, |osephine, daughter of the late Hon. John A. 
McCall, then president of the Xew "^'ork Life Insurance Com])any. and of 
that marriage has four children: Llope Kingsley, Darwin Pearl Kingsley, 
jr., John .McCall Kingsley, and Lois Kingsley. His home is at Riverdale- 
on- Hud son, Xew ^'ork, X. 'W 



EDiriX ir.lRREX DIILEOX 



6-2 o 



E 



HfP'i"'; 






DWIN WARREN DE LE( )X \\as born in Charleston, S. C, 
August 6, 1868, son of HaniKin Hendricks and Caroline Agnes 
(Moi'se) De Leon. His Spanish ancestor, jacnh De Leon, came to America 
about 1760, and became captain on General La Ivayette's staff. 

Graduating from Columbia Law ScIiodI as L L.B., 1888, he was admitted 
to the Xew York Bar, in September, 1888. He was special agent of the 
American Casualty Com- 
pany of Baltimore, 1892- m%\fMM7m%W'mF},T'': ;\ ■ ' .. ■lillllHiHIiM'"'', 
i8(;3: was assistant Xew 
\'ork State manager 1893- 
1894, and manager at X^ew 
York, 1 894- 1 898, of the 
Liability Department of the 
Travelers' Insurance Com- 
pany; X"^ew York manager 
of the Maryland Casualty 
Company, 1 898- 1 903 . I n 
July, 1903, he became vice 
president and general man- 
ager, and since April, 1909. 
has been president of Cas- 
ualty Company of America. 

He is author of "The 
Law of Liability," 1899; 
"Manual of Liability Insur- 
ance," 1909; the article- 
"Casualty Insurance" (En 
cyclopaedia Americana ), and 
"Liability Insurance" (Cy- 
clopedia of Law and Pro 
cedure — American Anno- 
tations), I 9 I o. He i- 
on the Executive Commit- 
tee of the International 
Association of Accident 
Underwriters: chairman Editorial Board, International Insurance Encyclo- 
p.edia; member American Association for Labor Legislation, American Sta- 
tistical Association. Xational Child-Labor Committee, Columbia University 
Alumni, Sons of the American Revolution, Southern Society, South Carolina 
Society, Casualty and Surety, Economic, Lawyers' and L^nderwriters' Clubs. 
He married, in Kansas City, Mo.. January 2},, 1901, Frances E. Moi.se, 




EDWIN WARREN DE LEON 



G2G 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




A 



AXUREIV FOSTER HJGGIXS G27 

NDREW FOSTER HIGGINS. whose career as an underwriter, 
adjuster and financier has earned liini a prominent position in the 
business world, was born January 24, 1S31, in Macon, Georgia, where his 
father, Charles A. Higgins, was engaged in the cotton business. His mother 
was before her marriage Miss Lucy Rice Crocker; and his paternal grand- 
mother, born Amelia Andrus, was a daughter of General Andrus, and a 
famous belle of the American Revolutionary period at Newark. 

After prei)aratory education in Georgia schools he i)ursued collegiate 
courses in Colgate University and Coltmibia University, but financial reverses 
befell his father and he found himself confronted with the necessity of giving 
up his collegiate career and going to work. He met the situation manfully, 
taking the first position offered, which happened to be that of clerk in a 
tailoring establishment, until he could find something more to his taste. Six 
months later, in 1847, ^""^ began his long career in the insurance profession 
Ijy securing a position with the firm of Jones & Johnson, marine insurance 
adjusters, in which position he devoted himself to the studv of the ])rinciples 
of average adjustment, of which he gained such an exj^ert knowledge, that, 
at the solicitation of Vice-President Josiah H. Hall, he became adjuster for 
the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company. He later, with Henrv W. Johnson, 
established the adjusting and insurance firm of Johnson & Higgins. 

Mr. Higgins attained distinction as an adjuster of such ability and accu- 
racy that out of at least ten thousand adjustments made by him, less than 
twenty were appealed from, and in such cases as went into court Mr. Hig- 
gins was invariably sustained. At first the firm kept a staff of lawyers to 
advise them as to legal questions, but Mr. Higgins, realizing that at some 
time or other every possible question relating -to marine insurance had been 
passed upon, set to work to make what became the most complete collection 
of marine decisions ever gathered together, and was able to dispense with 
the four lawyers on his firm's staff'. 

jMr. Higgins did notable service in straightening out the aff'airs of 
the United States Lloyds, which was a new adventure on the basis of 
individual unlimited liabihty each for his respective share thereof, of each 
risk, the whole number being one hundred. It had been organized by 
Douglas Robinson, who was of English birth and familiar with the Eng- 
lish Lloyds, and he had associated with him James F. Cox as associate agent, 
and one hundred of the largest and ablest financiers of New York. As the 
business had not gone on to the satisfaction of the directors, Mr. Higgins, 
at the earnest solicitation of J. Pierpont Morgan and Samuel D. Babcock, two 
of the most important directors, examined into the status of the association, 
with the result that he declared it to be insolvent and much in debt, but with 
a splendid business under conmiand, if properlv managed. The two eminent 



6-^8 HISTORY OF XEJF YORK 

financiers mentioned requested ^Ir. Higqins to assume charge of the whole 
business, wind up the association and settle its liabilities, and then to start a 
new business on its opportunities, which he did, winding up the old company 
with a loss of $700,000, and at date of closing- the existing underwriting, 
started a new company with the same name. He associated with him Mr. 
Cox, in the firm thereafter known as Higgins & Cox, which in two years 
made up all losses up to that date, and has ever since been successfully 
engaged in business. 

The rehabilitation of the Knickerbocker Trust Company in the troublous 
days of IQ07 is another great achievement. ]Mr. Higgins, who had before 
that retired from the activities of business life, was one of the thirtv-five mem- 
bers of the Board of Trustees of the institution at the time when the run 
upon its resources crmiiKdled the cbising of its doors. The situation of the 
institution at that period of stress and stringency was absolutely desperate, 
and Mr. Higgins. whose record pointed to him as the one man equal to the 
task, was tmanimously chnsen to conduct the work of reorganization and 
rehabilitation. Finding that a large cash sum was needed to insure the suc- 
cess of his program, he set to work to raise it in spite of the forbidding 
market conditions. Before the panic the stock of the company had been sell- 
ing at $1200 per share. ]\Ir. Higgins, coming across 80,000 shares of treasury 
stock which had ne^-er been issued, found a market for it at S300 per share, 
and then, finding himself $400,000 short of the amount needed to finance the 
compan\' back to life, offered to be one of ten men to put up $40,000 each, 
which offer being met, he carried through his plans with such success that 
all obligations were paid, and the comimny became again a successful going 
concern, and assumed once more a place among the sound and substantial 
financial organizations of the country. 

Mr. Higgins is a director of the Crocker-\Mieeler Co., the Knicker- 
bocker Safe Deposit Co., Mexican Northern Railwav Co. ( of which he is also 
president and treasurer ) ; vice president of the Compania Metallurgica ]\Iexi- 
cana, the Potosi and Rio Grande Railwav Co. and the Sombrerete Mining 
Co.; director of the b^resnillo Mining Co.. Mexican Lead Co., Montezuma 
Lead Co., and the Tezlutlan Copper Alining and Smelting Co. 

He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, 
and of its Executive Committee; was ca])tain of Company D, Twenty-second 
Regiment, during the Civil War and afterward; is one of the few survivors 
of the original members of the Centurv Club, memlier of the City, Down 
Town, Jekyl Island, Manhattan Chess and other clubs. 

Mr. Higgins married Sarah Hamilton Cornell, daughter of John H. Cor- 
nell, banker, and the_\- had a son and daughter, both of whom are now 
deceased. He resides in Greenwich, Conn. 



BEEKMAN HUNT 



629 



B 



EEKAIAX HUNT was Ijorn in Xcw ^(l^k, April 20, 1869, youngest 
son of Cliarles Havens and Anna de Peyster (Livingston) Hunt. 
He is a direct descendant of John Hunt, who came from Wales in the latter 
part of the Seventeenth Century, and through his mother, from Rohert Liv- 
ingston, First Lord of Livingston Manor on the Hudson. Through his 
grandmother, Cornelia de Peyster, he is a direct descendant uf Johannes de 
Peyster, hurgomaster of 
New Amsterdam (or Ne 
Orange), in 1673: ai 1 
through his great-gran^ 1 
mother, Eliza Beekman, d 
scendant from William 
Beekman, hurgomaster ^'i 
New Amsterdam, in 1671 
and mavor of New York m 
1683. 

Beekman Hunt began 
business life with a Wall 
Street broker at thirteen 
soon after he entered tin 
American Telephone and 
Telegraph Company, rising 
to be assistant to the di\ 1 
sion superintendent; tht n 
with The .Etna Indemnii \ 
Company, becoming solii 
itor in 1897 and manager m 
i89(j oi its New Yoi 1 
branch. When the compan 
executive offices were r 
moved, in 1902, from Hart 
ford. Conn., to New \ov\ 
he was elected assistant sec- 
retary, and in February, 
1904, its president. He is 

president of the Title Guaranty Company of Rochester, N. Y., trustee of the 
Washington Savings Bank of New York; secretary-treasurer of the Surety 
Association of America, and member of the Underwriters' Club. 

He married, October 12, 1898, Ethel, daughter of Rev. Arthur Sloan, 
chaplain of Sailors' Snug Harbor, Staten Island. They have two children: 
Isabelle de Peyster Hunt and Livingston Sloan Hunt. 




BEEKMAN ?IUNT 



63(1 



HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 




ANTON ADOLl'II RAX'EN 



ANTON ADO LP H RAVEN 631 



AXTUX ADULPH RAVEN was born September 30, 1S33, at Cura- 
coa, Dutch West Indies, son of John R. and Petronella (Hatchings) 
Raven. His jiaternal ancestry was Enghsh, and his mother was of New York 
"Knickerbocker stock," her ancestors having- emigrated from Holland to New 
^'ork, afterwards removing to the Dutch West Indies, where Mr. Raven's boy- 
hood was passed until he was seventeen years old, w'hen he came to New York. 

He became a clerk in the office of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Com- 
pany, January 4, 1852, and worked hard to learn the business with such com- 
pleteness as to make his service of the highest value. Adhering to this pol- 
icy throughout his business career, Mr. Raven received steady promotion, 
])eing iirst made underwriter, then fourth vice president, and later third vice 
president, which position he held ten years. He then advanced to the second 
vice presidency, and in 1895 was made vice president, two years later being 
elected to the presidency of the companv, which office he holds, after fifty-eight 
years of most valuable service. As each advanced position became vacant, it 
found him the one man I)est qualified to fill it, both as to executive ability and 
technical knowledge of marine underwriting. His qualifications are not only 
fully recognized by insurance men, l^ut also bv the academic world, he having 
been selected as one of the lecturers in the course in marine insurance at Yale 
Universit}-. 

Not only have Mr. Raven's abilities been of incalculable benefit to the 
Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, but they have always been freely given 
to public causes and in support of measures to secure good government in the 
city, although he has never sought nor held political preferment. His career 
exemplifies the practical value of trained capabilities, untiring energy and 
fidelity to confided interests, as factors in making up the combination which 
is called success. 

He has taken an efifective part in the work of the Society for the 
Improvement of the Condition of the Poor in the Borough of Brooklyn, and 
in private and local charitable work. 

Mr. Raven is a vice president of the American Geographical Society, a 
member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, of the American Museum of 
Natural History, and of the Montauk Club of Brooklyn. 

Besides these and other social connections, Mr. Raven is a member and 
director of several prominent financial corporations and organizations. 

He was married in New York City in i860 to Miss Gertrude Oatman, 
and they have four children. One of these is the Rev. John Howard Raven, 
D.D., a distinguished clergyman of the Reformed Church in America and an 
educator and philologist of note, now filling the position of professor of Old 
Testament languages and exegesis in the Theological Seminary of the 
Reformed Church in America at New Brunswick, New Jersey. 



632 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



iiV 'iftfii'ii a 




MARSHALL SYLVANUS DRIGGS 



MARSHALL SYLVANUS DRIGGS 633 



MARSHALL SYLVANUS DRIGGS, late president of the Williams- 
burgh City Fire Insurance Company, was born in New York City, 
January 9, 1834; son of Edmund and Delia Ann (Marshall) Driggs. He 
was of English extraction, the founder of the family in America having been 
Joseph Driggs, lawyer and extensive landowner, who was born in London, 
England, in 1686, and settled in Saybrook, Connecticut, in 171 2. Mr. Driggs' 
grandfather, Elliott Driggs, moved from Connecticut to New York State in 
1792, and located in Greenwich Village, New York City, and his father, 
Edmund Driggs, organized and was president of the Williamsburgh City Eire 
Insurance Company, and held many places of honor and trust during his long 
and active life. 

Mr. Driggs was educated in the Preparatory School of George Payne 
Ouackenbos, distinguished scholar and educator, and in the Redding (Conn.) 
Institute. He began his business career with the issuance of the first policy 
of the Williamsburgh City Eire Insurance Company, in March, 1853. He 
remained with the Company for four years, and then resigned his position as 
assistant secretary^of the company to go into other business, in which he 
continued for thirty-two years. He became a director of the Williamsburgh 
City Eire Insurance Company in 1S68, and in August, 1889, his father having 
died, he was elected to succeed him as president of the company, which office 
he held until his death at his summer residence, September 14, 1910. 

Mr. Driggs was also a director in the Eirst National Bank of Brooklyn, 
the National Surety Company, Casualty Company of America, Empire State 
Surety Company, American Malt Corporation and Williamsburgh Trust 
Company, and vice president of the Cypress Hill Cemetery. 

He was treasurer of the National Board of Fire Underwriters ; was vice 
president of the New York Board of Eire Underwriters in 1901 and 1902, and 
its president in 1903 and 1904; was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, 
the Underwriters' Club, Rumson Country Club, Automobile Club of America, 
Country Club of New Canaan, Connecticut, and of the Democratic Club of 
Brooklyn. 

Politically he was a Democrat of the old school, but was not active in 
politics and he never held political office. He was formerly a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, but left it because of a difference of view re- 
garding baptism, and after that was a member of the Baptist Church. 

Mr. Driggs married at Redding Ridge, Connecticut, December 24, 1857, 
Mary Elizabeth Sanford, daughter of Aaron and Fanny Sanford, of Redding, 
Connecticut, and sister of the late Henry Sanford, president of the Adams 
Express Company. They had a son, Marshall S. Driggs, Jr., born November 
10, 1858, who died in infancy. He had a city residence in Brooklyn, and a 
country home at New Canaan, Connecticut. 



634 



HISTORY OF XEjr YORK 



I 
' • ll 



I'l' I III 




JOHN GERALD IIILLIARD 



JOHX GERALD HILLIARD 635 

JOHN GERALD HILLIARD. who has lono- held a place of distinc- 
tion aniono- the representatives of the fire insurance interest in New 
York, was born in Scott County, Iowa, August 21, 1858, Ijeing the son of 
Samuel and jane Eagar (Boate) Hilliard. He is a descendant of the Irish 
branch of the Hilliard family, through Captain Robert Llilliard, of Crom- 
well's army, who was of the ancient Hildyard family of W'ynestead Hall, in 
Holderness, Yorkshire, England; and also traces descent through the Blenner- 
hassetts, Lynns, Nevilles, etc., to Edward III. After the war Captain Hilliard 
settled in Ireland and from there his descendant, Samuel Hilliard, came to 
the L^nited States in i84() and engaged in the lumber business in Daven])ort, 
Iowa. 

C)n his mother's side. Air. Hilliard is a descendant from Gerard Boate, 
M.D., physician to Charles I, ;ind author of "Ireland's Natural History" ]iub- 
lished in London in 1652. 

Coming from Iowa in early childhood to Brooklyn, N. Y., which has 
since been his home, Mr. Hilliard was educated in the public schools of that 
city, from which he was graduated at the age of thirteen. The following vear 
(1872) he entered the employ of the firm of Frame, Hare & Lockwood, insur- 
ance agents, in whose office he was, at the age of eighteen, promoted to the 
position of local underwriter. In 1887 he became a member of the firm (if 
Ackerman, Deyo & Hilliard, and since i(jo2 has continued the business under 
his own name as sole princi])al. x\t present he is manager for the Metro- 
iwlitan District for the Scottish LTnion and National Insurance Company of 
Edinburgh; the American Central Insurance Company of St. Louis, Missouri; 
the Security Insurance Company of New Haven; the Liverpool and London 
and Globe Insurance Company of New ^'ork; Girard Fire and Marine Insur- 
ance Company of Philadelphia; Lumbermans Insurance Company of Philadel- 
phia; Albany Insurance Companv of Albanv, N. Y. ; German Insurance Com- 
pany of ^^'heeling, West Virginia; the Prussian National Insurance Company 
of Germany, and Standard Insurance Company of LI art ford. These are all 
companies of great financial strength and unim])eachal)le record for fulfillment 
of their insurance contracts. 

Mr. Hilliard is reg-arded in the profession as an underwriter of expert 
ability and trained judgment, whose success has been earned bv conservative 
and sound underwriting, and his agencv transacts a very large business. 

He is also president of the Lhiderwriters' Building Company, which is 
engaged in erecting a sixteen-story office building at 51 to 59 John Street, 
corner of Dutch Street, to lie known as the Hilliard Building, a full-page illus- 
tration of which appears in the historical section of this book. It will ciiver 
a plot of 7200 scjuare feet, with frontages of 81 feet on John Street and 'Sj feet 
on Dutch Street. The John Street frontage is approximately half the block. 



GM HISTORY OF XEir YORK 

and as the remaininja,' half of the l)lock frontas^e, comprising- the WiUiam 
Street corner, has been recently im])roved with a six-story office Imilding, the 
nine n])])cr floors of the Hilliard Bnilding- will have lio-ht on all four sides. 
Historically it occupies a notable site, jjeing built u])on the spot where, on Jan- 
uary i8, 1770, occurred the conflict between citizens and British soldiers, known 
as "the battle of Golden Hill," which some have described as the "first conflict 
of the War of the American Revolution." Architecturally it will present a 
cheerful relief from the dull monotonv of uglv skvscrapers with sawed-oft' tops. 
Its three lower sturies will be accentuated by a row (if limestone ])ilasters of 
Corinthian desig-n, the front of the fourth floor being decorated in classic design 
and the walls thence to the top are of Roman brick and terra cotta, crowned 
with a roof which is liuilt up on graceful lines of much architectural beauty, 
and which, silhouetted against the skv, will present a most attractive and 
striking- appearance in comparison with the severely truncated tops of many 
others of our great business blocks. The Hilliard building is one of the very 
few of the great office buildings which have been designed with a view to com- 
bine an architectural exterior expression which will beautify the city, with the 
most improved features which modern invention has devised for the conven- 
ience of modern office business. A carved limestone doorway will open from 
the centre of the John Street front into the vestibule and elevator lobbies 
which will be finished in bronze and Italian marble. Being built in the heart 
of the insurance district and intended chieflv for insurance offices the building- 
will excel especially in its advanced desiral)ilitv from the underwriters' stand- 
point, and from foundation to roof has exceptional fire|)roof features far 
beyond any requirement of law. In interior e(|uipment nothing of value or 
convenience has been omitted from the design; in short, the building is the 
completed realization of the last word of modern re(|uiremcnt as to what such 
a structure shovfld be. The character of the occu])ancy has already been fixed 
by the execution of twenty-one vear leases to several important fire insurance 
com])anies and agencv firms. Among these will be that conducted by Mr. 
Hilliard, which will occu|)v convenient offices in the l)uilding, which is 
undiiubtedlv the finest structure in the Xorth insurance district. 

Mr. Hilliard is a Republican in his ])olitical affiliations; and socially he is 
a member of the Lawvers' Club of New York, the Down Town Association, 
the New York Athletic Club, and the IMarine and Field Club, Union League 
(/lub, Brodkhn, }klerchants' Association, and Chamber of Commerce of New 

Ynvk. 

He has his city residence at 258 Decatur Street, in Brooklyn, and has a 
most attractive country ]^lace of fifteen thousand acres at Srug-rena Chace, in 
Pike County, Pennsylvania, where his summers are usually spent. 

Mr. Milliard married, in I5rooklvn, ()ctol)er 15, 188^, Eleanor L. Swimm. 



CARL /•. STL'RHAHX 



c 



ARL F. STURHAHX, who lias attainetl for liiniselt a position of 
prominence in the insurance ])rofession in New York Cit\', was l:)orn 
in Osnabriick, Germany, January 25, 1S70, and comes of a (Hstins^uished 
Hanoverian Hneage, the full family name being Sturhahn von Barenkempen. 

He received a college education in Germanv, and afterward filled his 
recpiired term of military service as an officer in the (_icrman Armw 

He entered the insur- 
ance business in iScSy, thus 
embarking upon the profes- 
sion in which his father had 
previously been engaged for 
manv years. He has con- 
tinued actively in the busi- 
ness of underwriting ever 
since, having been engaged 
in the same line in England 
for seven years before com 
ing to the United States. 

He was assistant man 
ager for the Munich Re-In 
surance Company, in Nt 
^'ork, ])rior to October 2 | 
1903, when he was ap 
pointed to his present posi- 
tion as general manager an 1 
attorney for the Uniti ■ 1 
States, of the Rossia Insiii- 
ance Company and tin 
Prussian Life Insurant i 
Company. Mr. Sturhali:i 
has applied his advantage - 
of experience and ability 
with the result of a steadv 
growth in the American 
liusiness of his companv. 

He is a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Sci- 
ence, the Lawyers' Club. Down Town Association, Deutscher Verein, Ger- 
man Liederkranz, Wykagyl Country Club, and Scarsdale Golf Club, and also 
■of the Union League Club of Chicago. 

He married Maie Nunes Carvalho, and their home is in Rronxville, 
N. Y., and has two sons: Herbert Carl and Edward INLarshall Sturhahn. 




CARL F. STURHAHN 



i; 



038 



niSTORV OF XEW YORK 




JOIIX ./. KELLY 



JOHN A. KELLY, senior nieinl)er of the insurance firm of Kelly & 
Iniller, was born near Alanchester, England, in iS6i, and was edu- 
cated in the public schools there. 

He began his insurance career in i!^82, when the Northern Assurance 
Company established an independent New \'ork department under the man- 
agement of Henry H. Hall. At that lime Air. Kelly was made special agent 
of the Northern in N^ew Jersey and Pennsxlvania, Init was afterwards trans- 
ferred to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. A few 
years later Air. Kelly became connected in a similar capacity with the Oueen 
Insurance Company of Liverpool, coyering the Ohio and West A'irginia dis- 
tricts, until 1890, when he entered the service of the Scottish L^nion and 
National Insurance Company, first in the district of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, 
and Tennessee, and afterwards at the headquarters of the L^nited States depart- 
ment at Hartford, Connecticut, as general agent, and in 1900 became the 
C()ni])any"s superintendent of agents for the United States and Canada. 

Ill 11JO2 he was made New \'ork manager of the Fire Association of 
Philadelphia, and in 1904 alisorbed the local fire agency of Blagden iS: Still- 
man, the firm becoming Blagden, Kelly & Company. In 1905 Mr. Fuller 
dissolved the firm of Baldwin & Fuller, and became associated with the firm 
of Blagden, Kelly & Company, the title being changed to Blagden, Kelly & 
Fuller. Upon the death of Samuel P. I'.lagden, in 1906, the title was again 
changed to Kelly & Fuller, as at present constituted. That firm controls a 
yery large business, representing the Boston Insurance Company, Fire Asso- 
ciation of Philadelphia, Georgia Home Insurance Company, Michigan Com- 
mercial Insurance Company, Old Colony Insurance Company of Boston, 
\\'estern Reserve Insurance Company of Cleveland; also the Potomac, Frank- 
lin, and Commercial Insurance Companies of Washington, D. C. ; and the 
Humboldt and Teutonia Insurance Companies and Pittsburgh Fire Under- 
writers of Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. 

Air. Kelly is one of the best informed and most experienced of American 
underwriters ; and he is president of the Franklin Insurance Company of 
A\'ashington, D. C, and a director of the Old Colony Insurance Company of 
Boston, Western Reserve Insurance Company of Cleveland, Michigan Com- 
mercial Insurance Company of Lansing, Michigan, and the Potomac Insur- 
ance Company of Washington, D. C. He is largely interested in the Under- 
writers" Realty Company now erecting the Hilliard Building at John and 
Dutch Streets, in which his firm will have commodious quarters. 

He is a member of the Farmington (Conn.) Country Club, and the 
National Democratic Club of New York. 

Air. Kelly married, in 1896, Aliss Flattie Bradley, of New Haven. Con- 
necticut. 



640 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



|i*'<i'/,T.'"V '''■■!' 



m 



, ,'' >i/ ' 



\i 



'(',1' 




GEORGE W. BABB 



GEORGE jr. BABB 641 



G 



EORGE W. BABB, who is one of the most prominent representa- 
tives of the fire insurance interest in Xew York, is a native of 
Boston. Massachusetts, where he was born October 17. 1847. the son of George 
W. and Susan (Ham) Babl). and is. on Ijoth sides, of Enghsh extraction. 

He was educated in pubhc and ])rivate schools in Boston, and from 
school went into business life as employee in a dry goods jobbing house in 
Boston, where he continued from 1S65 to 1870. In the latter year he entered 
upon his long and honorable career in the fire insurance business by securing 
a position as managing clerk in a local fire insurance agency in Boston. He 
developed the qualities that make for success in the underwriting profession, 
and after five years' connection with the local agencv. he w-as given a local 
agency of his own in Boston, conducting it successfullv from 1876 to 1880. 

In 1880 he was appointed general agent of the Commerce Insurance 
Company of Albany, New York, and removed to Albany, gi\'ing nearly three 
years of efficient service in connection with its agency department. 

In 1882, Mr. Babb began a connection with the Northern Assurance 
Company, Limited, of London, England, which has been continuous ever 
since. He served the company as special agent until 1885, when he was 
appointed manager of the New England department of the Northern and 
removed to Boston, and filled that position with ability for four years, at the 
end of which service, in i88q, he was appointed manager of the New York 
department of the Northern, comprising the ]\Iiddle and Southern States, and 
was also appointed general attorney and financial agent for that companv, 
remo\ing to New York, where he has ever since resided. 

In i8g6 he again became manager of the New England department of 
the Northern Assurance Company, upon its consolidation with the New York 
department, and he is now the manager of the Eastern and Southern depart- 
ments of the company and its general attornev in the United States. 

Mr. Babb is regarded among fire insurance men as one of the most able 
as well as one of the most successful men in the profession. He has con- 
tril)uted from his experience toward the raising of professional standards 
and the improvement of insurance methods. He was one of the members of 
the original Committee of Four, which jirepared the Universal Mercantile 
Schedule, and he possesses a fund of technical knowledge of underwriting 
which has given him a position of prominence and authorit}- in the insurance 
world. He was president, 1907-1909, of the New York Board of Fire Under- 
writers, and is now vice president of the National Board of Fire Underwriters. 

j\Ir. Babb is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of New- York, the 
]\Ierchants' Association, Down Town Association, and the Firemen's Memo- 
rial Committee. He is independent in j)()litics. He married, in iSSd, in 
Nova Scotia, Janet C. Messenger. 



(lie 



HISTORY or Mill' YORK 




EMIL LEOPOLD UOAS 



IIMIL LEOPOLD BOAS (543 



E 



]\IIL LEOPOLD BOAS, resident director and general manager of 
the Hamburg- American Line, was born in Goerlitz, Germany, Novem- 
ber 15, 1S54, the son of Louis and Minna Boas, and he was educated in the 
Roval Frederick Wilham Gymnasium in Breslau, and in the Sophia Gymna- 
sium at Berhn, whence he was graduated in 1873. He entered the banking 
and shijjping house of C. B. Richard & Boas, of which his uncle was a part- 
ner, and after a year in its Hamburg ofifice came to the New York office. 

C. B. Richard & Boas were then American passenger agents for the 
Hamburg- American Line, which had then no office of its own in this cotmtry. 
Air. Boas became a partner of the firm in 1S81 and left it in 1891. At that 
time the Hamburg-American Line established its own ofifices in New York for 
the purpose of consolidating its interests in America, and Mr. Boas was ap- 
pointed its general manager, a position which he has held ever since. Since 
1906 he has also been resident director of the company. 

The Hamburg-American Line's interests centering in New York have 
had a prodigious expansion since Mr. Boas became general manager in 1892, 
and the New York office is the central and controlling factor of the company's 
regular lines from Europe to Canada, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Nor- 
folk. Newport News, New Orleans and Galveston ; for the services from New 
York to Eastern Asia, and for the various lines from New York to Plymouth, 
Cherbourg and Hamburg, to the Mediterranean, the West Indies, Central 
America, the Spanish Main and Brazil. In New York the company has 
offices in its own building, 41-45 Broadway, which are said to be the most 
magnificent of their kind. The company has its own extensive dock property 
in Hoboken, and a pier in New York. All agencies in the different Amer- 
ican ports, and all those in the interior, report to New York. Here are also 
outfitting, supph' and repair departments for those steamers whose home port 
is the harbor of New York. As each new line has been inaugurated by the 
company, ]\Ir. Boas has been an active participant in the establishing of new 
trade arrangements with the countries interested. 

Air. Boas has also been able to render valuable services to other nations, 
which have been recognized by decorations conferred upon him by their rulers. 
He has received the Order of the Royal Prussian Crown (Third Class), and 
the Order of the Red Eagle (Third Class), from the Emperor of Germany; 
Officer of the Order of Francis Joseph, from the Emperor of Austria; Chev- 
alier of the Order of SS. Mauritius and Lazarus, from the King of Italy; 
Knight ( First Class ) of the Order of St. Olaf , from the King of Sweden 
and Norway; Commander of the Order of Osmanieh, and Commander of the 
Order of Med j idle, from the Sultan of Turkey; Officer of the Order of the 
Redeemer, from the King of Greece; Commander of the Order of Bolivar, 
from the President of A^enezuela. 



GU HISTORY OF XEll' YORK 

Mr. Boas has made a constant study, theoretical, historical and practical, 
of the subject of ocean transportation and commerce, upon which he is an 
international authority- His tastes are literary, and he has a considerable 
private library of the English, German, French, Italian, and classical liter- 
atures, possessing a familiar knowledge of these languages. He has also 
delved into Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, being fond of etymological studies. 

Although his business interests are directly connected with Germany, 
Mr. Boas is a patriotic and public spirited American citizen, and has been 
active in many public movements, ])articularly in those having to do with the 
improvement of the water transportation facilities of New York City. He 
was a member of the committee for the Extension of the Pier Head Line; on 
the committee which appeared before Congress to secure an appropriation for 
the now completed Ambrose Channel to the sea ; is treasurer and chairman of 
the Finance Committee of the (Greater New York Canal Association, which 
took a most influential part in securing the improvement of the Erie Canal, 
and was a delegate of the State of New York to the National Rivers and 
Harbors Congress. He is a director of the New York Civic Federation. 

Mr. Boas is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New 
York, one of the managing directors of the Board of Trade and Transpor- 
tation, member of the New ^'ork Produce Exchange, the Maritime Associa- 
tion, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the National Geo- 
graphic Society, American Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum 
of Art, New York Academy of Political Science, American Academy of 
Political and Social Science, New York Academy of Science, American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, American Economic Association, 
American Ethnological Societv, the Japan Society, American Scenic and His- 
toric Preservation Society, and Bibliophile Society. He is also a member of 
the Lotos, Lawyers', New ^'ork Yacht, Grolier, (ireenwich Country, and Uni- 
tarian Clubs, and of the lmi)crial Yacht Club of Kiel, Germany, as well as 
of local German organizations, including the Deutscher \'erein, Liederkranz, 
the German Society, and the Germanistic Society of America. 

At his countrv home, "Bonniecrest," Greenwich, Connecticut, Mr. Boas 
devotes as much time as he can spare to horticulture. He is a gardener of no 
mean attainments, and in his specialty of orchids has attainetl a reputation. 
His city residence is on West Seventy-fourth Street. 

Mr. Boas has given much attention to the broadening of intellectual as 
well as commercial relations between his native and adopted countries, and 
was the originator and a founder of the Germanistic Society of America, which 
has for several years past brought noted Germans to lecture in this country. 

Mr. Boas married, in New ^"ork City, March 20, 1888, Harriet B. 
Sternfeld, and the\- have one son. 



WILLIAM HARRIS DOUGLAS 



645 



WILLIAM HARRIS DOUGLAS is one of our foremost American 
exporters, his firm liaving world-wide business connections. He 
was born in New York, December 5, 1855. He is a son of Alfred Douglas, 
of New London, Connecticut, and Rebecca Ann (Harris) Douglas, of Pow- 
hatan County, Virginia. His first American ancestor was William Douglas, 
who married Ann Mattle, of Ringstead, England, and emigrated to America 
in 1640. His grandfather, 
Richard Douglas, fought as 
a captain at Bunker Hill 
and throughout the War of 
Independence. 

Mr. Douglas is presi- 
dent of the firm of Arkell 
& Douglas, Inc., the busi- 
ness having been established 
in 1857. He has been an 
extensive traveler, having 
made two trips around the 
world and resided for sev- 
eral years in Europe and 
Australasia carefully study- 
ing international trade con- 
ditions, shipping questions, 
and our foreign relations. 

He served as president 
of the New York Produce 
Exchange in 1906 and 
1907, and is now president 
of the American Exporters' 
and Importers' Association 
and vice president of the 
National Board of Trade, is 
also a member of the Cham- 
ber of Commerce, Mer- 
chants' Association, Mari- 
time Exchange, Union League Club, Re])uljlican Club, Sons of the Revolu- 
tion, etc. 

Mr. Douglas is a Republican and has been twice elected to Congress, 
representing the old Nineteenth and new Fifteenth Congressional districts. 

He married, April 11, 1889, Juliet H. Thorne. and they have three 
children: Ruth Thorne, William Erskine, and Jean Brundrett Douglas. 




HON. WII,LIAM HARRIS DOUGLAS 



(U(; 



HISTORV OF Xlilf VORK 




W ILLIAxM k()\VI-AXD 



WILLIAM ROU'LAXD G-tT 



WILLIA}^! ROWLAND, who has for many years l^een one of 
the recognized leaders in the important industry of ship joinery, is, 
Hke many another sticcessful business man of New York, a product of the 
farm. He was born at Long Bridge Farm, now cahed jNIonmoutii Junction, 
in South Brunsw^ick Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, April 28, 1828, 
being the oldest son of James and Elizabeth (McDowell) Rowland. His 
paternal ancestry was Welsh; his earliest American ancestors on his mother's 
side came to America from Ireland in the early years of the Seventeenth 
Century. Thirteen members of the family embarked on the one vessel. 
They brought a large amount of money and valuables with them, and the 
captain, tipon obtaining knowledge of that fact, kept the ship out for many 
weeks with the intention of starving them and securing the treasure. They 
suffered great privations and ten of their number actually died, but the 
remaining passengers and the crew, discovering his intentions, took charge 
of the vessel and brought it into port, defeating the captain's purpose. Of 
the descendants of these McDowells, several have served their country well, 
and Andrew McDowell, grandfather of Mr. Rowland, was a lieutenant in the 
Revolutionary Army, fighting at Monmouth, Trenton and in other battles. 

Mr. Rowland was educated in tlie country school of his native place, 
which he attended during the w'inter months, and during other seasons 
assisted his father in the work on the farm. When he was eighteen years 
old he became an apprentice with Youngs & Cutter, the leading shipbuilders 
of the city, with whom he served for three vears, thoroughly mastering- the 
trade at the bench. L'pon the completion of his apprenticeship he embarked 
in business for himself with a small capital, and achieved fair success, but in 
1852 he decided to go to the Pacific Coast, and sailed for San Francisco. 
There he worked for a time as a ship joiner on the steamer "Brother Jona- 
than," and when she w-as ready for sea became her carpenter, in which rela- 
tion he made several trips to the Lsthmus of Panama and back, during which 
he added to his mechanical attainments a practical knowledge of the actual 
requirements of a ship at sea, so that in his after work he could plan and 
execute his work from the standpoint of the sailor as well as from that of the 
shipjoiner. 

On his arrival in New York, he began work for William Collier, one 
of the leading sliipbuilders of that period, his first work for him being 
the construction of a model of the steamship "Warrior," of the New 
Orleans and New York line. This model was exhibited at the Crystal 
Palace in New York in 1856, and attracted much attention from visitors. 
Soon afterward Mr. Rowland again began work on his own account in New 
\ ork. The careful attention to detail and the thoroughness of the work, the 
plans and drawings of which were personally made by him, and his per- 



CIS IllSTOkV Ul- XEW YORK 

sonal superinteiulence of his work, early gained him world-wide repute, and 
ships of his finishing are to be found on every sea. 

Among the earlier vessels finished by Air. Rowland were the steamers 
"De Soto" and ■"Bienville" of the New Orleans Line, the "John P. King" 
of the Charleston Line, the "Mississippi" of the Savannah Line, and the 
brig "Handv King." These four steamers w-ere afterward sold to the 
I'nited States Government, which emploved ]\Ir. Rowland to convert them and 
other vessels into men-of-war for service during the Ci\-il War. Mr. Row- 
land also did the finishing of the steamers "Xarragansett," "Rhode Island'' 
and "^Massachusetts" for the Stonington Line. 

Becoming connected, in 1871, with Jolm Roach in the Delaware River 
Iron Shiplniilding and Engine \\'orks at Chester, Pa., and during the life 
of that most distinguished shiplnulder ]\Ir. Rowland designed and super- 
intended the finishing- of all the ships built at those works, amounting to 
about one hundred and thirty vessels. Among these were the famous "Dol- 
])hin," "Atlanta," "Chicago" and "Boston" of the United States Navy, the 
"City of Pekin" and the "City of Tokio" of the Pacific Mail Line, and the 
"Kansas Citv," "City of Augusta," "Tallahassee," "Chattahoochee" and "Na- 
coochee" of the Savannah Line. ^Iw Ro\\land was offered strong induce- 
ments to go to England and sitperintend the finishing of the steamship "City 
of Rome," but he declined to interrupt his work in this country. 

During his entire connection with ]\Ir. Roach, at Chester, Mr. Row- 
land continued to carry on a separate business of his own in East Ninth 
Street in New York City. Among other vessels finished at those works 
were the "Pilgrim." "Puritan," "Plymoutli" and "Priscilla" of the Fall River 
Line, the latter, completed in 1894, acknowledged to be the finest vessel afloat, 
and also finished all the steamers of the Old Dominion Line. 

"Sir. Rowland was for many years a director in the Atlantic Coast Line, 
known as the Livingston and Fox Line of steamers. He is now a director in 
the Old Dominion Line, the Farmers' Loan and Trust Companv, and on the 
Ad\isorv Board of the Eleventh Ward Branch of the Corn Exchange Bank. 

Fie is one of the oldest members of the General Societv of Mechanics 
and Tradesmen of the City of New York; is a member of the Chamber of 
Commerce, the Society of Naval Architects antl Marine Engineers and of 
the Engineers' Club of New York, lie has a very handsome country seat 
at New Brunswick, N. I. 

Mr. Rowland married, in New York City, January 15, 1852, Jane de 
Gau. They have had six children, of whom two daughters are now living. 
Their eldest daughter, Jennie, married Colonel Robert Adrain, of New Bruns- 
wick, formerly president of the New Jersey Senate: and their daughter, 
Grace, married Dr. Ferdinand Riva. of New Brunswick, N. I. 



GEORCE E. PEJ-.II. 



GID 



G 



EORGE L. DU\'AL is the senior active i)artner of Wessel, 
Duval & Ccinipan}-, ])r(>niinent factors in tlic development of 
commerce with the west coast of South America. The firm was founded 
by the late Augustus Hemenway, of Boston, in 1828. The shipments 
between Chile and the United States were at first carried on by a fleet of 
sailing vessels. Tn the early 70's the firm built two auxiliary steamers in 
England, and employed 
them in the trade for sonii 
time, I)ut they were fouu'! 
to be unsuitable. Thi 
firm was, therefore, thi 
first to establish direi 1 
steam communication bi 
tween the United State - 
and the west coast o 
South America. Aft( 



, r, I 

tor a number ot years thi 
steamer business was i\ 
established about 181)' 
and has been maintainei 
uninterruptedly since tha' 
time. 

jMr. Duval is of Irish 
descent, and a Roma 
Catholic. His activit 
and zeal as director, trea- 
urer and chairman of va- 
rious important commit- 
tees of the Merchants" 
Association aided in the 
early prominence attained 
by that organization, in 
which he continues to be 
a prominent factor. He 
has been for some time the chairman of the association's Committee on 
Foreign and Colonial Commerce. ]Mr. Duval was appointed by Governor 
Hughes a member of the Charter Revision Committee of npj, and subse- 
quently a member of the New York Charter Commission of igoS. He 
is recognized as an authority on South American affairs, to which he has 
devoted his business life. 




GEORGE L. DUVAL 



c,:,n 



HISTORY OP XIUV YORK 




OLIJ'r.R GILDERSLEEJl: 651 



o 



, LIVER GILDERSLEE\^E was born in Gildersleeve, Connecticut, 
March 6, 1844, son of Henry and Emily (Xorthani) Gildersleeve. 
The name Gildersleeve is said to have originated from "sleeves braided with 
S'old" worn bv an official of the early Court in Flanders, and that after 1066 
the name was carried to Eno-land, Sweden and Denmark. The records in 
Norfolk County. Eno-land, show : "Rog-er Gxldensleve 1273:"' "John Gilden- 
sleve. Fellow of College of the Holy Cross, 1421:"' "John Gildersleve, rector 
of Little Cressingham 1588:" Other records show "Sir Conrad Gildensloeve of 
Maburg, Sweden, came to England in 1660 with Charles II and was Knighted 
by the King at \Miitehall. July 30th, 1660;" also "Count Ulrich Christian Gyl- 
densloeve, Grand Admiral of Denmark was Ijorn in 1685. died IJH)-"' Richard 
Gildersleeve, born in England. 1601, came to America in 1635 with his wife. 
Joanna Appleton (of a very eminent familv ) ; in 1641 he rei)resented Stam- 
ford in the General Court in New Haven: in 1644 he was of the com- 
pany that settled Hempstead. Long Island, and for forty years was a magis- 
trate there. In 1776 Obadiah (of the fifth American generation ) moved from 
Long Island to the place now called Gildersleeve, on the Connecticut River, 
where he or his descendants have ever since been shipbuilding. His grand- 
son, Sylvester, in 1821, started the present Gildersleeve ship yard, which has 
turned out loi sailing vessels. 18 steamers, and 145 barges. Nearly all the 
sail vessels employed in the regular packet line between New York and Galves- 
ton, before the Civil War, were built at this yard, as was also the ship S. Gil- 
dersleeve, which was burned by the Alabama. 

Oliver (grandson of Sylvester) entered the Gildersleeve ship yard in 1861, 
when No. "83" was built: No. "264" is now under way. showing 181 crafts 
built since Oliver began. From 1881 to 1884 he was interested in the shipping 
commission business at 84 South Street. New York City: in 1897 with his son, 
Louis, he established at i Broadway, New \'ork City, an agency for the selling 
and chartering of vessels, built at the Gildersleeve ship yard: 104 vessels of 
from 400 to 2000 tons Inirden, ha\-e been handled by this agency. 

For twenty-six years he has been a \\arden and convention delegate of 
Trinity Church, Portland, Connecticut ; in 1900 he established "The Oliver 
Gildersleeve Memorial Fund," the income from which is of substantial aid to 
Trinity Church : he is a trustee of the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, 
and has held many other ecclesiastical appointments, usually involving the rais- 
ing of money. He is a member of the Connecticut State Board of Rivers and 
Harbors Commission, and was appointed by the governor a delegate to repre- 
sent Connecticut at the convention of "The Atlantic Deejier Waterways Asso- 
ciation, held at Norfolk, \'irginia, Novemlier, 1909, and the National Rivers 
and Harbors Congress, held at Washington, D. C. Deceiuber, 1909. In 1900 
he was the Democratic nominee for Congress in his district. 



HISTORY or .V/T/f" YORK 




GEORGE TABER MAY 



GEORGE TABER HAY 65E 



G 



EORGE TABER HAY. now the head of the firm of J. F. Whit- 
ney & Company, shipping and commission merchants, was born in 
Brooklyn, New York, ]\lay 21, 1858, the son of Charles H. and Rachel 
(White) Hay. On the paternal side he is of Scotch family long settled in this 
country, while his mother was a native of Scotland and came to the United 
States in 1847. His father, Charles H. Hay, was a prominent and highly 
respected citizen of Brooklyn, and was engaged for manv years in a success- 
ful business as a chandler. 

Mr. Hay was educated at home and in the public schools of Brooklyn, 
and he began his training for active life in the office of J. F. \^'hitney & Com- 
pany, in 1872, at the age of fourteen. Ever since then he has been con- 
nected with that firm, advancing step by step as he added experience and 
aptitude, and he filled positions of increasing responsibilitv, becoming a part- 
ner, and in 1896 became the senior menil)er of the firm, which is one of world- 
wide connections, and has built up a tratle of constantly increasing volume. 
The house enjoys a high reputation as the restilt of having for so many years 
pursued a policy of the highest commercial integrity, and Mr. Hay, person- 
ally, has obtained a most excellent position in maritime and commercial cir- 
cles, having been for several years a director of the Maritime Association of 
New York and being at present one of the Board of Managers of the New 
York Produce Exchange. He is a trustee of the Broadway Savings Institute; 
a director of the Battery Park National Bank of New York; trustee of the 
Flatbush Building and Loaii Association of Brooklyn Borough, and a director 
of the Modern Pen Companv. 

Mr. Hay is a Republican in his political atifiliations, and while he has 
never sought or held office he has always taken a great interest in the welfare 
of the party and has represented it as a delegate at several Repul)lican conven- 
tions. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
he w^as a trustee of the Eighteenth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
Brooklyn, from 1882 to 1903, and he is now a trustee of the Fenimore Street 
Methodist Episcopal Church, in Brooklyn Borough, always taking a great in- 
terest in the Imsiness afifairs of the church, both locally and at large. Mr. 
Hay's travels have been for the most ])art confined to places in the United 
States and Canada, with the exception that he has also made two business 
trips to Great Britain and France. He has his office at 21 to 24 State Street, 
in New York City, and his home at 80 Winthrop Street, Brooklyn. 

Mr. Hay married, October 12, i88r, Susan A. Dobbs and they have four 
■children: Anna Elizabeth, who was born in 1883, and who was married, in 
1907, to Robert Judson Taylor, of Brooklyn Borough; Esther Melbourne, who 
was born in 1888; George Taber Hay, Jr., born in 1891 ; and Susan Dobbs 
Hay, born in 1897. 



(\r,{ 



HISTORY OF XF.W YORK 







MARSHALL JOSEPH CORBETT 



MARSHALL JOSEPH CORBETT 655 

MARSHALL JOSEPH CORBETT, one of the leading representa- 
tives of the custom-house brokerage business, is a native of Brook- 
dale, Pennsylvania, where he was born June 15, 1843, the son of Ira and 
Juliette E. (Bowes) Corbett. He is descended on both sides from old Amer- 
ican families, his earliest American ancestor on the father's side havino- been 
Robert Corbett, who came to this country from England about 1650. On his 
mother's side his great-grandfather was a captain in the War of the Revolu- 
tion, and his grandfather served in the War of 1S12. His father had a suc- 
cessful career in Pennsylvania as a lumberman, merchant, and farmer. 

Mr. Corbett was educated in the common schools, and afterward attended 
a commercial college in preparation for a business career. On June iS, 1862, 
he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Thirtv-seventh Regiment of 
Xew York Adlunteer Infantry, and when that regiment was nmstered into 
United States service, September 3, 1862, he was elected second lieutenant. 
He was promoted to first lieutenant May 30, 1863, and to captain December 
30, 1863, and was brevetted major for meritorious service and honorably dis- 
charged June 9, 1865, at the close of the war. He participated in many of 
the important battles and engagements, including the Battles of Chancellors- 
ville, Gettysburg, Wauhatchie, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the 
Sea, and the Battle of Averyville or Goldsboro, North Carolina. 

After his four years of patriotic and distinguished service in the Union 
Army, Mr. Corbett engaged in business pursuits until April, 1870, when he 
was appointed a clerk in the United States a])praiser's department, in which 
he advanced by successive promotions until he became examiner and assistant 
appraiser of merchandise of the port of New York, in which office he con- 
tinued until 1892. During his service of twenty-two years in the custom 
house, Mr. Corbett became one of the foremost experts in the countrv with 
reference to the customs tariff, customs appraisement, and custom-house 
usages and regulations, and on leaving the service of the L^nited States 
appraiser's department he established himself as a custom-house l^roker, bring- 
ing the fund of valuable knowledge attained in his long experience in the cus- 
toms service into the service of manv of the leading commercial houses, whom 
he represents in custom-house matters. Prompt, efficient and reliable in every 
respect, Mr. Corbett has built up an extensive business and is now one of 
the leading representatives of the custom-house brokerage business at this port. 

Mr. Corbett married, at Binghamtun, New York, December, 1869, Alice 
A. \\'aldron. The\- have a son, Lawrence B. Corbett. liorn in October, 1870, 
who married ^Nliss Grace Clearv; and they have four daughters: Alice E., 
born in ALu-ch, 1872, and married to Professor Erederick H. Williams; Grace 
^^ ., born in 1879, married to John Campbell ; Clara L., born 1882, and mar- 
ried to Denison Stokes Phelps; and Miss Mabel Corbett, born in 1888. 



6;i(; 



HISTORY or Mill' YORK 



H 



"EXR\' RUDOLPH KUXHARDT. one of the prominent merchants 
engaged in the export and import business of New York City, 
was Ixirn on Staten Island in i860. He entered upon his business career in 
1878, and in 1880 and 1881 he was connectetl with business houses in Ant- 
werp, Havre and Liverpool. In 18S2 he entered the emplov of Kunhardt & 
Company, and two years later became a memlier of the firm of which he is 

now the senior partner. 

Among other interests, 
Mr. Kunhardt is a director 
of the German American 
Hank, a trustee of the Ham- 
burg-Bremen Fire Insur- 
ance Company, and a direc- 
tor of the Carpenter Steel 
Ci)m])anv. In iQOi he 
served as president of the 
Maritime Exchange of the 
Association of the Port of 
New ^'ork. 

In his political affilia- 
tion Mr. Kunhardt is a 
Rcpulilican, and in the days 
of the Municipal League 
and Good Government 
Clul)S, he was on the Exec- 
utive Committee of the 
League and president of 
Club B. Later he served 
as a memlier of the Execu- 
tive Committee of the Citi- 
zens' Union in the first Low 
campaign, and at the pres- 
ent time he takes an active 
iiKXRV RUDOLPH KUXii.xRi.T ^ud public-spirited interest 

in all measures for the pro- 
motion of the welfare of I'.ernardsville, Xew jersey, where his country place 
is located. 

In 1888 Mr. Kunhardt married Maliel A. Faniham. of this city. They 
have three sons: Henry Rudolph Kunhardt, 3d, George Farnham Kunhardt, 
and Kingslev Kunhardt, all of whom are 
]jursuits. 




beino- educated for active business 



CHARLES R.lXLIiT'r FLIXT 



I. .J, 



c 



:1ARLES RAXLF/rT FLIXT, inlernatiuiial merchant, was linrn at 
Thomaston. Maine, January 24, 1S50, son of Benjamin and Sarah 
T()he\- i'lint. He was grackiated from Ilrdol^Kn Polvtcclmic Institute in iSC)S; 
entered the em])loy of \\ . R. Grace in iiSCxj; joined in estabhshing the firms 
of Gilchrist, hdint & Comi«ny, ship chandlers, in 1871 ; \\'. R. Grace & Com- 
l)an\-, 1872, and Grace Brothers «& Company, of Bern, 187(1; and 
took a leading place in the 
trade of the United State 
with Chile, Peru, Brazil an 
Latin America generalh 
sustaining important con 
inercial and othcial relation 
with those countries. 1 
1885 he became a membe 
of Flint & Company, which 
his uncle and father estal 
limbed in 1837, under th 
name of Chapman & Flin 
He w^as LInited State 
delegate to the Internationc 1 
American Conference i.. 
Washington in 1889-1890, 
negotiated the reciprocity 
treat}- between the United 
States and Brazil, formu- 
lated re])orts and resolu- 
tions providing for the es- 
tablishment of an Interna- 
tional American Bank and 
the Bureau of American 
Repulilics ; and as agent for 
President Peixotto (1803). 
gave important aid in pre- 
venting the overthrow of 
the I'.razilian Republic bv 
the Monarchists. He rendered valuable service to the United States Govern- 
ment in connection with the war with Spain : and to the Russian Government 
during Its war with Japan. During eighteen years past his chief work has 
been industrial consolidation; and having organized thirty-nine corporations 
with outstanding capitalization of S,v 6,000.000, he has earned the title of 
"Father of Trusts." He married, in 188.:;, F. Kate Simmons, of Trov, N. V. 




CHARLES KAXLETT FLINT 



(ioS 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 



w 



ILIJAM IIILXRV I-KJL'GIITON AAIERAIAX. customs and in- 
surance l)roker. was born in X"e\v York City, September 22, 1846, 
son of Isaac and Jane Maria ( Banta ) Amerman. He is a direct descendant 
from Derick Jans Amerman, wbo came from HoHand to X^ew X'etberland, in 
1650, was a deacon in tbe Dutch Church at Flatbush, Long Island, 1682, and 
captain of the mihtia in ifxjo. Through his grandmother, who was a datigh- 

ter of Thomas de la Mon- 
tague, he is also a descend- 
ant of Dr. Johannes de la 
Montague, who was a mem- 
])er of the Provincial Coun- 
cil of New Amsterdam, in 
1638. 

]\lr. Amerman. who 
was educated in the city 
l)ublic schools, entered busi- 
ness as office boy and later 
clerk with a large import- 
ing firm, and since Feb- 
ruary. 1S70. has been en- 
gaged in Inisiness on his 
own account as a customs 
and insurance broker, in 
which line he is one of the 
leading experts. 

He has traveled ex- 
tensively in the United 
.States, Canada and ]\Iexico, 
as well as in all of the prin- 
cipal countries of Europe. 
Pie is an independent Dem- 
ocrat in his political views; 
is a member of the Holland 
Society, the Manhattan 
Clul). City Club, St. Nich- 
olas S()ciet\- of Nassau Island. The American Alliance, the Coffee Exchange 
and llelle Harltor ^'acIu Club. ha\-ing a summer residence in Belle Harbor, 
Long Island. 

He was married, in Xew ^'ork. June 30, 1870, to ElizalK-th A. Armitage. 
and has two sons: William Henry Houghton Amerman, Jr.. and Corydon 
Mehin Amerman. 




WII.I.IAM Hi:XKV lIOrc.lTTON AMERMAN 



AXTHOXV J. McCARTY 



659 



A 



I / 



'mn 



I 




XTHONY J. McCARTY. engaged for thirty-five years as a custom- 
house l^roker, was born in New York City, February 22, 1858, son 
of Thomas and Annie (Lee) McCarty and a descendant of Lawrence Mc- 
Cartv, who came from ireljuid in 1800. His uncle. H. J. AlcCarty, was in 
the produce business, served in die Common Council, and was foreman of 
No. 14 Engine, on A^esev Street, in the New ^'ork Fire De])artment. 

After leaving Public 
School No. 13, in Brooklyn, / 
Anthon}' J. McCarty became 

clerk with Dingelstedt & Co., j' / / 

21 State Street, of which 1 / I I 

Adolf Dingelstedt was then I t ' 

head, and after some years" / ( 

service became a partner. 
Three other members of the 
Dingelstedt family have 
since been members of the 
firm, ])ut all are now de- 
ceased and ]\Ir. AlcCartv is 
now sole member of Dingel- 
stedt & Company, one of the 
oldest and most successful 
firms of custom-house bro- 
kers in this country and rep- 
resentatives in custom-house 
business of many of the 
largest importing firms and 
corporations. 

Mr. McCarty is vice 
president of the Custom- 
House Brokers' and Clerks' 
Association. He is a Repub- 
lican in politics, served as 
first sergeant of Company G 
(the "Beecher Company") 
of the Thirteenth Regiment, National Cuiard of New York, and was president 
of the Non-Conimissioned Officers' Association of the Thirteenth Regiment. 
He resides in Brooklyn. 

He married, in Brooklyn. October 27, 1899, Carrie (Wishart) McCarty, 
and they have five children: A. J. McCarty, Carrie McCarty, Robert Mc- 
Carty, John McCartv and Dorothv McCartv. 




ANTHONY J. MCCARTY 



660 



HisroRV or xnw vork 




THOMAS NATHANIEL JONES 



THOMAS X. IT HA MEL JOXRS 661 

THOMAS XATHAXIEL JOXES, who lias luul an active and suc- 
cessful career in banking, shippinq", and other interests in New York, 
was born in Xew \'ork Cit)-, X'oveniber 4. 1S74, being the son of William and 
Winifred (Lewis) Jones. His father, who was of Welsh descent and nativity, 
is a Presbyterian missionary, who came to the United States in 1863. 

Mr. Thomas N. Jones received his education in the public schools of New 
York. In i88() he was employed by Lord & Taylor, leaving there he went 
with the Antogra])hic Register Companv, and later was emjiloved bv the 
United States Mineral Wool Company until 18(^1, when he entered the em- 
ploy of the Chase X^ational r>ank of Xew York Citv as a messenger. He 
advanced in that institution until he became assistant paying teller, but 
resigned in \\)02 to l)ecome i)a\-ing teller with the Consolidated Xational Bank 
of X"ew York City, where he was, soon afterward, elected assistant cashier. 
He resigned that position in (3ctober, 1905, to join the Donald Steamship 
Company of New ^'ork, of which he is treasurer, secretarv and director, and 
he is also a director of the Donald Steamship Company. Limited, of Bristol, 
England. Three new fruit steamers and two freight steamers have l)ecn built 
and the business of the com])anv has been verv greatlv increased during the 
past five years. 

Mr. Jones is also now president and director of the Jones Change Reg- 
ister Company, a cor])oration recently formed for the purpose of ])lacing" on the 
market a change-making register that will autoniaticallv deduct anv amount 
from any coin up to a silver dollar, recording the amount, and ,gi\'e the exact 
change. This company also owns the patents of the Jones Duplex Check 
Gate, a device that does the same work as a turnstile, onlv that it works upon 
an entirely difi'erent principle, as it does not revolve. It can be placed on the 
pay-as-you-enter type of cars, and each passenger will register himself, and 
it is equally applicable for use in an}- other place where a count of people 
entering is desirable. The devices which are handled by the Jones Change 
Register Company are, all of them, the inventions of William D. Jones, a 
mechanical and electrical engineer of nuich skill, who is a lirother of Mr. 
Thomas X'. Jones. 

Since 1908, Air. Jones has also been president and director of the Anti- 
septic Holder Company of New York, and treasurer and secretary of the World 
Securities Company ; and he is also an underwriter with the Xe\v ^'ork Com- 
mercial Underwriters. 

Mr. Jones has made several trips to Europe and the West Indies, and 
through the United States and Canada on business and plea.sure. He is a 
member of the St. Dax'id's Society of Xew York; Suliurban Council, Royal 
Arcanum: Knickerbocker Circle of the Protected Home Circle, and the Traf- 
fic and Railroad Clubs, of Xew ^'ork. 



662 



HISTORY OF XEIJ- YORK 




CHARLES ARTIIl-R MOORE 



c 



CHARLES ARTHUR MOORE 663 

HARLRS ARTHUR MOORE, now president of the great manufac- 
turing corporation of Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Incorporated, 
was born at West Sparta, Livingston County, New York, being the son of 
William Ropes and Caroline M. ( \'an Xess) Moore. On the ])ateriial side he 
is of Scotch, and on the maternal, of Dutch ancestry. 1 lis paternal great- 
o-randfather. Dr. Francis Moore, who was one of the members of the historic 

o 

"Boston Tea Party" and was conspicuous for the financial assistance which he 
gave to the American cause during the trving davs of the RevnJutiDn, served 
as a surgeon in the patriot arm\-. and took part in the seige of Louisburg 
and the battle of Bunker Hill. 

Mr. Moore was educated in public and private schools in Rochester, Xew 
\'ork, and Lynn, Massachusetts, and in early life had some experience in the 
United States Navy. He then engaged as a manufacturer of steam special- 
ties in Boston, became president of the Ashcroft ALanufacturing Company 
and the Consolidated Safety Valve Com])an}'. and in New York, in tS8o, 
joined forces with the firm of H. S. Afanning ^: Compan_\-, forming the firm of 
Manning, Maxwell & Aloore. Mr. Maxwell, of this firm, died in iSij5, and 
Mr. Manning hax'ing retired, Mr. Moore incorporated the business in 1905, 
forming the present concern of Planning, ■Maxwell & Aloore, Incorporated, of 
which he is the president and controlling owner. The business of the firm is 
manufacturing and dealing in machine tools, electric cranes, engineering 
specialties and supplies; and in its line it is one of the most extensive in the 
^\■orld, with connection in all principal foreign coitntries. 

Mr. Moore also has many other important business and financial inter- 
ests, being president of the Shaw Electric Crane Company, Consolidated 
Safety Valve Company, Ashcroft Manufacturing Company, Hancock Inspi- 
rator Companv, the Hayden & Derby Manufacturing Com])an)-. the L'nited In- 
jector Companv, and Windsor Machine Company; and he is a director of the 
Casualtv Company of America, the Continental Insurance Com|)any, Liberty 
National Bank, American Bank Note Corporation, and the National Machin- 
ery Companv. He ranks as an exectitive of wide knowledge, forceful initia- 
tive and administrative ability of a superior order. 

Mr. Moore has never held public oftice, except that he was elected presi- 
dential elector on the McKinley and Hobart ticket in 1896, and was appointed 
by the New York Electoral College, as its special messenger to deliver the 
electoral vote of New York State. He has always been prominently identi- 
fied with national. State and municipal ])olitics as a Republican, taking an 
influential part in the party councils; and he has several times been a member 
of the Republican National Conventions. He has very frequently been promi- 
nently mentioned as a possible candidate for mayor of Brooklyn, mayor of 
New York, and governor of the State of New York, and was formerly for 



6G4 HISTORY OF A7:H' YORK 

Some time president of tlie JJruokhii ^ ouiil!,' Reptiljlican Cltil). He has been 
especially active and ag'gTessive as a sn|)porter of the Repnlilican doctrine of 
the hnilding- np and encoin"agenient of American industries through the 
medium of a ])rotective tariff, and has been inlluential as an advocate and 
exponent of the protection policy. This activity has made him a leader in the 
American Protective Tariff' League, of which he was president for ten vears, 
and the success of which, as an educative and political factor, is in very large 
measure due to his initiative and executive ability. 

He enjoyed the jjcrsonal friendshi]) >>{ the late President Afclvinley, whom 
he accompanied on his presidential trijj to the Pacific Coast, and had the honor 
of being the only guest of the President on that journey outside of his Cabinet. 

He has tra\'eled all o\er the United States, and very extensively in 
Euro])e and Xorthern Africa, and he has a wide acquaintance with men and 
affairs at home and abroad. He has received from the h'rench Government 
the decoration of Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, and is a member of the 
American Chamber of Conmierce in Paris. He finds his most favored recre- 
ation in automobile journeys, and he has made numerous much enjoyed auto- 
mobile tri])s in various parts of Continental Kuri~i])e. 

Mr. ]\loore was a founder and for ten years president of the Montauk 
Club in Brooklyn ; a member and formerly president of the New York Civic 
Federation, taking an active ])art in building- u\-> and extending the useful- 
ness of that imjiortant organization. }Ie is vice president of the St. fohn's 
Guild and treasurer of the Railway Business Association. He is a member of 
the Chaml)cr of Commerce of the State of New York, the National Civic Fed- 
eration, New York Board of Trade and Transportation. American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers, Empire State Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the 
C)hio Societv, St. Andrew's Society, Pilgrims of the L^nited States, Society of 
the Genesee, New England Society of Brooklyn, and the Automobile Club of 
An.erica. He is also a member of the Army and Navy Club, Republican 
Club, Cnion League Club. Lotos Club, luigineers' Club, Railroad Club. Ala- 
chinerv, Law\ers' and Transportation Chibs. His town house is at 524 
Fifth Avenue, and his countrv residence, "(31d Orchard," at I'elle Haven, 
Greenwich, Connecticut, where he usually s])ends part of the summer season. 

Air. Aloore married, at Norwalk, Ohio. Aliss Alary C. Camploell. and they 
have four children: Charles Arthur Aloore, jr.. now vice ])resi(lent and secre- 
tar\' of Manning, Alaxwell i.^- Moore, Incorporated, born June 23, iSSo, and 
married Annette Sperrv ; Jessie Campbell Moore, l)orn Januarv 17, 1S84, now 
married to Colbv Mitchell C"hester, Jr., son of Rear Admiral Colby AL Ches- 
ter. V. .S. X.; Mar\- ITsie Aloore. born October 23, 1887, who married Don 
Alarino dei duchi Torlonia. of Rome. Paly; and Eugene ALaxwell Aloore, born 
in lYbruarv, i8i)i. 



iriLIJ.IM DHL. WAX BALDUIX 



()6r) 



WILLIAM DEL.WAX BALDWIN, president of the Otis Elevator 
Company, was Ijorn in Aulmrn, X. ^^, September 5. 1856. being' 
son of Lovewell H. and Sarah J. ( Munson) Baklwin. He is of Engdish 
ancestry, early transplanted in New England. 

After completing the courses in tlie district and high schools of Auburn, 
N. ^'., he entered the works of D. M. ( )sb()rne & Co., manufacturers of har- 
vesting machinery, at Au- 




burn. Thoroughly master- 
ing Iroth the manufacturing 
and business details, he 
reached a high position with 
that company, which in 1S7S 
sent him abroad: and foi^ 
five years he did etiicient 
work in the promotion and 
enlargement of the com- 
pany's European business. 
Resigning from that Ciin- 
nection in 1882, he pur- 
chased an interest in and 
became treasurer of Otis 
Brothers & Company, en- 
gaged in the manufacture of 
freight and passenger ele- 
vators. He later took iIk' 
lead in reorganizing thc- 
business, and is now ])resi- 
dent and director of Th;- 
Otis Elevator Comjianv, th.' 
largest manufacturers of 
elevators in the world, main- 
taining seven large factories 
in this country and fift\- 
branch offices and employ- 
ing over 6500 people. He 
IS a director of the Lincoln Trust Coniiiany and Home Insurance Company. 

He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the American Geograph- 
ical Society, and the Union League, Lawyers", Engineers', Racquet and Ten- 
nis, Adirondack League and National Arts Clubs. 

He married, in New ^'ork City, in 1881, Helen, daughter of Nahum M. 
Sullivan, of Alontclair, N. I. Of their seven cliildrcn. fi\-e are living. 



WILLIAM LELAV.\X i;Al,l)WIN 



666 



HISTORY OF XEIJ- YORK 




W'lI.I.IA.M KLI.IS CURKV 



WILLIAM ELLIS COREY 667 



WTLIJAM ELLIS COREY, now i)resi(lcnt of the Lnitcd States 
Steel Corporation, has had a career wliich has few parallels 
in the history of American industry. His advance from a position of 
hunihle lieginninos to that of ])resident of the world's greatest corpora- 
tion took little more than twenty years, yet each of the rapidly succeeding 
steps he made up the ladder of success was the reward of demonstrated fit- 
ness and efficiency. 

He was horn in 15raddock, Pennsylvania. Ma\- 4, 1S66, son of Alfred A. 
Corey, formerly a coal o])erator. hut now retired, and Adaline (Fritzius) 
Corey. He is of an old American family, and in the Eighteenth Century an 
ancestor of his, Benijah Corey, was owner of a farm of three hundred acres 
of land located in what is now a part of New \'ork City. 

Mr. Corey was educated in the pulilic schools of Braddock, afterward 
taking a husiness course in Duti's College in Pittsburgh. At the age of six- 
teen he secured employment in the chemical lahorator}- of the Edg"ar Thomson 
Steel AA'orks at Braddock. Captain William R. Jones, who was then in charge 
of those works for the Carnegie firm, w hose genius as a practical steel manu- 
facturer and works manager, was one of the greatest of early factors in 
seeming for the United States its primacy in the steel industry, and for the 
Carnegie Steel Company the lead among the many corporations engaged in 
steel manufacture. 

Mr. Corey made a study of the chemistry and metallurgy of steel, of the 
processes of manufacture as exemplified in the k^dgar Thomson Works, and 
of the methods of management which appeared most practical. As in the 
Army of Napoleon every private was said to carr\- a field-marshal's baton in 
his knapsack, so in those years of rapid de\'elo])ment of the steel in<lustry by 
the Carnegie Com]xm}', the worker in the ranks might look forward to the 
highest positions as the reward of special abilit\- in the production of steel 
better, faster or at less cost. In every duty placed in Mr. Corey's hands he 
soon developed the highest order of efficiency, and in April, 1887, he was trans- 
ferred to the Homestead Steel Works of the same company, where he was 
employed in the Open Hearth Department, and \\here he showed such ability 
that in July, 1889, being only twenty-three years of age, he was made Plate 
Mill superintendent, and in September, 1893, became superintendent of the 
Armor Plate Department. The rapidity of his advancement has few ]iarallels 
in the history of industry, and especially is this true of a young man whose 
career was entirely dependent upon his zeal, his industry and his intellect, 
without outside influence. 

He had demonstrated genius as well as executive ability and had done 
much to improve processes and methods of manufacture. His invention of 
the Carnegie reinforced armor plate was a most valuable contribution to the 



668 HISTOR]' OF XEW YORK 

preeniiiiencc ut the Carnc^^ie Conipaiiy in the steel indiistrv. Mr. Charles M. 
Schwal). \\h(i was four years the senior of Mr. Corev, was his immediate 
superior in rank, and as Mr. Schwab went hi,o-her, Mr. Corey succeeded him 
in \'arious offices, and after him Ijecame successively general superintendent 
of the Homestead Steel Works in February, li^')/. at the age of thirty-one, 
and president of the Carnegie Steel Company in A])ril, 1901. He had thus 
in nineteen years advanced from the bottom to the top in the great Carnegie 
corporation, which had then become the chief of the component companies 
making up the L'nited States Steel Corporation. 

Air. Schwab, who had preceded him in tlie various offices in the Carnegie 
Com|)any, had become the president of the Steel Corporation, liolding that 
office until August, 1903, when he resigned the office to become the head of 
other interests. Mr. Corey again succeeded him, being elected in August, 
ii;o_:;, president of the I'nited States Steel Corporation, which office he has 
held e\-er since. In that position he is commander-in-chief of an army of 
nearl}- two hundred thoitsand w'orkmen, the executive of works producing 
about one-half of the entire steel product of the United States, more steel 
than either Great liritain or Ciermany or (Mie-fourth of the total amount of 
steel made by all the countries of the world. In his command are sixty mines, 
]M-oducing one-sixth of all the iron ore in the world; nearly one hundred blast 
furnaces ])roducing ap])roximately half of the pig-iron output of the United 
States; a fleet of one hundred large ore shi])s; the largest American commer- 
cial fleet under a single ownershi]); a s\-stem of railroads approximating two 
thousand miles of trackage, with thirty thousand cars and seven hundred 
locomotives, and agencies for j)roduction and distribution which exceed in 
magnitude any other industrial organization. To this place of extended power 
as to his iire\ious fields of duty Mr. Corev brings ca])acity and ability of the 
highe'^t order. In technical, jtractical knowledge and in the executi\'e skill for 
the successful marshalling of gigantic forces in the army of industry, Mr. 
Corey has well earned his reputation as tlie world's premier steel manu- 
facturer. In this office, as in all the others which have been filled by Mr. 
Corev in the successive steps of his career, his selection has been fully justi- 
fied by results. 

Mr. Corey, besides being president of the L'nited States Steel Corpora- 
tion, is a director of the Carnegie Steel Com])anv, the Elgin, Joilet and East- 
ern Railway Com])any, Federal Steel Com])an\-, National Tube Company, 
I'nited States Steel I'^.xport Com])any and of other subsidiary companies, and 
he is a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He is a 
member of the r)u(|uesne. Union and Country Clubs of Pittsburgh, the Metro- 
])olitan. Railroad, Lawyers and .Ardslex' < lubs of Xew ^^>rk, the Automobile 
Club of America and the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D. C. 



JOHX CAMPBELL .1/JA7:.V 



liii'.i 



the Sloss-Sheffield Steel 



X'irginia, 



December 



JOHX CAMPBELL AL\BEX, president of 
and Iron Company, was l)orn at l*etersl)ur^- 
1839, the son of John and Ehzaljeth ( Ah)ore) Alalien. 

The family is of Scotch and En^'lish extraction. The paternal I)ranch 
was foiuided in America, in iSoo, ])y ])a\id Ahahen, of Loch Alahen, Scot- 
land. The maternal branch dates from 1710 and is directly descended from 
Alexander Spottswood, who 

'(II r, ''<" 



served on the start of i u 
Duke of Marlborough at tl 
Ijattle of Blenheim, was 
major general in the Briti 1 
Army and colonial govern 
of Virginia 17 to- 1722. 

Mr. ALaben was ed 
cated in private schools 
Richmond and at Princ 
ton; moved to Xew York 
1S68 and entered the banl 
ing house of Lancastc 
ISrown I.K: Companw who 
])ower of attorne\- he hcl 1 
for two }-ears, and was thi 
admitted to jiartnership. 1 1 
was an original director of 
the Terminal Coni])anv (of 
which the Southern Rail- 
way is the successor), until 
its reorganization in i<Scj4. 
Me took an active part in 
organizing- the Sloss Iron 
and Steel Company and 
later the Sloss-Shefheld 
Steel and Iron Companw 
He is a Republican in jxili- 
I'C'-. During the Ci\-il W'ar 
he was a canta'n of cavalry in the Confederate Army. He is a member of 
die T'n'on Cltil), and Tlie X^irginians of Xew ^'ork, and also the Confederate 
Crirp here. 

Mr. Mal)en married Miss Mrginia Merchant, at New ^'ork, in Octolier, 
1871, and has three children: J. C. Maben, Jr., Spencer M. Maben. and Eliza- 
beth Moore XIaben. 




JOHN CAMPBELL MARKN 



670 



HISTORY OF NEII- YORK 



IBIIBilllii!^ 



If, 



'''■wfJ'/Jt 




ROBERT E. JEXNINGS 



ROBERT E. JEXXJXUS 671 



R 



()BERT E. JENNINGS, who has long held a prominent position 
in the steel industry of the country, is a native of Rochester, 
New York. He was the third son of Edward and Rosanna (Riley) Jen- 
nings, and was l)orn in 1848. 

His family is of Irish origin; his grandfather, Etlward Jennings, 
having been a wealthy leather manufacturer in the west of Ireland. He 
became a participant in one of the patriotic u])risings of his day and suf- 
fered heavy financial losses as a consequence. 

His son, Edward, who had been trained in the leather business, 
came to the United States in 1820, and settled in Rochester, where he 
continued tlie same industry. 

Robert E. Jennings, after leaving school, began his I)usiness career in 
the hardware trade, in which he continued for several years. Ele then 
engaged in the steel business, in which he has ever since remained an 
active factor. 

In 1880, Mr. Jennings founded the steel-making firm of Spaulding & 
Jennings Company of Jersey City, New Jersey, conducting it with great 
success until k)oo, when the business of that firm was sold to The 
Crucible Steel Company of America, of which ]\lr. Jennings became vice 
jiresident. He continued in that connection until 1904, when he retired 
from the company. 

Early in 1905 he was appointed receiver of the Carpenter Steel 
Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, and later in the same year, having 
reorganized the companj^ he was elected its president, which office he 
still holds. Mr. Jennings is also chairman of the Taylor Iron and Steel 
Company, of High Bridge, New Jersey; president of the Parish Manu- 
facturing Company of Reading, Pennsylvania; vice president of the First 
National Bank of Jersey City, New Jersey, and a director of several banks 
and trust companies. 

Mr. Jennings has met with large success in the management of the 
important enterprises of wdiich he is the head and is recognized as one 
of the most representative of the independent steel company executives 
of the country. His offices are at 100 Broadway. 

He is a member of the Engineers' Club, and of the Lawyers' Club of 
New York; of the Essex Club of Newark, New Jersey; the Essex 
County Countrv Club of Orange, New Jersey, and the Carteret Clul) of 
Jersey City, New Jersey. His town residence is at 11 Kensington Avenue, 
Jersey City, and his country place at Raquette Lake, New York. On 
January 10, 1900, Mr. Jennings was married, in Newark, New Jersey, to 
^Irs. Elizabeth Holt O'Gorman, the daughter of ^[r. and Mrs. P. M. 
Kellv of New Orleans, Louisiana. 



GT-3 



HISTORY Of XlUr YORK 




JOHN ALliXANDER TOPPING 673 

JOHN ALEXANDER TOPPING, chairman of the Hoard of Direct- 
ors of the Repubhc Iron and Steel Company, was born June lo, 
i860, at St. Clairsville, Behnont County. ( )hi(). His father, Henry Topping, 
was a lawyer, and served in the First Ohio Cavalry and on the staff of 
General Rosecrans, in the Civil War, and his mother was Marv (Tallman) 
Topping". His great-grandfather, James Tallman, was a pioneer iron manu- 
facturer in Virginia, and a Revolutionary soldier; and his grandfather, John 
C. Tallman, founded at Bridgeport, Ohio, ihe first national liank organized 
in Belmont County, Ohio. His ])aternal grandfather, Alexander Topping, 
liorn in New York State, was an early settler in Northern Ohio. 

After attending the public and high schools of Kansas Citv, Missouri, Mr. 
Topping became a bank clerk at l^>ellaire, ( )hio, in 1S77, and in icS^S entered 
the ^-Etna Iron and Nail Company, as pay-roll clerk, steadily advancing until 
in 1898, he became president of the .Etna Standard Iron and Steel Company 
until the consolidation of the American Tin Plate Company, American Sheet 
Steel Company and National Steel Company. In 1900 he was elected first 
\ice president of the American Sheet Steel Compan\', which position he 
resigned in July, 1903. He engaged in the reorganization of LaBelle Iron 
Works, of \Mieeling, West Virginia, which represented an investment of about 
$10,000,000, and one of the largest of the independent steel comi)anies. 

He became, in July, 1904, president of the American Sheet and Tin Plate 
Company, subsidiary to the United States Steel Corporation, until January, 
1906, when he joined the syndicate which secured control of the Repul)lic Iron 
and Steel Company and the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company, 
reorganizing and refinancing them, after expending about $4,000,000 in 
the Republic Company (of which he then became president and is now chair- 
man of the Board of Directors), and $12,000,000 in the Tennessee Corn- 
pan}-, in which he became chairman of the Board of Directors. The latter 
company constructed the first moilel steel plant and rail mill at Enslev, Ala- 
bama, and became the first manufacturer of open-hearth steel rails in the 
United States, employing modern equipment. 

When the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company was sold to the United 
States Steel Corporation in 1907, Mr. To])ping resigned from that company 
and since then has devoted his entire attention to the Republic Iron and Steel 
Company, one of the foremost of the indejiendent steel enterprises of America. 

He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, the Duquesne Club of 
Pittsburgh, Pa., Union League Club and New York Athletic Club of New 
York, the Greenwich Country Club of Greenwich, Connecticut, and the Tri- 
ton Game and Fish Club of Quebec, Canada. 

He married, at Bridgeport, Ohio, January 18, 1883, ]\Iinnie C. Junkins, 
and they have two sons: Wilbur B., and Llenry J. Topping. 



li; J 



HISTORY Of XEW YORK 




FKEDllRICK HEBER EATON GTo 

FR1-:I)I^:R1CK HKr.I-:R EATUX. president of the American Car and 
Foundry Company, is a native of I)er\vick, Pennsylvania, born April 
15. iS()_:;, the son of Ralph Hurlburt and l''liza Knapj) ( Dickerman ) Eaton. 
He is descended from William and .Martha (Jenkins) Eaton, of Sta])les, 
Countv of Kent, England, wln) settled in Watertown, Alassachiisetts, in 1642, 
later removing to Reading, Massachnsetts. Among their descendants was 
lacob Eaton, born in Meredith, Xew Hampshire, in 1757. He was twice 
chosen surveyor of highways in that town; served on a committee to draft 
w;ir resolutions: was a])pointed to select men \ov the Continental Armv and 
himself served in the Re\'olutionary War under Lieutenant Ebenezer Smith, 
l)articipating in the siege of Fort Ticonderoga. His son Jacob, born in 1786, 
was instructor in the Hinesburg Academy, A'ermont, and served in the ^\'ar 
of 1812. Plis son Ralph Hurllnu-t ( father of Frederick Heber ), was born in 
Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, in it<30, engaged extensi^•ely in mercantile i)ur- 
>uits and finally located in Berwick, Pennsvlvania. 

Mr. Frederick Heber Eat(in attended the public schools, and e\er since 
leaving school has been identified with manufacttu-ing enterjM'ises, beginning 
in 1S80. From i8i)2 to i8</). he was first secretarv, afterward vice president 
and finally president of the Jackson & \A'oodin Manufacturing Company, car 
builders, at Berwick, Pennsylvania. From 1899 to 1901 he was vice president 
and executive member of the American Car and Foundrv Companv of New 
\ ork. and in June. lOOi. was elected president and exectitive member of that 
comjxany, since which time he has continued to occupy those offices. He is 
also a director of the Columbia Trust Companv, Seaboard National Bank, 
."-Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick Railroad, the Sligo and Eastern Rail- 
road. Hoyt & Woodin Manufacturing Com])an\-, and Inter-ocean Steel Com- 
pany, and is a trustee of the Alutual Life Lisurance Companv of Xew ^'ork. 

In his ])olitical views Mr. luiton is a stattnch Republican and was elected 
a presidential elector for Pennsylvania on the ^Nlclvinley and Hol^art ticket 
in 1896. He is a meml)er of the X^ew^ York Chamber of Commerce, of the 
Metropolitan Alusetun of Art. the Pennsvlvania .Societv of X'ew ^'ork. Societv 
of Colonial \\'ars. and tlie Xew \'ork Society of Sons of the Revoltttion. Fie 
is also a member of many of the leading clubs, including the Ardslev. Auto- 
mobile Club of America. Beaverkill Stream Club. City Lunch Club. Citv Mid- 
day Clul). Deal (iolf Club, l-jigineers" Club. }*Ietropolitan Club, Xew \'ork 
Athletic Association, Xew \'(irk Railroad Club, X"ew England Railroad Club, 
Railroad Club of Xew ^'ork, Union League of Ne\v York, and W}'andanch 
Club. He has his city residence at 182 ^Vest Fifty-eighth Street, Xew ^"ork, 
and a country place, "Hillcrest," in his native town of Berwick, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. F^aton married, at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1881. C. Elizabeth 
Furnian. and they have one daughter. ]\Irs. Mae Eaton Crispin. 



ore 



HISTOR]' OF XEW YORK 



m.y 







COLONEL ROBERT COCHRAN MC KINNEY 



c 



COLOXEL ROBERT COCHRAX MiKLWXEV 677 

lOLOXEL ROBERT COCHRAX ^IcKIXXr:Y— In many of llic 
greater industrial centres of the entire world are now to be found 
exemplifications of American inventive skill and manufacturing ability which 
bear the name of Xl^iles-Bement-Pond Com])an\'. it has sometimes been said 
that the products of this unsurpassed American manufacturing industry are 
more widelv known and more widely utilized, not onlv in the Cnited States, 
Imt also throughout the world, than anv other American manufactured prod- 
uct. To these products lielong the distinctive a])])cllation bestowed in other 
countries, "made in America." 

The great corporation known by this naiue is of comparatively recent 
organization : and yet it has often been spoken of as one of the best exam- 
ples of the economic ])rinciple which is contained in meritorious combination 
and cooperation. The Xiles-Bement-Pond Companv identifies and illustrates 
the life career of Robert Cochran ]\IcKinney; for the organization as it now 
stands represents not only his technical and expert mechanical knowledge and 
ability, but also the forecasts of a true business statesman, and a high gift 
for organization ; a gift which has sometimes lieen thought to be of greater 
value than anv other, if high and honorable achievements in comliination and 
cooperation are to be secured. 

In the world of great business affairs Colonel ■NIc Kinney already ranks 
u])on an equalit\- with men who have achieved very greatly, and have done 
that without in anv way lowering the standards of business morals or per- 
sonal integritv in its relation to business atifairs. 

Colonel McKinnev seems to have reached or compassed his great achieve- 
ments partly through native ability and partly through early training and 
association. He was born at Trov, X^^ewA'ork, and at a time when that com- 
munity was especiallv distinguished for manufacturing interests associated 
with machinerv. iron and steel products, stoves and ranges. He was a son 
of Robert and Mary (Smyth) McKinney, and his father was presumably 
identified with certain lines of hardware manufacture; for when, in 1861, 
Colonel jMcKinney's parents removed from Trov to Cincinnati, the senior Mc- 
Kinney became a member of a firm engaged in manufacturing hardware. 
Although young ]McKinney attended the public schools and Woodward High 
School in Cincinnati until eighteen vears of age, he nmst also have received 
constant information respecting hardware mamifacture while still a youth. 
Two of his brothers, older than himself, had established a manufacturing 
company at Hamilton, Ohio, and the fact that the brothers were engag'ed in 
manufacturing there justifies the inference that young McKinney's early asso- 
ciations were such as to bring him into constant touch with manufacturing. 

He nmst have discovered a strong lient for mechanics, for he took a par- 
tial course in mechanical enoineerin!"' in Cornell Universit\- in the earlv seven- 



ers ■ HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



ties. His student life was folldwed by employment in the draughting- room 
and office of a company which manufactured steam pum])ing machinery at 
Hamiltiin. 

1 he City of Hamiltun had alread\- gained especial distinction as a nianu- 
facturing centre, greatly if not chiefly occui^ied in producing machinery, 
steam pumps, and machine tools. There had l)cen established there a com- 
pany engaged in manufacturing machine tools, which had not vet gained its 
high reputation for the (|ualit}- and the tinish of its product. The Xiles Tool 
Works, for th;it was the name, was uni(|ue since it was the first manufactorv 
of that kind established and operated west of Philadelphia. 

In 1H77 Air. McKinne}- became associated with the Xiles Tool Works. 
It was at a critical and yet i)|)portune time. The counlr\- was just u])on the 
verge of resuming specie ])a_\-menls. and financial conditions were still some- 
what chaotic. The country was also reco\-ering from the demoralization of 
business and impairment of credit conse(|uent upon the ])anic of 1873. 

It was undoubtedly at this time that Colonel AIcKinnev first impres- 
sively revealed his (|ualifications for seizing the opportunity that was opening 
in the West, especially for a business of this kind; for within two vears he 
was elected secretary of the company, and a little later treasurer and general 
manager: that is to say, he was the chief operating authority. The choice was 
wisely made. In addition to Mr. AIcKinnev's technical and expert knowl- 
edge as a mechanical engineer, he showed himself i)0ssessed of great energy in 
extending the business and increasing the cajiacitv of the jilant. while still 
maintaining the high reputation of the company. 

So great was this expansion that it was found to be imperative that 
there be reorganization of the business and enlargement of the ca])ital, so 
that greater facilities could be obtained and a \-ery high ([uality of ])roduct at 
the lowest ])Ossible cost of manufacture could be secured. The cai)ital on the 
reorganization was increased to 82,000,000. In this exi)ansion were in- 
volved, first, ex])ert and technical knowledge of manufacturing itself: second, 
ability successfully to finance a rerirganization. and in the third place, the 
difficult l.iut vital feature of org.anization. the |)erfecting of a symmetrical ma- 
chinery of organization, and the securing of com|)etent, highly skilled subor- 
dinates for the direction of the vari(.)us departments. 

In .all ot this work ( 'okinel ]\IcKinne\' was jireeminent: he had gained 
while with this conip.any the title of Colonel through his service on the staff 
of Governor r.ushnell, of ( )hio. h was realized soon after the reorganization 
that it was essential to secure additional property if the Xiles Works were 
to be wisely expanded. I'or that purpose the plant and the business of the 
Cope & Maxwell Alanufacturing Companv, whose products were steam ]nimps, 
were purch.ased. Later the m;icliiner\- and business of the Co|)e 61: Maxwell 



COLONEL ROBERT COCHRAN McKINNEY 679 

Conipanv as liou^iit l.)y the Xik-s Tdul Works Company was sokl to another 
corporation, and became a part of the International Steam Pump Company. 
Colonel AIcKinney perceived that even with the large organization and facili- 
ties which the new Niles Tool Works L'ompanv rc])resented there could not 
be the higher development and the acceptance of the magnificent opportunities 
which he saw opening without nuich greater expansion. Colonel McKinney 
also realized that this expansion should be of a kind which involved reason- 
able combination and far-reaching co(")]ieration. To accomplish this was to 
do the work of the higher order of constructi\'e !)usiness genius. 

In 1S98 the first step was taken through the i)urchase of the control of 
the widely known Pond Machine Tool Company, of Plainfield, Xew Jersey, 
this purchase l)eing supplemented l)y the oljtaining of options on the works of 
Benient. Miles^ & Company, of Phila(le]])hia, Pcnnsvlvania, as well as the 
Philadelphia Engineering Works. 

Here then was organization, combination and coojieration along great 
lines and based upon the sound economic princi])le, which is the real basis of 
true and honoral)le combinations. It meant of course the organization of one 
great and siionsoring cor])oration, capable oi taking over the various ])roper- 
ties, of harmonizing the plants, and perfecting ])roduction and marketing. 
The companv thus created is now known the world over as Niles-Bement- 
Pond Company, organized eleven years ago. 

Colonel McKinncy's achiex'ement in creating this great coni])any and ]>er- 
fecting its organization was recognized bv his election as president of it. 
Other opportunities came, and if they were to l)e met, and the company able 
to handle the great business that came to it, it was found necessary to secure 
other properties. For that reason the great Pratt i^: Whitney Company, of 
Hartford, the Bertram Connianx', of Canada, and the Ridgway Alachine Com- 
pany, of Ridgway, Pennsylvania, were bought- Here then was a gigantic 
combination, achieving its triumphs bv business methods for which there has 
never been reproach either business or political, which has now become the 
largest manufacturing corporation in the world, whose ])roducts are machin- 
ery, tools, electric traveling cranes, gun machinery, small tools. 

Colonel McKinney is a member of the Union League Club, Lotos, Engi- 
neers', and Cornell Clubs, of Xew ^'ork; the Hartford Club, of Hartford, 
and Queen City Club, of Cincinnati; a member of the American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers, a leading organization of engineers of the United 
States, and is president of the Machinery Club of Xew York. In ])olitics he 
is a Republican: his domestic and home life is ideal. His wife, whom he mar- 
ried at Hamilton, Ohio, in iS/O, whose maiden name was Eleanor Becket, and 
their daughter, compose his familv, whose summer residence is a beautiful 
villa overlooking the sea at P>elle Haven, L'onnecticut. 



680 



HISTORY OF XHJr YORK 




i"i:kiii.\and a. w. kikakiikfkr 



FERDIXAXD .4. If. KIECKHEFER 681 



FERDIXAXl) A. W. KIECKHEFER. president of The National 
Enameling- and Stamping Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was 
horn in that city Fehruary lo, 1S52, the son of Carl and Justine Kieckhefer. 
His parents were of German hirth and came to this country in 1S51. 

Mr. Kieckhefer received his education in the parochial school connected 
with St. John's Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, of which his father had been 
one of the founders, and after his graduation from that institution, he took the 
course of the Spencerian Business College of Milwaukee. He had earned the 
funds for his luisiness college course in an errand boy's position in a notion 
store, but after leaving the business college he became assistant l^ookkeeper in 
the extensive wholesale hardware house of John Pritzlaff, of ^Milwaukee, 
which was one of the leading houses of its kind in the West. He advanced 
to the position of cashier, and after being with that house for five years, he 
established a hardware business of his own in Milwaukee, which soon grew 
to be an important establishment in tliat line. In 1S78. he formed a partner- 
ship with his brother William, and together they planned to enter upon a 
manufacturing enterprise which they established in iSSo. in the manufacture of 
tinware, to which they afterward added C()m])lete lines of galvanized, japanned 
and enameled tinware, sheet steel and iron goods, building up the business 
to such proportions that they employed more than twelve hundred hands. In 
the organization of the National Enameling and Stamping Company, the Kieck- 
iiefer plant wa« the largest and most profitable, and Mr. Kieckhefer became 
first vice president, and later president of that company. 

Mr. Kieckhefer is affiliated politically with the Republican party and an 
active supporter of its policies and candidates, although he has never sought 
oflice. He is an active member of St. John's Lutheran Church in ^Milwaukee, 
and still has his residence there, and a country residence at Pewaukee Lake, 
Wisconsin, although his l)usiness connections cause him to s])end much of his 
time in New York City. 

The success that has been attained bv Mr. Kieckhefer is one of the most 
remarkable in the history of American industry, and he has made it prac- 
tically unaided, and ahhough this success has been very great and remarkably 
rapid, it has been attained along legitimate and conservative business lines 
and upon the most straightforward and honorable commercial methods, which 
have earned for him resi)ect as a man, as well as the admiration which be- 
longs to one who has attained success in the face of great obstacles. 

He is a member of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, The 
Deutscher Club, and the Milwaukee Club, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and of 
the Fulton Club in New ^'ork City. 

Mr. Kieckhefer married, in Milwaukee. Alay 13, 1875, Minnie Kuete- 
niever. and he has five children: Clara. Louise. Alfred. Minnie and Ferdinand. 



G82 



HISTOR]- OF A7f[/- YORK 



;)fTp'™T';^'''';'X'W '','■' "' ■',:■. .''v"'/i;}';"; *«; 



■I'/iJ,;',,,!,,,,;. ,i|iA 
I,/ I, ^'' ' '^I|J| 

Hf i ' *\" ■' ■ 

&[ I'll I'I. n, .. ■„',!i 














.1011 X J. CARTV 



JOHX J. C.IRTY 683 



JOHX J. CARTY was born at Canil)rid<;e, Mass., April 14, 1861. His 
carlv education was obtained in the schools of his native city. At the 
time he had about finished his preparatory studies for entrance to college he 
was obliged, on account of a serious trouble with his eyesight, to abandon his 
school work indefinitely. 

The telephone having just been invented and lieing one of the first to 
a]i])reciate its possibilities, r\Ir. Carty entered the service of the Bell Telephone 
G)nii)anv. for which concern he has been at work ever since, fiaving to his 
credit more than thirty years of continuous service in its behalf. 

His first work was at Boston, and while there he made a number of con- 
tributions to the art of telephony which were of unusual value and have since 
becnme a permanent part of the art. Under his direction was installed the 
first multiple switchboard at Boston, which was at that time the largest ever 
put into use. For the "express" telephone system, peculiar to that city, he 
designed and installed a switchboard which was the first metallic circuit mul- 
lijile board to go into service. The fundamental features of this board are 
at ])resent in all of the boards of to-day. 

In 1887 Mr. Carty took charge of the cable department of the ^\'estern 
Electric Company in the East, with headquarters at New York. In this 
capacity he studied cable manufacture and laving, and introduced a number of 
improvements, having charge of all of the important cable-laying projects 
which \\ere carried on for some time in the East. One of his engineering 
de\-elopments resulted in cutting in half the cost of cable manufacture. He 
then took charge of the switchboard department of the Western Electric 
Company, for the East, and under his direction were installed most of the 
large switchboards of that period, among which was the original Cortlandt 
Street multiple Ixiard. During this time he made a number of important im- 
])rovements in switchboards, which have since becoine standard practice. 

He was the first to practicallv demonstrate how to operate two or more 
telephone circuits connected directlv with a common battery, and aljout 1888 
installed, for the sujiplv of ojierators* telephones, common battery systems in 
a number of central offices. Erom these earlv experiments have grown the 
modern system now generally employed. 

Although charged with serious practical engineering problems, 'Sir. Carty 
has found time to follow to some extent his strong natural inclination for orig- 
inal research. He made an exhaustive investigation into the nature of the 
disturbances to which telephone lines are subjected and gave the first ]nil)lic 
account of his work in a paper entitled "A New \'iew of Tele])hone Induc- 
tion," read before the Electric Club on November Ji. 1889. The view juit 
forth in the paper was revolutionarv, but, nevertheless, after being checked by 
numl)ers of experimenters in this countrv and Europe, received universal 



(i,s4 HISTORY OF XEIF YORK 

acceptance, and is tlie one now adopted in all works dealing with the subject. 
In this paper he showed the overwhelming preponderance of electrostatic in- 
duction as a factor in ]M-oducing' cross-talk, and proved that there is in a tele- 
])h(ine line a particular ])oint in the circuit at which, if a teleiihone is inserted, 
no cross-talk will be heard. The paper gave directions for determining this 
silent or neutral point, and described original experiments showing how to dis- 
tinguish between electrostatic and electro-magnetic induction in telephone lines. 

On INIarch i", 1S91, 'Mr. Carty made additional contributions to the 
knowledge of this subject in a i)aper before the .\merican Institute of Elec- 
trical Engineers, entitled "Inductive Disturbances in Telephone Circuits." 
This paper might better have been called "The Theory of Transpositions," 
because in it was first made known precisely wh\- twisting or transposing tele- 
i)hone lines renders them free from induct i\-e disturbances. 

In l8i*^i) he entered the service of the Metro])olitan Telei)hone and Tele- 
graph Company, now the New York Telephone Company, for the purpose of 
organizing all of the technical departments, building up its stafif, and recon- 
structing the entire plant of the company — converting it from grounded cir- 
cuits overhead and series switchboards to metallic circuits ])laced underground 
and to the then new bridging switchboards. In carrying out this work he 
selected aufl trained a large staff of vottng men fresh from college, many of 
whom have since attained positions of prominence in the telephone field. In 
the development of the personnel of his department, ^Ir. Cartv has taken a 
particular i>ride. looking to the welfare of those alrea<h' engaged, and through 
his touch with prominent technical educators, adding each year to his staff, 
from the graduating classes of our principal technical schools. 

Air. Carty's work in conncctiou with the development of the plant of the 
Xew York Telephone Company has been most successful and far-reaching in 
its consec|uences. biased ti])on his plans and under liis direction, there has 
been constructed a tele])hone system which, according to the foremost author- 
ities in the world, is without a parallel in its efficiencv and scope. His work 
has been studied ami api)roved bv all of the technical administrations of 
Europe and even of Asia, and to a large extent what he has done for the tele- 
phone ;irl in the United States has contrilnited to the preeminent standing 
which the American telephone industrv holds in all foreign countries. 

In recognition of liis achievements as an engineer and in \'iew of the 
services which he rendered to the Japanese Government in C(innection with 
electrical engineering matters, he was decorated b\- the lun])eror of Japan with 
the Order of the Rising Sun. and even in China, where a commission has 
recentlv investigated the telei)houe svstcms of the world, that of New York 
was selected as the model for Pekin and as a consequence the first great order 
for a telej^hone svslem in ('hina was given to American ni.anulacturers. 



JOHX J. CARTV 685 



While for many years Mr. Carty's work was more particularlv directed 
to the extraordinary problems of telephony presented by the great centres of 
population, it remained for him to accom]ilish a revolution in telephony of the 
greatest social and economic value to rural communities in all parts of the 
world. Prior to his work upon the subject, the number of telephone stations 
which could be operated upon one line was limited and the service was im- 
perfect. As a result of his solution of a problem presented bv the New York 
Central Railroad in the city of New York, he devised a mechanism known as 
the "bridging bell," whereby any number of stations, even as many as a hun- 
dred, might be placed upon a line without in anv wav impairing the trans- 
mission of speech. This made possible the farmers' line, which is found by 
the hundreds of thousands in farmers' houses in America and is now l)eing 
extended abroad. For this achievement there was conferred u])on him bv the 
Franklin Institute the Edward Longstreth Medal of Merit. 

Mr. Carty is chief engineer of the American Telephone and Telegrai:)h 
Company, in which capacity he is responsible for the standardizing of meth- 
ods of construction and operation of its vast plant, which extends into everv 
community of the United States, and which, through its long-distance wires, 
extends into Canada and Mexico. 

He has been active in matters pertaining to the improvement of engi- 
neering education in its higher branches, and is a memebr of the Society for 
the Promotion of Engineering Education. Tn connection with the technical 
or what might be called the "trade school" feature of educational work, he has 
taken a lively interest and is an active member of the Societv for the Promo- 
tion of Industrial Education and is a member of the Millburn Board of Edu- 
cation in New Terse\'. 

Mr. Carty has been prominent in the affairs of the American Institute 
of Electrical Engineers, of which he is a vice president and director. He is 
past president of the New ^'ork k^lectrical Society: member of the Society of 
Arts and honorary member of the American Electro-Therapeutic Association, 
the Telephone Society of Pennsylvania, the Telephone Societv of New Eng- 
land, and the Telephone Society of New York. 

He is a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Ameri- 
can-Irish Historical Society; belongs to the Baltusrol and the Casino Clubs 
of Short Hills, and to the Engineers', Electric and Railroad Clubs of New 
York. 

In 1891 he married Miss Marion Mount Russell, of the Iri.sh family of 
Russells and the English Mounts, which has been distinguished in the annals 
of the stage, the only present representative of which now upon the stage is 
^liss Annie Russell. He lives at Short Hills, New |ersev, and has one son. 



John Russell Carty. a youth of eighteen. 



IIISTUKV (Jl- A7: ir ]'ORK 



I !-'" '.m 'i'J,i /W« .'I" >,.lillkimi,i m 







IIEXRY R. TOWNE 



HEXRV R. TOU'XE Gs; 



H 



EXRY R. TO\\Xl<:, president of ihe Yale & Towne Alanufac- 
turing' Company, was liorn in Philadelpliia, Pennsylvania, in 
icS44, son of John Henry Towne, who was a partner of tlie tu'ni nf 
I. P. Morris, Towne & Conii)any, owning;' and operatiny- the Port Rieh- 
niiMid Iron Works. 

After eonipletini^- an academie cuurse of stnd\' lie attended the Uni- 
\ersitv of Pennsylvania durini^' the college _\ears of 1861-1862, hnt l)ecause 
of the Civil War, he interru])ted his studies to enter the draftin,^' room of 
the Port Richmond Iron Works, where he remained nearly two years. In 
1863 he was t^iven charge of the government work in the shops con- 
nected with repairs on the gunboat Massachusetts. He was sent in 1864 
to the Charlestown ( Massachusetts) Xavy ^'ard to assemble and erect in 
the vessel there the engines l)uilt by the Port Richmond Iron Works for 
the monitof- Monadnock, and later to the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) 
Xavv Yard to erect and test the machinery of the monitor Agementicus, 
and later that of the cruiser Pushmataha at the Philadelphia Navy N'ard. 
At the age of twenty-one he was acting su])erintendent of the Port Richmond 
iron Works. 

After the war he accomixmied the late Robert Briggs on an engineer- 
ing tour through Great Britain, Belgium and France, and took a special 
course in physics at the Sorbonne in Paris, and afterward entered the 
shops of William Sellers & Company, of Philadelphia, for further studies in 
the designing and use of special machinery. In 186S he became associated 
with Linus Yale, Jr., inventor of locks, and organized at Stamford, Connec- 
ticut, what is now the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Companv. Three 
months later, in 1868, Mr. Yale died, and since then Mr. Towne as president 
lias controlled and directed the enterprise which, beginning with ]\Ir. Yale's 
invention, has greatly amplified his original ideas itntil froni an organization 
employing thirty men the business has increased to one employing three thou- 
sand people. 

The methods of ]M-oduction established 1)\' the ^'ale & Towne Manufac- 
turing Company have become the accepted standards of the trade, and from 
tlie present daily output of twenty-five thousand locks, almost every improve- 
ment in locks and lockmaking machinery has come from the Stamford 
Works. What Mr. Towne has accom])lished in useful results is shown in 
the many volumes of the company's catalogue, in which over ten thousand 
separate articles of manufacture are illustrated and described. 

Mr. Towne, who has long been a resident of New York Citv, is presi- 
dent of the Merchants' Association of X'ew ^'ork, and in 1888 was president 
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has written exten- 
sively on engineering and industrial subjects. 



688 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




KUWAKl) IlUr.l^ARD WELLS 



E 



EDWARD HUBBARD Ji'ELLS 68!) 

DWARl) HUBBARD WELLS, the presiacni ut the Babcock 
& Wilcox Company, is a native of Rhode Island, having- been 
born at Dorrville in that State. A]:)ril 7, i>>^n. the son of Salomon Perrv 
and Elizabeth Sherman (Greene) Wells. He is a descendant of Nathaniel 
Wells, who came to America from Colchester. England, in 1^)20. landing 
at Salem, Massachusetts, and afterwards settling in Rhode Island, near 
what is now the villag-e of Wickford. aliout 1640. In the maternal line he 
is a descendant of that John Greene, surgeon, of Salisbnrv. England, who came 
over in the next company after Roger Williams, and followed Williams 
to Providence, afterwards settling in Warwick, Rhode Island, and found- 
ing the family in Rhode Island of which (General Xathanael Greene was 
fifth in descent. 

Edward Hubbard Wells moved with his parents, in 1P66, to Burning- 
Springs, in the oil regions in West Mrginia, and in 1869 to Parkersburg, 
West A'irg-inia, where he received a common school education. 

At the age of sixteen he went into his father's office as an accountant 
and continued there for twelve years, until his father went out of active 
business. During the latter part of his service there he assisted in or- 
ganizing a local electric lighting company in Parkersburg, West Virginia, 
and had the management of that company in connection with his other busi- 
ness. 

Mr. Wells went to Pittsburgh in 1888, as manager of the Keystone 
Construction Company, and later continued there as the general agent n\ 
the North American Construction Company, engaged in electrical con- 
struction work. From there he came to New York in 1892 to take charge 
of the New York sales office of the Babcock & Wilcox Compan^•. In 
1897 he was elected a director and second vice president of that company, 
and a year later was elected president, which position he has since 
occupied. During the twelve years of his executive relation to the com- 
pany, its success as the leading enterprise of the country engaged in the 
manufacture of water-tube boilers has been very great, the business 
increasing- steadily every year. Mr. Wells gives the business the benefit 
of technical and practical experience gained in his long period of active 
service, beginning in the ranks. The offices of the company are at 85 
Liberty Street. 

Mr. Wells is a member of the Engineers', Machinerv, and Railroad 
Clubs of New York City, the Automobile Club of America, the Essex 
County Country Club of New Jersey, and the Montclair Golf Club of 
^lontclair, New Jersey, where he has his residence: also of the Duquesne 
Club of Pittsburgh. INIr. Wells was married, in i<)00. to Serra Christy 
Bennett. 



690 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



. \m\mnnHmmiim\mm\\m\m\\ 



41 




DAVID SCHENCK JACOBUS 



D 



DAVID SCHE.XCK JACOBUS 09 1 

AMD SCHEXCK JACOBUS, distinguished as one of the foi-e- 
ntost American mechanical engineers, was born in Ridgefield, Ber- 
gen County. New Jersey, January jo, i(S(')_', the son of Nicliolas Jacobus, 
manufacturer of sash, doors and bhnds. and Sarah C. ( Carjjcnter ) Jacoluis, 
and a descendant of a Dutch family, settled in America about 1675. 

He was educated first in the private school of Rev- A. l\. Taylor, in 
Ridgefield, then in the Stevens High School, at Hoboken. \\liere he won, by 
competitive examination, a free scholarship in the Stevens Institute of Tech- 
nology. He was graduated from the latter institution in 1884, with the de- 
gree of mechanical engineer, and was appointed assistant professor of experi- 
mental mechanics, serving in that capacity until 1897, when he was appointed 
professor of experimental mechanics and engineering physics in the Stevens 
Institute. He held that chair until 1906, and from 1900 to 1906 was in 
charge of the Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering. 

At Stevens Institute Dr. Jacobus developed original apparatus for the 
illustration of physical laws and for the testing of various mechanical devices, 
and brought to perfection the course of experimental mechanics by intro- 
ducing a much larger participation by the students in practical experimen- 
tation than had ever before been attached to such courses. The machinery 
and apparatus for this course are installed in the Carnegie Laboratory erected 
specially for that purpose with funds supplied l\v Mr. Andrew Carnegie. 
Dr. Jacobus is still connected with the Institute as a trustee and special lec- 
turer in experimental engineering. He recei^•ed the honorarv degree of Doc- 
tor of Engineering in 1906. 

Since 1906 he has been actively associated with The Balicock i!v: Wilcox 
Company at the head of its engineering department in the position of advisory 
engineer, and in the specialty of steam engineering no one in this country is 
of higher authority. He is the author of many scientific papers relating to 
that branch of engineering, and also on general topics in engineering physics 
and experimental mechanics. 

Dr. Jacobus is a member of the American Society of Alechanical Engi- 
neers (of which he was manager in 1900 and vice president in 1903), the 
American Institute of Alining Engineers, American Societv of Refrigerating 
Engineers (director 1904 and president 1907), Society of Naval Architects 
and Marine Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers, American 
Mathematical Society, fellow of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science (secretary of Section D, 1903, vice president 1904), Frank- 
lin Institute of Philadelphia, and The New York Railroad Clul). He is also 
a member of the Engineers' Club and the Holland Society of New York. 

He married, in Jersey City, New Jersey, April 5, 1899, Laura Dinkel, 
and they have two children: David D. and Laura. 



692 



HISTOKV OF XEW YORK 




BliNJAMIN ARROWSMITH HEGEMAN, JR. 



BEXJAMIX ARROW SMITH HliGEMAX. JR. C.93 



B' 



iKNJA^IIN ARROWSAIITH HEGEAIAX, Jr., who is now the 
president of the U. S. Metal and Manufacturing Company, is 
a native of the City of Xew York; having l)een liorn at 262 West Twenty- 
fourth Street, July 14. i860. His father, Benjamin Arrowsniith Hegeman, 
was for twenty-nine years engaged as general freight agent and trafific man- 
ager of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad ; and his mother was 
lane (Roome) Hegeman. In ])oth lines of ancestrv he dates back to Americans 
of colonial days. On his father's side he is of Dutch ancestry, Benjamin 
Hegeman having been one of the early Dutch settlers of New Jersey; while 
on his mother's side he is of English extraction. The Hegeman family has 
l)een prominent in business and in public affairs in New Jersey and New 
"S'ork thniugh many generations. 

Mr. Hegeman received his education in ])rivate schools in early life, and 
afterward attended the pulilic schools of New York City, finishing at The 
Alount \\'ashington Collegiate Institute, in New York City, in 1877. He 
entered railway service in the passenger department of the Delaware, Lacka- 
wanna and Western Railroad, in 1878, and was afterward connected with the 
treasurer's office of the same company until 1888. He was general manager 
of the Lackawanna Live Stock Transportation Company, 1888 to i8oq. 

Mr. Hegeman left the transportation interest in i8()g to become the 
Eastern sales agent for the American Car and Foundry Company, in which 
lie continued until 1901, when he was elected to his present position as presi- 
dent of the L^. S. Metal and Manufacturing Company, which has had a most 
successful career and attained a marked development of business under his 
executi\-e direction. Mr. Hegeman is also the president and a director of the 
Rockland Railroad Company, a director of the b^)rt \\'ayne Rolling Mill Com- 
pany, and trustee of the Excelsior Savings Bank. 

He has always been a consistent Republican, and takes an active and 
influential part in public and political affairs. He has served as a member of 
the council, and as mayor of the borough of North Plainfield, N. J. He has 
also l)een acli\-ely identified with partv management as a member of the 
Republican County Executive Committee of Somerset County, New Jersey, 
and as a member, for several terms, of the Repul)lican Congressional Com- 
mittee of the Fourth District of New Jersey. 

Mr. Hegeman is a member of the New ^'ork Athletic Clul), the Lotos 
Club and the Repul)lican Club, all of New York City; of the Racquet Club of 
Philadeli)hia, and of the Park Clul) and the Watchung Hunt and Country 
Club of Plainfield, New Jersev. 

Mr. Hegeman married, in the Church of the Holy Cross, at North Plain- 
field, New Jersey, October 23, 18S3, Kate Greenough Matthews. They have 
a daughter, A'irginia, and a son, Harold Arrowsmith. 



694 



HISTORV OF XRjr YORK 



'/"//'HI, 'f n 




LENOX SMITH 



LI-.XOX SMITH <i:i3 



LENOX SMITH, president of the Standard Roller Bearing Company, 
is a native of the City of Xew York, jjorn here in 1843. the son of 
Rev. Edward Dunlap Smith, D.D., and of Jane Blair (Cary) Smith. 

In his paternal line Mr. Smith is descended from English Quakers, who 
came to Pennsylvania about 1750. His grandfather, Edward Smith, of Phila- 
delphia, was a very prominent iron master, and one of the founders of the 
Cambria Iron Company. His fatlier, Rev. Dr. Edward D. Smith, was a 
graduate of Princeton University, from which he also received his degree of 
Doctor of Divinity, and was chaplain to Congress during Webster's term of 
service, and later a Presbyterian clergyman in New York City. His father's 
family is connected with those of Wister, Rawle, Cadwalader, and others in 
Philadelphia. His mother was a meml)er of the Cary family of Virginia, 
where she was born, and connected by kinship with the families of Randolph, 
Fairfax and Jefferson, in Virginia. His brother, Archibald Cary Smith, the 
naval architect, is named after Archibald Cary, an ancestor. 

Lenox Smith, who was named after James Lenox, the philanthropist, 
who gave to New York City the Lenox Library, and who was a warm 
friend of his father, was prepared in New York City schools, and then 
entered Columbia College, from which he was graduated A.B., in 1865 and 
A.M. in due course, and afterward entered the Columbia School of Mines, 
whence he was graduated E.M., in 1868. Before his graduation from Co- 
lumbia College he had served, during 1862, in the Seventy-first Regiment, 
United States Volunteers, as a volunteer private. 

After his graduation from the School of Mines, Mr. Smith served on the 
surveying corps of the New York Central and LIudson River Railroad. He 
afterward acted as inspector of railroad material for the Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St. Paul Railroad, the Chicago and North-Western Railway, and the 
Northern Pacific Railway. He served as agent for the Camljria Iron Com- 
pany from 1878 to 1884. He became interested in the construction of new 
railroads, including the Bangor and Aroostook, with which he is still identi- 
fied. He is president of the Standard Roller Bearing Company, one of the 
great manufacturing industries of the country, of which he was vice presi- 
dent before succeeding to the presidency. 

Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics. He is a veteran of the National 
Guard of the State of New York, having served with the First Brigade Stafif 
as major of engineers, from 1879 to 1884. 

Mr. Smith was elected a trustee of Columbia Laiiversity in 1883, and is 
still a member of that board. He is a member of the Alumni Societies of 
the Columbia School of Science and of Columbia College; and he is a mem- 
ber of the Union Club, New York Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, and 
American Museum of Natural Historv. He resides at 135 Madison Avenue. 



606 



HISTORY OF XEJJ- YORK 




FREDERICK TYSOE FEAREY 697 

FREDERICK TYSOE FEAREY, president of the Rail Joint Com- 
pany, has long been well and fa\-orably known as an experienced 
railroad man and skillftil inventor. He is a native of the city of Newark, New 
Jersey, where he was born Septemlier i8, 1848, the son of Isaac and Alice 
(Tvsoe) Fearey. His parents were both of English nativity and descent. 

Mr. Fearey received his education in the public schools and business col- 
leges of his native city, and after he left school he entered the railway service 
and was for several years the em])loyee of leading railroad systems, acqtiiring 
an expert knowledge of and familiarity with railway matters. Being of a 
mechanical turn of mind, with considerable inventive genius, his railroad 
experience led him to much thottght in reference to the ])roblems involved in 
railroad construction, the most practicrd result of wliicli was his invention of 
the rail joint, which he perfected after long and careful study of the problems 
involved. He secured his first patents in 1888 and 1889, and in due time the 
rail joint was introduced by companies in which ]\Ir. Fearey was interested. 
Finally the Rail Joint Company, which is the final evolution of the producing 
and executive features of the rail joint, was organized, ~\lv. Fearey becoming 
president of the company. The princijjal plant of the company at Troy, New 
York, has been enlarged and frequent additions, due to the increasing demand 
for and use of the rail joint, of which there are now over fifty thousand tons 
manufactured annually, have become necessary. 

In addition to his successful career in connection with the rail joint, Mr. 
Fearey has been successfully identified with the formation of telephone com- 
panies in Essex County, New Jersey. His activities in the various lines of 
usefulness, with which he has been identified in an executive relation, ha\-e 
made Mr. Fearey especially well known in Essex County, and on these activi- 
ties he has also brotight to bear a large store of technical knowledge and 
scientific skill as well as remarkable administrative capacity. 

Mr. Fearey is an earnest Republican in his political views, and has served 
as a member of various cluljs in the Republican organization. 

Mr. Fearey is a member of the New Jersev Historical Society, the New- 
ark Board of Trade, the Essex Club of Newark, New Jersey, and the Repub- 
lican Club of East Orange, New Jersey. He is also a member of the Board 
of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Newark, New Jersey, and a mem- 
ber of the Artists' Ckib of the same place ; South Orange Field Club of South 
Orange, Municipal Art League, of East Orange, and the Musical Arts 
Society, and Civics Club of Orange, New Jersey ; also National Arts Club and 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, of New York City. He has his home at East 
Orange, New Jersey. 

Mr. Fearey married, in i8g6, Bertha Louise Kittel, of New York City, 
and has two daughters: Marie Louise and Geraldine Kittel Fearey. 



G98 



HISTORV OF XEJr YORK 




MELS POULSOX 699 



NIELS POULSOX, founder and head of the Ilecla iron Works of 
Brooklyn, an engineer of distinction and a citizen of enviable rec- 
ord, is a native of Denmark. He was Ixtrn Fe])ruar\- 27, 1843, and added to 
his ordinary school courses an excellent preparation, technical and practical, as 
an architect and builder. LTpon reaching" his niajoritv. in 1864, he came to 
the L'nited States, and for the two years following his arrival in this country 
was engaged as a mason. 

In 1866 Mr. Poulson accepted an api)ointment in the office of the super- 
vising architect of the Treasury in Washington, and after two years as 
draughtsman in that office, he resigned in order to go to New York and pursue 
practical studies in the subject of architectural iron work. With that in view 
he entered the service of the Architectural Iron Works of New York, with 
which he continued for eight years, and after the first year was for seven 
vears in general charge of the architectural and engineering" departments con- 
nected with that establishment. In this capacity he had much to do with the 
modern development in the enlarged use and more efficient adaptation of iron 
to building purposes, and being ambitious to turn out architectural iron work 
of a better quality than had so far been used, he determined to start a busi- 
ness of his own. 

With this in view he associated with himself Mr. Charles M. Eger. who 
had also been connected with the Architectural Iron W'orks, as a draughts- 
man, and started upon a comparatively modest scale, under the firm name of 
Poulson & Eger, the manufacturing" enterprise which, under its present stvle 
of the Hecla Iron Works, has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in the 
country. Striving even more earnestly for progress and improvement than 
for success and financial profit, they have succeeded in securing both. As a 
means toward securing better work, they encouraged their mechanics to study 
the technical side of the business, and to this end established an evening" school 
of instruction in draughting in connection with their works, in which lessons 
were given without charge by competent instructors, under whom these em- 
jiloyees were given the benefit of the best technical instruction and made better 
acquainted with the architectural iron industry and the mechanical and engi- 
neering principles underlying it. This educational feature, inspiring" the me- 
chanics with a desire to do better work, not only brought increasing" excellence 
in their own product, but has also had an important, if somewhat less direct, 
influence upon the improvement which has made the American product of iron 
work the best in the world. Many of the men who started with the firm of 
Poulson & Eger as mechanics have, through what they learned in that employ, 
been enabled to start in business for themselves, and in the enterprises they 
have inaugurated have retained the high standards which they acquired 
through connection with th.ese works. 



700 HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 

A few years ago, as the result of an investigation made by the Society 
of Alining' Engineers, a comparison was pnbhshed between European and 
American iron work, showing the product of American makers was of far 
lietter quahtv tlian the European, and due credit was given to Mr. Poulson 
and Mr. Eger for their part in bringing about this result. The business has 
for some vears past l)een (Organized as a corporation, of which Mr. Poulson 
is the president. 

Mr. Poulson has applied his inventive skill and engineering attainments 
in various wavs useful to the public, and has been especially interested in the 
problem of rapid transit. Even before the subway days, when the cong-estion 
at the bridge was the daily dread of all Brooklynites whose business was in 
Alanhattan, all the train service that could be furnished under the method then 
in vogue, was woefully deficient, and crowds of wearv men and women were 
compelled to long and tedious waits before securing transportation homeward. 
In the agitation for better facilities Mr. Poulson devised a plan to greatly 
increase the efficiency of the service, and his plan for train dispatching, which 
Avas only a part of his general plan for the relief of bridge travelers, was 
found upon trial to allow the dispatching of 120 trains per hour, which was 
a large increase over the number to be accommodated tmder the old plan. 
The plan was discarded by the city and another less effective one was adopted, 
l)ut Mr. Pottlson's effort in behalf of better transportation was much appre- 
ciated by the people of Brooklyn. 

Mr. Poulson's interest in the ra])id transit prol)lem has bv no means 
diminished, and he has recently formulated plans by which the ever increas- 
ing congestion of travel may be materially relieved. These plans are adapt- 
able to suljway or elevated railroads and provide for but two track beds instead 
of fotir, separate rails being used for the express and local trains, the local 
tracks swerving to the rear of the station, while the express passes on the 
straight track. By this method the subway need be onlv half as wide as that 
now in tise, materially reducing" the cost of construction, installation and main- 
tenance, while the overhead road would be of steel construction and stone bal- 
last, making it ])racticall\' noiseless. The jjlan also provides for pay-as-you- 
enter cars, reducing the labor cost. By this reduction of expenses it is thought 
by Mr. Poulson that the transportation companies would be able to give greater 
care to the comf(^rt n\ their ])atrons. 

Mr. Poulson is cliarilable as well as public s])irited, and recently made a 
gift of $100,000 to the American Scandinavian Society. This will be used for 
educational purposes and provide for the payment of the tuition expenses 
of Scandinavians pursuing trade or technical courses in the United States, and 
Americans taking similar courses in Scandinavian coimtries. He has an hon- 
orable business and personal record, and holds a high ])lace in public esteem. 



JOnX MITCHELL CLARK 



:(il 



JOHN AIITCHELL CLARK, long pruniincnt in tlie iron and steel 
trade, was born in Boston, July 23, 1847, ■'^O" of Right Rev. Thomas 
March Clark, D.D., LL.l).. liishop of Rhode Island, and Caroline (Howard) 
Clark. He is a direct descendant from Nathaniel Clark, of Wiltshire, 
luiyiand, who came to Boston in 1633; ''^"d through his ])atcrnal gr 






f 



4 



R' 



and- 

niother, a direct descendant of Rev. John Wheelwright, Church of England 
clergyman and friend and 
schoolmate of Oliver Crom- 
well, who became a Puritan 
and ])astor of a church at 
Mount Wollaston ( now 
Braintree), Mass., but was 
banished from Massaclni- 
setts by the General Court 
for views expressed in 
a sermon, and afterward 
founded the town of Exeter, 
N. H., and Wells, Maine. 
On his mother's side he is 
a descendant from Abra- 
ham Howard, an earlv set- 
tler of Marblehead, Alass. 

Mr. Clark was edu- 
cated in the Universit\- 
Grammar School at Provi- 
dence, R. I., and was gradu- 
ated from Brown L^niver- 
sity, Ph.B., 1865. In Feb- 
ruary, 1866, he entered the 
office of Naylor & Company, 
Boston. Jamiar\- i, 18S4, 
he became a partner, antl 
removed to New York; and 
for several years he has 
been senior partner in the 
firm. He is president and director of the American Grondal Kjellin Com- 
pany, and of the Berkshire Iron Works. 

He is a member of the Union Club and of the Down Town Association 
of New York. ]\Ir. Clark married, in London, England, July 2, 1900, Sarah 
Wood. He has his city residence at 33 West Sixty-seventh Street, and a 
country place, "Gray Craig," at Newport, Rhode Island. 




JOHN MITCHELL CL.XRK 



ro2 



HISTORY OF Xf.ir YORK 




MIS HA E. APPELBAUM :<>■ 



MISHA E. APPELBAUM, president and treasurer of the New York 
Metal Selling Company, was born in Minsk, Russia, July 4, 1879, 
where he attended a preliminary school ; and his education was finished in the 
public schools of New York City. When but fifteen years of age he obtained 
employment as an errand boy in an East Side store, but having made up his 
mind to pursue a mercantile career, he entered the service of the American 
Metal Company, Limited, in 1898, where he remained until the panic of 1907. 
Bv sheer merit he arose to the highest position with that company and grasp- 
ing every detail of the business, ably fitted himself to cope with the commer- 
cial world. Having severed his connection with the American Metal Com- 
pan\', Mr. Appelbaum, in the face of the panic and the unsettled financial con- 
dition, organized the company of which he is the head. 

Mr. Appelbaum's family had lost all their possessions in Russia and 
landed in America almost penniless ; yet despite the handicap of poverty and 
ignorance of the English language, he. in a few years had mastered the tongue 
of his adopted country, made himself indispensable to a large corporation and 
eventually organized a company which in the first year of its existence handled 
more than fifty million pounds of metal. The second year Mr. Appelbaum 
had expanded the business to an annual sale of one hundred million pounds 
of copper, lead, and zinc, and made himself a leader in his line — a remarkable 
career in the face of the obstacles which an unknown and penniless foreigner 
usually encounters in a new country. 

Mr. Appelbaum early evinced an interest in good city government, and 
when District Attorney Jerome was first nominated, he was one of the speak- 
ers selected to address his compatriots ; and in the last campaign he made 
many speeches for the Fusion ticket. 

Mr. Appelbaum is a great lover of music and literature, and is an ardent 
advocate of all outdoor sports, and his aim throughout his career has been 
to make monev sufficient to gratifv his tastes along these lines. He is a 
member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the City Athletic Club, the Traf- 
fic Club, and American Museum of Natural History; and is also a member 
of nearly all the important charitable institutions in the city. 

Mr. Appelbaum married Miss Irma Coshland, at Riverdale-on-the-Hud- 
son, June 19, 1906, and resides in winter in the city. 

Mr. Appelbaum controls the New York Metal Selling Company, and it 
is due to his business sagacity that the concern has attained an important place 
in the metal world and is constantly increasing its business. Whilst compet- 
ing sharply with all meml^ers of the trade, he has nevertheless been able to 
put Iiimself on a very friendly liasis with all factors, and it would not be sur- 
prising to see him in a few years one of the controlling figures in the copper 
world. 



:o-i: 



HISTORY Of XFJl' YORK 




A 



ADRIAN DEXTER ADRIAXCE 705 

DRIAN DEXTER ADRIANCE, mechanical engineer and manu- 
facturer, is a native of Camden, New Jersey, where he was 
born November i8, 1876, son of Benjamin and NeUie (Madden) Adriance. 

He is of French and Dutch descent on the paternal, and of English 
and Irish extraction on the maternal side. The founders of the family in 
America were Adrean Reysen and his brother. Martin Reysen, who came 
to America from Holland al)out i6jo. Their sons, Elbert and Martin, 
took the old family name of Adriance, and Elbert married, in ^(142, Cata- 
lina, daughter of Rene Jansen, and from them Mr. Adriance is descended. 
His father is a Civil War veteran, is proprietor of the Adriance Machine 
Works, of Brooklyn, president of the Savage Arms Company, of Utica, 
New York, president of the AVarp Twisting-in Machine Company, and 
identified with other large interests. 

Mr. Adriance attended public schools, but is largely self-educated; a 
practical mechanic and mechanical engineer, with much inventive skill 
and originality. He was an incorporator and director of the Ontario Can 
Company, and of the American, British and Canadian Can Company; a di- 
rector of the Savage Arms Company, 1903 and 1904; and was incorporator, 
director and vice president of the Warp Twisting-in Machine Company of 
New Jersey, 1902-1904. He has been a director since 1904 of the Warp 
Twisting-in Machine Company of New York (capital $2,600,000), its general 
manager since 1905, and its vice president from 1907 until April, 1910, when 
he was made secretary, treasurer and general manager. 

The Warp Twisting-in Machine Company has its factory at 260 Van 
Brunt Street, Brooklyn, and it was largely through his perseverance and 
energy that this unique piece of mechanism was perfected, after nine vears of 
imtiring labor, and placed on the market in practical form. The machine 
is a labor-saving device used in the manufacture of textiles and takes the 
place of hand twisters and skilled labor, doing the work better and multi- 
plying the ordinary output about five times. 

Mr. Adriance's knowledge of mechanics was of inestimable value in 
the construction and improvement of the machine, and its extensive use 
by the silk trade throughout the country was also largely due to the energy 
and enterprise with which he has managed the Inisiness. 

He is a Republican in political afiiliations. He is a member of the 
Economic Club of New York, Navy League of New York, Crescent 
Athletic Club of Brookh-n, ex-member of Troop C of Brooklyn, memljcr 
of the Varuna Boat Club of the Thirteenth Regiment; and is a member 
of the United Spanish War Veterans, the Sons of Veterans, Royal Arcanum, 
and National Alunmi. He resides at 461 Greene Avenue, Brooklyn. 



ro6 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



■FKffirififf 







ARTHUR THEODORE STILSON 



ARTHUR THEODORE STIESON 707 

ARTHUR THEODORE STILSON. vice president and manager of 
the Central Stamping Company, is of New England stock, on both 
sides of English origin, being the son of Andrew J. and Charlotte A. (Jndd) 
Stilson. His first American ancestor on the father's side, James Stilson, came 
from England to America about 1625, and on the maternal side he is descended 
from Captain Thomas Judd. He is also a descendant of Andrew Jackson. 

His grandfather, Phineas Stilson, emigrated to the West from Litchfield 
County, Connecticut, about the year 1801, and settled in the town of Denmark, 
now Castorland, Lewis County, New York, as a farmer, that section being then 
in the wilderness. His youngest son, Andrew J. Stilson, left the farm on 
attaining his majority, went to Connecticut and after four years there married 
in Litchfield County, in that State, and subsequently returned, with his wife, 
to the old homestead farm in Lewis County, New York, on which their son, 
Arthur T. Stilson, was born May 6, 1859, being the youngest of five children. 

Following the Civil \\'ar, business complications arose, which resulted in 
his father's failure, and after his mother's death, in 1870, he practically earned 
his own living by work at farming and in the lumber woods, sawmills, and 
in driving logs, at which he became an expert. He had little schooling up 
to the age of sixteen, but during his seventeenth and eighteenth years he 
attended the Lowville (New York) Academy for about six months, all told. 

Leaving there October 19, 1878, he came to New York City, arriving with 
only six dollars in his pocket. He attended evening school during the fall 
and winter months for two or three years after his arrival. Soon after coming 
to New York he entered the employ of James Aikman & Company, of Cliff 
Street, which was consolidated four years later with four other large firms, 
forming The Central Stamping Company, with which Mr. Stilson has Ijeen 
connected ever since, and of which he is now vice president and manager. 

Mr. Stilson usually votes the Republican ticket, though he has never 
aspired to political position. He has at Montclair, N. J., quite a large estate, 
which he has named "Westover," and which is his home. Lie also has a large 
farming property, the "Stilsonian Farms," in Morris County, New Jersey, 
where he finds much recreation, gratifying the lifelong" appreciation he has 
always had for farm life, in the personal supervision of the extensive farming 
operations carried on upon that estate. 

He is a member of the Civic Association, the Apollo Club, Outlook Club. 
Art Association and Montclair Club, all of Montclair. N. J., the Machinery 
Club of New York City, and other associations, although he seldom attends 
them, greatly preferring home life. 

Air. Stilson married, in Brooklyn, N. Y., Februarv 7, IQOO, Florence May 
Colby, daughter of the late John Fogg Colby of Bangor, Maine, and has two 
sons, Colby Stilson. born October 27, 1903, and Judd Stilson, born May 9, 1905. 



70S 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



E' 



DWARD PAUL REICHHELM, was l^orn at Stringaii, Silesia, 
Prussia, November 13, 1843, son of Julius and Pauline (von der 
Lippe) Reichhelm. His father participated in a revolutionary movement and 
his arrest was ordered, but escaping to Belgium, he brought his family to the 
United States in December, 1S4S. 

Mr. Reichhelm studied in ])ublic and private schools, and attended Cooper 

Institute while apprentice 
ill 



... WViV'" 



r r^li , 




n a New York machine 
;hop. In August, 1S61, he 
■an away from home and 
'nlisted for the war as pri- 
vate in the Third Missouri 
Fnf antry, and was discharged 
IS captain in the Fifty-first 
United States Colored In- 
'antry, June 16, 1866. 

Pie became a clerk, and 
n November, 1873, '"'^ 
"ormed the firm of Gesse- 
vein & Reichhelm, tool 
lealers. \Mien it dissolved, 
n May, 1876, he formed 
E. P. Reichhelm & Com- 
]iany, of which he is still 
the head. He organized the 
American Gas Furnace 
Company in January, 1887, 
and the American Swiss 
File and Tool Company in 
August. 1899, both founded 
to carry out original ideas 
in making first-class tools, 
\\hich have gained an inter- 
national reputation for ex- 
cellence and have received 
many medals and first prizes from industrial exhibitions and institutions. 

He is a past commander in the Grand Army of the Republic, member of 
the Loyal Legion, and the Masonic order; is a Republican and former presi- 
dent of the Park Commission of P)avonne. New Jersey. 

He was twice married, and bv his iirst wife has three children: Paul 
Franklin, George Lincoln, and l^lla Katharine Reichhelm. 



EDWARD PAUL RElCinii:LM 



CHARLES HERBERT SIMMONS 



709 



c 






HARLES HERBERT SIM.AIUNS, merchant, was born in New 
York City in 1862, the son of John and Mary (Rutzler) Simmons. 
His father, who was of Irish birth and ancestry, came to this country in 
1S37, and engaged in Imsiness in New York Citv for nianv years. 

Mr. Simmons was educated in the pul)hc schools of New York City, 
and in a business college; and in 18S0, when his father founded the 
business now known as the 
John Simmons Company, 
he entered the office, where 
he practically grew up in 
the business, advancing in 
position with his growth 
in experience, and upon the 
death of his father suc- 
ceeded to the presidency of 
the company, which he still 
holds. 

He is also president 
of the Simmons Realty and 
Construction Company, the 
Vulcan Rail and Construc- 
tion Company, and the Sim- 
mons Pipe Bending Works ; 
treasurer of the Powhatan 
Brass and Iron Works, ami 
vice president of the Essex 
Foundry; the products of 
these works being in the 
main handled through the 
John Simmons Company. 

He is a member of 
the National Association of 
Manufacturers, Chamber of 
Commerce of New York, 
Union League, Engineers' 
Club, and Merchants' Club, of New York; and Ardsley Club, of Ardsley- 
on-Hudson, N. Y. He has his town house at /jj Madison Avenue, and his 
country residence at Stonington, Conn., where he spends the summer 
months. 

Mr. Simmons married, in Brooklyn, New York, November 26, 1894, 
Elizabeth Eagle, and they have two cliildren, Ethel H., and Charles H., Jr. 




CUAKLES HERBERT SIMMONS 



710 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



' ' ' i'i'ii,|i'f?'i'i|i|" " ' 'VWI'M'!""'"" / ",' 'i "'III" " >V^''' ',,'l"'""il|li"'l I'" '« ,V1\ 












r ','.i I ''/',,",],. ij, '"'. 



■ •t.i.'ii 




LOUIS K. COMSTOCK 



LOUIS K. COMSTOCK 711 



L 



OUIS K. COMSTOCK, who is numbered with the foremost electrical 
and mechanical engineers of the country, is of Western birth and 
New England lineage, having been born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, January 8, 
1865, the son of Charles Henry Comstock, a merchant, and Mercy Carolyn 
(Bronson) Comstock. 

His first American ancestor in the paternal line was William Comstock, 
of Pequot (now New London), who came from England about 1637. He was 
one of the twenty-six from Wethersfield, Connecticut, who took part in the 
expedition commanded by Captain John Mason, A\hich captured the Pequot 
Fort at Mystic, Connecticut, May 26, 1637, killing more than six hundred In- 
dians. This expedition finished the Pecjuots. Through his maternal grand- 
mother, Mary Doan Bronson, wife of Daniel Bronson, Mr. Comstock is also 
descended from John Done, a friend and fellow-passenger across the Atlantic 
of Edward ^^'ynslow and Myles Standish. 

Mr. Comstock entered the University of Michigan in 1884, where he 
received the degree of Ph.B. in 188S. Following graduation he entered upon 
his professional career as an electrical engineer, in which he has ever since 
been engaged. He advanced rapidly, and in 1897 '^^'-'^s appointed superintend- 
ent of construction of the Western Electric Company. He remained in that 
position for nearly fottr years, resigning- in August, 1900, to accept an appoint- 
ment as electrical engineer and manager of the mechanical department of the 
George A. Fuller Company, and so continued until January i, 1904, when he 
organized and became president of L. K. Comstock & Company, Incorporated, 
of which important engineering organization he is still the head. 

There is no man in the engineering profession who has mastered more 
completely the technical and practical engineering problems connected with 
the construction of great modern buildings than Mr. Comstock. He has con- 
tributed much, from his own research and testing, to the perfecting of meth- 
ods of construction and of installations, electrical and mechanical, in such 
structures. 

Mr. Comstock has added to the benefits of liberal education and distin- 
guished professional achievement the advantages of extensive travel through- 
out the United States, and in Mexico, the West Indies, Central America and 
Europe. He is identified with the leading technical organizations and profes- 
sional societies, including the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Western Society of Engineers, 
American Electro-chemical Society, Illuminating Engineering Society, and the 
Engineers' Club. He is also a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Associa- 
tion of New York. 

\h-. Comstock married, in New York, September 12, 1902, Anne Stevens 
Wilson, and has a son, Thomas Brownell Comstock, born June 12, 1904. 



ri2 



HISTORY OF NEU' YORK 



NATHAX FLEISCHER, now vice president of the International 
Steam Pnmp Company, is of Austrian nativity, having been born 
at Saaz, Austria. January i6, 1857. He attended the schools of that place 
until he was over fourteen years of age, when he came to the United States. 
He learned chain-making in the jewelry trade and worked at that occu- 
pation until he was nineteen years old, and then entered the grocery business, 

in which he was emploved 

wmiimmmm 



as a clerk until 1887, in 
which year he started in the 
grocery business for himself 
at Paterson, N. J. He 
made a substantial success 
in that business, but in 1897 
sold out his grocery busi- 
ness to his partner, in order 
to connect himself with 
financial interests in Pater- 
son, N. J. 

After a few years he 
became associated with j\Ir. 
B. Guggenheim in the 
Power and Mining Machin- 
ery Company, of which he 
was the treasurer until that 
company was combined with 
the International Steam 
Pump Company, of which 
he was elected treasurer, 
later being elected vice 
president of the company, 
which office he now holds. 
He also filjs the duties of 
foreign representative of 
the company. 

Mr. Fleischer having 
a p(isition of prominence and 




NATHAN FLEISCHER 



made his wav bv his own eiTorts and reachet 

success, has also done valuable ]uiblic service. In Paterson, New Jersey, 

where he long resided, he served for some time as a park commissioner. 

He was also on the first Finance Commission appointed by the mayor of 

the city of Paterson, a body 

citw 



which is in full charge of the finances of that 



LEON PHILIP FEUSTMAX 



ri3 



L' 



EON PHILIP FEUSTiAIAN, of the International Steam Pump Com- 
pany, was born in Philadelphia, March 6, iS6i, the son of Bernard 
and Rosalie (Mayer) Feustman. 

He was educated in Philadelphia Central High School and the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated as a mining engineer, 
with the degree of Bachelor of Science, in 1882. After leaving the university 
he located in Leadville, 
Colorado, where he was em- I ' ' '/I 
ployed as a chemist and 
assayer for several mining 
and smelting companies 
until 1888, when he went to 
Mexico for the Consolidated 
Kansas City Smelting and 
Refining Company (after- 
ward merged in the Amer- 
ican Smelting and Refining 
Company). He remained 
in that employ in various 
positions up to manager of 
the company's affairs in 
Mexico, until i8()8. when 
he became manager in ^lex- 
ico for M. Guggenheim's 
Sons. In 1900 he was 
transferred to the executive 
offices of the American 
Smelting and Refining 
Company in New York. He 
remained there until 1903, 
when he became vice presi- 
dent of the Power and Min- 
ing Machinery Company, 
which position he still holds. 
Since 1907 he has been vice 
president and general manager of the International Steam Pump Company. 

He is a member of the Lawyers', Machinery and Luiiversity of Pennsyl- 
vania Clubs in New York City; the American Institute of Mining Engineers, 
the National Geographic Society and the Pennsylvania Society of New York. 

He married, in St. Louis, Missouri, ^lay 23, 1892, Josephine Thatcher, 
and has a son, Bernard Henrv, and a daughter, Marian Thatcher Feustman. 




LEON PHILIP FEUSTMAN 



714 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




ROBERT ROGERS 715 



R 



OBERT ROGERS has for more than lialf of a century held an active 
and prominent place in the business life of New York City. He was 
born in the city of Nottingham, England, December 2'^, i'^34, and in that 
ancient city he received a classical education and grew \\\) to manhood. 

After completing his education he learned the art of manufacturing 
hosierv, which constitutes one of the industries for which that city is famous, 
and after acquiring a thorough knowledge of that business and establishing" 
connections with the leading hosiery mills, Mr. Rogers came to New York 
City, in if^56, and engaged in the sale of foreign and domestic hosiery, in 
which line he established a very large business and achieved a notable success. 

In 1867, Mr. Rogers was appointed a special agent for the Lawrence 
Manufacturing Company of Lowell, Mass., which connection he retained until 
1901, and during that period he was a partner in the late firm of Townsend 
& Yale, of New York, a house which held a position of distinguished promi- 
nence as one of the leaders in the dry goods commission Inisiness in New 
York City. During that connection Mr. Rogers liecame widelv acquainted in 
the dry goods trade and achieved an enviable position in the business world. 

LTpon retiring from that firm in 1901, Mr. Rogers took a rest of two 
years' duration, and then feeling a desire to return to the activities of business, 
he became connected with the firm of Lamson, King & Company, as a special 
partner, that firm being dry goods commission merchants at 55 Leonard Street, 
with excellent mill connections. He still remains identified with that firm. 

About the same time ^Ir. Rogers l)ecame interested in the DeWitt Wire 
Cloth Company, of which he was elected president, and still holds that posi- 
tion. The DeWitt W^ire Cloth Company is a manufacturing corporation which 
operates a most complete plant for the prosecution of the industry from which 
the company takes its title, and both for the qualitv and volume of its produc- 
tion holds a position of leadership in that line. It has had a continuously 
successful business under the executive direction of Mr. Rogers, the office of 
the company being at 299 Broadway. 

During his identification with the business life of New ^'ork for the past 
fifty-four years, Mr. Rogers has been most favoral)lv known tlirough the New 
York mercantile district for his sound and conservative business methods, and 
has gained the general esteem of friends and competitors, not only in the city, 
but also in the trade throughout the country. 

Mr. Rogers was married, June 2, 1H58, to Miss Cornelia M. Dowling, 
daughter of the late Rev. John Dowling, for man\- vears a well-known pastor 
in the Baptist denomination in the City of New ^'ork. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers 
have two children living, viz: E. Russell Rogers, who is associated with his 
father in the wire cloth business, and Clarence De\\'itt Rogers, of the law 
firm of Holden «& Rogers, of the City of New York. 



716 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



c 



ARL F. BOKER, merchant in steel, metals and hardware, is a native 
ijf Xcw York City, where he was horn December 27, 1S47, the son 
of Hermann and ]\Iathilde (Herberts) Boker. His father was a German 
merchant who came to New ^'ork in Alay, 1837, and established the business 
of Hermann P)Oker & Company the same year. 

Carl F. Boker was educated in Germany and began his business experience 

there. He afterward 

''■■' ''"'""i L 1" I'l'iim.u :iiii,i»M|j',ii' 



IN^'^^ 



II 



'7 



:i / 



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*4 






''''''/Wfl'i'i! 






returned to New York City, 
and in September, 1883, he 
established business, under 
his own name of Carl F. 
Fxikcr, as an importer of 
steel and metals. In Janu- 
ary, 1891, he combined this 
business with that of Her- 
mann Boker & Company, 
then in its iifty-foin^th year 
I if successful activity, and 
since January, 1900, he has 
l)een sole owner of the busi- 
ness of Hermann Boker & 
Crimpany, which he now 
conducts at 101-103 Duane 
.Street. The prestige of this 
(lid .and honorable house has 
been fullv maintained and 
its Inisiness greatly enlarged 
by him. 

Air. Boker is a Repub- 
lican; and is a member of 
the ^Merchants', New York 
Athletic, and Ardsley Clubs, 
Deutscher Verein and Rum- 
son Country Club. 

He married, in Ham- 
burg, Germany, December 10, 1889, Therese A. Sendel, and has two sons, 
Flermann 1). lioker, born January 6, 1891, and Carl F. Boker, Jr., born June 20, 
1893, and a daughter, Rita \l. Boker, born January 4, 1895. His town 
residence is at 2;i, West Seventy-sixth Street, in New York City, and his coun- 
try home is on Rumson Road, at Seabright, N. J., where the family usually 
spends the summer nKinths. 




CARL F. IIOKKR 



URI T. IILWGEKFONn 



:ir 



U' 



'RI T. IIUNGERFORD, who lias lons^- l)ecn ijroniinciit as a leader in 
the l^rass and copper incUistry, was Ixirn in Torrington, Connecti- 
cut, Deceml)er 14, i!^4i, the son of John and Charlotte Mills (Austin) Hun- 
gerford. His family is of English origin, his first American ancestor, John 
Hungerford, having come from England to New England in 1749. Uri T. 
Hungerford's father was a manufacturer <>i hrass and copper. 

The son received a 
good education in a military 
academy at Ossining, New 
York, and under private tu- 
tors, and he began his ac- 
tive career in his father's 
business. Acquiring a thor- 
ough and practical knowl- 
edge of the copper and 
brass business in all its 
branches and details, he 
continued to advance in 
position until he became 
president of the U. T. Hun- 
gerford Brass and Copper 
Company of New York, 
which, under his executive 
and general management, 
he has developed to a high 
plane of efificiencv and pres- 
tige as one of the foremost 
representatives of the in- 
dustry. He is also presi- 
dent of the American Man- 
ganese Bronze Compau}- of 
Philadelphia, which has also 
thrived greatly under his 
experienced direction. 

He is a Republican in 
politics, and is a member of the Hardware, Fulton, and Railroad Clubs of 
New York. He has traveled extensively in America and Europe. 

Mr. Hungerford married, in New York, June 29, 1SS7, Sillora Ritchie. 
He had a son, \\'allace \\'. Hungerford, who is now deceased. Mr. Hunger- 
ford's city residence is at Fifth Aveiuie and Fifty-ninth Street, and he has 
a country place at Bronxville, New York. 




URI T. HUNGERFORD 



718 



HISTORV or XEir ]'ORK 



JAJMES EDWARD POPE, president of the Pope IMetals Company, 
was born in New York City, Jnly 5, 1863, the son of Thomas J. and 
Catherine A. ( Dnxton ) Pope. He is of Eng-hsh descent on both sides, and 
his maternal grandfatlier was Dr. Cliarles Bnxton, physician to President 
George Washington. 

Mr. Pope was echicated in jirivate scliools and in the Sheffield Scientific 

School of Yale University, 
from which institution he 
was graduated in the Class 
uf 1882. 

In July, 1883, he en- 
tered the metal business 
with his father's firm of 
Thomas J. Pope & Brother, 
and has since continued 
in that luisiness, now being 
president of the Pope Met- 
als Company, of 90 West 
Street, New York. He is 
\'ice president of the New 
\'ork ]\Ietal Exchange, a 
meml)er of the Statistical 
( 'ommittee of the Board of 
Trade of Jersey City, and 
was a shade-tree commis- 
sioner of Jersey City, New 
Jersey. He was elected to 
the office of president of the 
University of the State of 
New Jersey in July, 1909. 
I\Ir. Pope is a member 
(if the Berzelius Society of 
Yale College, the Yale Uni- 
\-ersity Club of New Haven, 
Connecticut ; the Meridian 




JAAIKS EDWARD POPE 



Club and the Drug and Chemical Club of New York. 

Pie is also a member of the Hudson County Historical Society of Jersey 
City, New Jersey: of the National ]\Iunicipal League, and of the American 
'Civic Association. 

He married, at Anniston, Ala])ama, Octolx-r jo, 1898. Fanny Ford No- 
ble, and has one s(in, James Nolile Pope. 



JOHX J.-l.MRS AMORV 



nn 



JOHN JAMES AMORY, manufacturer, was born in Fond du Lac, 
Wisconsin, son of John Amory ( capitalist ) and Jane ( Smith ) x\mory- 
He was educated in Saint Paul's School, Fond du Lac, \\'isconsin, and 
Riverview College, at Poughkeepsie, New York; entered a railroad office at 
Fond du Lac in 1876, and later went to the Pacific Coast, becoming a livery 
man at Santa Monica, California, and Tucson, Arizona, 1877-1S78; miner 
at Tombstone. Arizona, 
1879-1880; express com- WjjMjjJi 
pany agent at Texarkana, '' 
Arkansas, 1881-1882; hotel 
proprietor at Billings, ]Mon- 
tana, 1883-1884; then at 
Bridgeport, Connecticut, as 
secretary and treasurer of 
the Armstrong Manufac- 
turing Company, 1885- 1886. 
In 1886 he became secre- 
tary and treasurer of the 
Gas Engine and Power 
Company and Charles L. 
Seabury & Company, Con- 
solidated, of which he after- 
ward became and is still 
president. The compan-. 
has large works at Morri- 
Heights, New York Cit}". 
and builds steam and sail 
yachts, gasoline engines and 
launches, naphtha launches, 
wooden vessels, marine en- 
gines and boilers. 

He is a director of the 
Mount Morris Bank of New 
York, and the Dutchess 
Manufacturing Company of 

Poughkeepsie, and vice president of the North Side Board of Trade of New 
York. He is a vestryman of Saint James Episcopal Church, Fordhani ; mem- 
ber of the National Civic Federation, Navy League, New York, Larchmont and 
Columl)ia Yacht Clubs and Transportation and New York Athletic Clubs. 

He married, at Poughkeepsie, September i, 1881, ]\Lary S. Hull, and 
has three sons: John Hull, Eugene Horton, and Clement Gould Amory. 




JOHN JAMES AMORY 



r20 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



F 



REDERICK ^E-VRTEX ASS-AEWX, one of the more prominent of 
the German-American citizens of the metropohs, was born in North 
Germany, Eeln-narv 8, 1858, and was educated in the excehent pubHc schools 
of his native country. 

Beginnin;:;' his l)usiness career in Germany, he decided, after a few years, 
to try his fortunes in America, and twenty-six years ago he landed in this 

country. After a short time 







in other lines of activity he 
established himself in the 
can btisiness, and he has 
since conducted it with such 
success that Mr. Assmann 
is now president of the 
Export and Domestic Can 
Company, one of the most 
extensive and prosperous of 
the concerns in that busi- 
ness. The company has 
its offices and headqttarters 
at 616 ^^'est Forty-third 
Street, X'ew York. ]\Ir. 
Assmann has ably assisted 
in l)ring'ing this company 
from modest beginnings 
to its present prominence, 
through executive ability 
and careful supervision. 

Air. Assmann has al- 
ways taken an active inter- 
est in ptiblic affairs, and is 
a Republican in his political 
views, and an earnest and 
active supporter of Republi- 
can principles. He is a 
member of the Republican 
Club of East Orange, X'ew Jersey, in which beautiful suburjj he is reg'arded 
as one of the most public-spirited citizens. Ele has his home at 151 X'orth 
Grove Street. 

Air. Assmann, who was married in X'ew York Citv, Alav 2, 1S87, is now 
a widower, and has three sons: Alartin F., born Alarch 23, i88g; Arthur A., 
born August 2, i8qi ; A\'ilbur A., born Xovemlier 2j. 1892. 



FREDERICK :\IARTEX ASSMAXN 



ALL AX C. BAKEWELL 



721 



A 




f "///;( i/ii Ml "wii^c /"" ' 






\y 



LLAN CAMPBELL BAKEWELL. president of the Sprague Elec- 
tric Company, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, June 
i6, 1847, the son of William and Jane Hannah ( CamplxMl) Bakewell. He 
is of English and Scotch descent, his ancestors on both sides having settled in 
America early in the Eighteenth Century. 

He was educated in the public schools of his native county and in 
the Western LIniversity of 
Pennsylvania, going from ffU 
that institution into the 
Union Armv during the 
latter part of the Civil War. 
He engaged in the iron 
manufacturing 1) u s i n e ss, 
afterwards becoming identi- 
fied with the manufacture 
of electrical machinerv and 
apparatus, and upon the 
organization of the Spragtie 
Electric Company, in 1897, 
he became its general man- 
ager, afterwards being elec- 
ted vice president, and in 
1902, president of the com- 
pany. Mr. Bakewell is also 
a director of the Gramercy 
Company, and is identified 
with other interests. 

In i8q8 Mr. Bakewell 
was appointed assistant ad- 
jutant general of the State 
of New York, with the 
grade of lieutenant-colonel. 
He was formerly the de- 
partment commander of the 
Department of New York 

of the G. A. R. He is a Republican in politics, and has been active in party 
afifairs, although never in the sense of seeking ofifice. 

He is a meml)er of the LTnion League, the Metropolitan, the Engineers', 
and the Players' Clubs, of New York City. 

He married, in Pittsburgh, Alice C. Moorhead, member of an old Alle- 
gheny County family. Mrs. Bakewell and their two children are all deceased. 




ALLAN C. BAKEWELL 



HisroRV or xi-ir ]-()rk 




WALDO HALL MARSHALL 



WALDO HALL }L4RSHALL ?23 

WALDO HALL MARSHALL, now i)residcnt of the American Loco- 
motive Company, and previons to that (hstinguished as an execu- 
tive m the motive power departments and general management of leading rail- 
ways, w'as born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 7, 1864. 

He received a public school education and after that devoted himself bv 
study and practical work to the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of me- 
chanics and mechanical engineering, which he attained in various shops and 
manufacturing institutions, becoming an expert of great skill. 1 le also gained 
a practical knowledge of the principles of railway operation. 

In May, 1897, '""^ was appointed assistant superintendent of motive power 
of the Chicago and North-Western Railway, which position he held until June, 
1809, when he was appointed sui)erintendent of motive power of the Lake 
Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, continuing in that position until Feb- 
ruarv, 1902, when he was appointed general superintendent of this same road, 
later having his jurisdiction extended over the Lake Erie and Western Rail- 
road, and the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Railroad, continuing- in that capacity 
until July, 1903, when he was promoted to general manager of these three 
roads. During his connection with the Lake Shore System Mr. Marshall had 
much to do with the designing of heavy passenger and freight locomotives, 
and his work in connection with the equipment of that road was of a pro- 
gressive character and had a lasting effect upon modern locomotive practice 
in this country. 

In addition to his skill as a mechanical engineer, Mr. Marshall displayed 
signal abilitv as an executive ofiicer during his connection, first with the mo- 
tive power department and later with the general management of the Lake 
Shore Road and his abilitv was generally recognized in railway circles. 

In February, 1906, Mr. Marshall resigned from the general manage- 
ment of the Lake Shore Road, in order to accept the presidency of the Amer- 
ican Locomotive Company, which was organized in June, if)Oi, as a com- 
bination of several manufacturers of locomotives, including the Schenec- 
tady, Brooks (Dunkirk, N. Y.), Pittsburgh, and Richmond (\'a.) Locomo- 
tive Works, Dickson Manufacturing Company, Scranton, Pennsylvania, and 
the International Power Company of Providence, Rhode Island. The company 
has since acquired the Montreal Locomotive Works, Rogers Locomotive 
\\'orks, and the American Locomotive Automobile Comj^any. In the manu- 
facture of railway locomotives, snow-plows, steam-shovels and dredges, it is 
the leading corporation of the country and is also one of the foremost in the 
manufacture of automobiles. Mr. Marshall's administration of the company's 
affairs has licen eminently successful. He married Florence Hood Kili)atrick, 
and has his city residence at 135 Central Park West, and a country ])lace at 
Barnstable, Massachusetts. 



;24 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



N' 



[ K( )LA TESLA, electrical engineer, physicist and inventor, was 
born in 1857, in Sniiljan, Lika, border country of Austria-Hun- 
gary; the son of a distinguished clergyman and orator, and of Georgiana 
Mandic, a famous woman and inventor, whose father was also an inventor. 
His education began in the elementary school of his native place, continued 
four vears in the public school in Gospic, Lika: four years in Lower Real 

School in Gospic, and three 

School, 

re he 

iflflll :;■ ■;,( ■;-,,, r ^^^1H||^W KIJiU jnr Originallv destmed tor the 

I'l' ' I ; ''^.^'^■K''t^ffii clergy, he prevailed upon 

lis parents to send him to 
the Polytechnic School in 
Gratz, where for four years 
le studied mathematics, 
ihvsics and mechanics, fol- 
lowing with two years of 
l)hilosophical studies at the 
l^iiversitv of Prague, Bo- 
leniia. Lie started on his 
practical career in 18S1, in 
Fiudapest, Lhmgary, where 
he made his first electrical 
invention, a telephone re- 
peater, and conceived the 
idea of his rotating mag- 
netic field; thence he went to 
France and Germany, where 
he was successively engaged 
in various branches of engi- 
neering and manufacture. 
Since 1S84 he has been a 
resident of the United 
States, of which he is a 
naturalized citizen: and here his subsequent inventions originated. 

Mr. Tesla is the author of numerous scientific papers and addresses, and 
honorary or regular memlier of many scientific societies, institutions and 
academies in the LTnited States and abroad: he is a life member of the Brit- 
ish Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Royal 
Institution of Great Britain; M.A. of Yale, LL.D. of Columbia, and Doctor 





NIKOLA TESLA 



NIKOLA TESLA 



of Science of the \"ienna Polytechnic School, the latter distinction being con- 
ferred upon him in acknowledgment of his discoveries of the rotating mag- 
netic field and principles of wireless energy transmission; the Elliott Cresson 
gold medal was awarded him in recognition of his original work first pre- 
sented before the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light Associa- 
tion in 1883, in which one of the most important chapters was devoted to a 
description of his wireless method. Mr. Tesla's rank among those who have 
led in the advance in knowledge and ajiplication of electrical forces is among 
the foremost. 

Among his inventions and discoveries are: Svstem of arc lighting, 
1886; Tesla motor and system of alternating current power transmission, 
popularly known as two-phase, three-phase, multiphase, or polyphase sys- 
tems, which have created a revolution in electrical engineering and are now 
universally adopted (1888); system of electrical conversion and distribution 
by oscillatory discharges, i88g; generators of high-frequency currents and 
efifects of these, i8qo; transmission of energy through a single wire without 
return, 1891 ; the "Tesla coil" or transformer, which has proved an indispen- 
sable adjunct in many electrical arts, 1891 ; investigations of high-frequency 
efTects and phenomena, 1891-93; system of wireless transmission of intelli- 
gence, 1893; mechanical oscillators and generators of electrical oscillations, 
1894-95; researches and discoveries in novel radiations, material streams and 
emanations, were published in a series of pai)ers in the Electrical Review, New 
York, 1896-1898. in which he announced all the salient phenomena later 
attributed to radium; high-potential magnifying transmitter. 1897; .system of 
transmission of power without wires, 1897-1905; economic transmission of 
energy by refrigeration, 1898; art of Telautoniatics, 1898-99; discovery of sta- 
tionary electrical waves in the earth, i89(); burning of atmospheric nitrogen, 
and production of other electrical etTects (»f transcending intensities, 1899- 
1900; method and apparatus for magnifying feeble effects, 1901-1902; art of 
individualization, 1902-1903. The development of his system of world-teleg- 
raphy and telephony and of the transmission of power without wires has 
engaged much of his attention since that time. A numl)er of discoveries in 
the electrical field, made by Mr. Tesla, which he has not yet announced, he 
considers of greater moment than any electrical work he has so far done. 
His most important recent work is the discovery of a new mechanical i)rin- 
ciple, which he has embodied in a great variety of machines, as reversible gas 
and steam turbines, pumps, blowers, air compressors, water turbines, mechan- 
ical transformers and transmitters of power, hot-air engines, etc. This prin- 
ciple enables the production of prime movers capable of developing ten horse 
power, or even more, for each pound of weight. By their application to aerial 
navigation, and the propulsion of vessels, high speeds are practicable. 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



f i ,11' ,'/ iii 




DR. EDWARD GOODRICH ACHKSON 



DR. EDWARD GOODRICH ACHESOX 



D 



|R. EDWARD GOODRICH ACHESON was born March 9, 1856, 
at ^^'ashing■to^, Pa. ; had three years schoohng, after which he was 
engaged in various pursuits inckiding- civil engineering on raih'oad construc- 
tion, and in the fall of 1880 became assistant to Thomas A. Edison, who sent 
him, the next summer, to Europe in h.is interests, where he remained two and 
one-half years. While in Europe he installed the first incandescent electric 
lighting plants ever erected in Italy, Belgium and Holland. He next became 
superintendent of the Consolidated Lamp Company, Brooklyn, and later elec- 
trician to the Standard Underground Cable Company, Pittsburgh. 

In 1891, Dr. Acheson discovered Carborundum and organized The Car- 
liorundum Company, of which he was i)resident for ten years. This com- 
pany is now producing carborundum at the rate of 10,000,000 pounds yearly. 
Following- the completion of the details of carborundum manufacture. Dr. 
Acheson created a new industry — the manufacture of graphite. For carrying 
on the business, he incorporated the International Acheson Graphite Company, 
which is now making about 15,000,000 pounds of graphite annually. He also 
invented methods for extracting metallic silicon from ordinary sand. 

Dr. Acheson's latest discoveries embrace the production of a fine lubri- 
cating graphite, and the "deflocculation" of inorganic, amorphous bodies, and a 
clear explanation of the cause of the formation of the bars of the Mississippi 
and the delta of the Nile. In a recent lecture delivered by Dr. Acheson be- 
fore the Automobile Club of America, he discarded all technical phrases and, 
after describing in a popular vein his earlier work, showed his distinguished 
audience how the extract of plants, such as straw, grass and barks of trees, 
deflocculate soils and all amorphous inorganic bodies, including his artificial 
graphite. He showed by means of diagrams the remarkable results obtained 
by Professor Benjamin, of Purdue University, and Dr. Mabery of the Case 
School of Applied Science, in determining the value of deflocculated graphite 
as a lubricant when carried in very small quantities by either oil or water. 

Dr. Acheson has obtained results that clearly indicate the universal use of 
deflocculated graphite in lubricating oil (Oildag) will extend the jiossible life 
of petroleum lubricating oils four times. The results prove thai water and 
deflocculated graphite (Aquadag) give better lubrication than the best oils. 

Dr. Acheson is a member of many scientific and engineering societies ; he 
has received many honors, prominent amongst them being the Rumford Medals 
awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Science, and the Perkin Medal 
awarded by committees of the Society of Chemical Industry, American Chem- 
ical Society, and the American Electro-chemical Society. The University of 
Pittsburgh conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science. 

Dr. Acheson was married, December 16. 1884, to Margaret Mahar, of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., and has five sons and four daughters. 



728 



HISTORY OF XRjr YORK 




RICHARD DE WOLFE BRIXEY 



R 



RICHARD DE WOLFE BRIXEY 729 

I CHARD \W. WOLFE BRIXEY, the head of the Kerite Insulated 
Wire and Cable Company, was born in Seymour, Connecticut, on 
September 22, 1880. He is the son of William Richard and Frances (De 
Wolfe) Brixey. He is of English descent on the paternal side and through 
his mother a descendant of the old and well-known American family of De 
Wolfe. His father, \\"illiam R. Brixev, who was for so many years the head 
and owner of the business, dating from the death of his brother-in-law, Mr. 
A. G. Day, the well-known inventor of Kerite, retired from active business 
after many years of successful operation when he incorporated the business 
in 1 008 under the name of the Kerite Insulated Wire and Cable Company, 
with his son, Richard De Wolfe Brixev, as president and treasurer, whom he 
had trained to succeed him. 

Richard De Wolfe Brixey spent his early life at Seymour, Connecticut, 
where the large plant of the company is located. As a bov he spent a large 
part of his spare time in the works. He has always been most deeply inter- 
ested in the business, and from boyhood up he has had no other ambition than 
to follow in his father's footsteps. His natural inclination for and close asso- 
ciation with this business during his early life have been of great value to him 
in the direction of the company's affairs. Fle graduated from the public 
schools with high honors, being the head of his class, and then entered the 
Sheflield Scientific School of Yale University, from which he graduated 
in 1902 with the degree of Ph.B. After his matriculation he entered the 
works at Seymour, Connecticut. While he already had a thorough knowl- 
edge of the practical end of the business, having always been closely asso- 
ciated with it, upon his graduation he entered the works as an ordinary 
laborer and worked up from that position. He was then transferred to 
the head office at New York City, where he rapidly acquired a large knowl- 
edge of the executive end of the business and became manager. Not long 
afterwards he was advanced to be general manager of the entire business 
and upon the retirement of his father naturally became the head of the 
business. 

The company, as manufacturers of insulated wires and cables, enjoys the 
highest reputation for its product and business standing. The business is the 
oldest and best known in its line in this country, having been founded in 1850. 
Kerite insulated wires and cables have earned an unequalled record of per- 
formance in service under all conditions. It is the policy of this company 
under the management of Mr. Brixey, as it has always l^een under that of 
his predecessors, to do business on the basis of quality rather than on a cheap 
first-cost basis. The growth of the business under this policy, while perhaps 
conservative, has been very large and steady. The products of the company 
include insulated wires and cables of every descriiition for interior, aerial, un- 



30 HISTORV OF NEW YORK 



(lerground antl submarine service, from small telephone and electric light 
wire to high power transmission cables. 

Owing- to the merit of Kerite, the general policy of the company and the 
personal efforts of ^Nlr. Brixey, it secures business from practically all parts 
of the world. One of its most important contracts was the furnishing- of a 
cable laid across the Isthmus of Panama in the Canal Zone. This cable was 
manufactured, shipped and laid in one continuous length of fifty miles, and 
the contract was secured in competition with manufacturers of various coun- 
tries, the Kerite company being the highest bidder, but its product was consid- 
ered the best. This is probably the most important stretch of cable of its 
length in the world, connecting as it does the Atlantic and Pacific cables. 
Another important contract was the furnishing of the wires and cables for 
the new Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal system, which extends from liar- 
rison. New Jersey, under the North River, across New York City and under 
the East River to Long Island City. The largest part of this contract, run- 
ning into hundreds of thousands of dollars, consists of the block signal system 
wire and cable upon which the safety of the public as well as the efficient oper- 
ation of the road depends. The company also made and laid for the gov- 
ernment a cable from Skagway to Juneau, in Alaska, which is one of the 
important links in placing Alaska in communication with the rest of the 
world. 

The business is rapidly growing under the direction of Mr. Brixey, who 
brings to its management not only the most complete technical knowledge of 
the manufacturing- and scientific details, but who also possesses administrative 
and executive abilities of a superior order and the company has come to be 
recognized as representative of the highest achievement in the industry. As 
such it has secured and is constantly adding to its patrons the leading corpora- 
tions engaged in various departments of electrical service and large systems, 
such as the railroad systems, the telephone and telegraph companies. Mr. 
Brixey is recognized as a man of keen judgment and is an example of the 
highest type of the American business man in all that it implies. 

Mr. JSrixey is a member of the Engineers' Clul), the Railroad Club, the 
New York Railroad Club, the Machinery Club, the Morse Electric Club, 
the ^'ale Clul) of New York, The American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 
the University Club of New Haven, the Essex County Country Club of New 
Jersey, and wirious business associations. 

Mr. Brixey married, in Jersey City Pleights, Jersey City, New Jersey, in 
November, 1905, Bertha Marguerite Anness, and has one daughter, Doris 
Marguerite. 

Mr. Brixey resides at 210 Riverside Drive, and his summer home is at 
Sevmoiu', Connecticut. 



FLORIAN GROSJEAN 



rsi 



^LORIAN GROSJEAN, born in Sanle, Switzerland, January 17. 
1824, was educated for a business career, bis first position being in 
a bank at Montbeliard, France. He came to America in 1856, and with 
Cbarles Lalance, under tbe firm name of Lalance & Grosjean, soon had a 
large business in French tin and hardware. ]\Ir. Grosjean soon realized that 
advantages could be gained by mannfacluring the goods he was importing. 
He In'ought several Swiss 
and French workmen here ||f|[j|| 
and opened a small shop in ||g 
Woodhaven, I.. I., where he 
manufactured articles of tin. 
He was the originator of tin 
spoons and many other arti- 
cles of household utility, 
that were added as the busi- 
ness grew. 

Mr. Grosjean had shown 
rare executive abilitv in the 

expansion of the busmess, *,'i^ 
.... . . 1 . ;\ 

but his mventive genuis was 




not exhibited until he origi- 
nated the process of enamel- 
ing sheet iron cooking uten- 
sils, spending several hun- 
dred thousand dollars in 
perfecting the product. 

In 1869, Mr. Grosjean 
organized the present stock 
company, becoming its 
president and principal 
owner. The plant was 
burned in 1876, but was im- 
mediately rebuilt on a larger 
scale and in addition large 
tin plate works and rolling 

mills were erected at Harrisburg. Pa., to supply raw material for the plant, 
which had grown from a modest shop to a succession of fine buildmgs, cov- 
ering an area of over twenty acres, and there are large storage warehouses ni 
Chicago and Boston, supplying the Western and New England trade. 

Mr. Grosiean. after a life of great usefulness, died at his home in Brook- 
lyn, January 24, 1903. at the age of seventy-nine. 



I-'LORIAX CKOSJEAN 



HISTORY Of XlUr YORK 




FKANK \V. JACKSON 



FRANK IV. JACKSON 733 



RANK W. JACKSON, formerly general agent of the Hellenic 
Transatlantic Steamship Company of Athens, Greece, and who is 
a classical scholar of distinction as well as a successful business man, was 
born in Pennsylvania, June 6, 1874, the son of Enos Sturgis and Clara (Bailev) 
Jackson, his father being a merchant. The first American ancestor in his 
family was Isaac Jackson, who came from Lancashire, England, to this coun- 
try, in 1725. Prior to that date the Jacksons of this line had been prominent 
in the okl country, including in their nunil)ers distinguished participants in 
the War of the Roses and in Cromwell's Army. Since being transplanted in 
this country the family has also been prominent, notably in the case of Gen- 
eral T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson, of the Confederate Army. 

Mr. Frank W. Jackson received a liberal education. He was graduated 
from the Mount Pleasant (Pennsylvania) Preparatory School with honors, 
winning the $300 college prize. He attended Bucknell University, and special- 
ized in the Greek language under the late Dr. Thomas Day Seymour, of Yale 
University, and in Greek histories under Dr. George S. Goodspeed, of the 
University of Chicago, from which institution he received the degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts ill ciirsii. 

Mr. Jackson became head master of Greek in the Alount Pleasant Pre- 
paratory School from 1895 to 190 1. He traveled extensively through Europe 
and was a resident of Greece for two years, serving as American Consul from 
1901 to 1903. During his two years' residence in Greece he became deeply 
interested in that country, not only as a scholar making linguistic, historical 
and archaeological researches, but also devoted much study and investigation 
to the economic and commercial conditions and relations of Greece. 

He established business connections in that countrv, and on coming back 
to New York, in 1903, he became general manager of the Greek Currant 
Company. In 1909 he was appointed general agent in New York of the 
Hellenic Transatlantic Steamship Company of Athens, for which position 
his familiarity with Hellenic affairs gives him especial fitness, and he gave to 
the company a most able and efficient service in that capacity until leaving 
it to engage in the importing business he now conducts at 130 Fulton Street. 

Mr. Jackson is a Republican in politics, and is a trustee and treasurer 
of the West Park Baptist Church. He is a member of the staff of lecturers 
of the New York Board of Education; a member of the Archseological So- 
ciety of Athens, Greece; of Circolo Nazionale Italiano, Phi Gamma Delta Fra- 
ternity, Phi Gamma Delta Club, and Traflic Club, of New York. 

He married, at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, in August, 1898, Margaret 
Z. Markle, daughter of the late Captain Cassius Clay Markle, and they have 
two daughters, Marian Markle Jackson, born in 181J9, and Margaret Wade 
Jackson, born in 1904. 



734 



HISTORY OP Xl-ir YORK 




HEXRY ENGELHARD STEIN WAY 735 

THE house of Steinway represents not only the evohition of an art 
product and a great business, but also a personal side which has 
made valuable contrilnitions to the artistic and business development and civic 
betterment of the city of New York. 

Henry Engelhard Steinway, the founder of the house, w^as a native of 
the Duchy of Brunswick, born in the hamlet of Wolfshagen, in the Hartz 
Mountains, Febrtiary 15, 1797. Though the youngest of twelve children, he 
was, at the age of fifteen, the sole male member of his familv. Of the others, 
who all served in the Eranco-Prussian War of 1806 or the Franco-Russian 
War of 1812, several were killed in battle. The father, together with three 
older brothers, had survived these wars, and with two other men and Henry 
E. Steinway formed a party of seven which had congregated in the latter part 
of 1 81 2, when a terrible bolt of lightning killed all of the party except Henry, 
who escaped unhurt. In 1814 he served in one of the Duke of Brunswick's 
regiments in the German war of defense against the aggressions of Napoleon 
Bonaparte. 

He continued in the military service until he was twenty-one years old, 
when he declined promotion and took an honorable discharge from the army. 
While in the army he had devoted his leisure to music, and had made a 
cithera out of spruce with which he accompanied the songs of his comrades. 
On leaving the army he went to work to learn the art of building church 
organs, and in a year had become so proficient that he secured employment as 
a journeyman organ-builder. Settling as an organ-btiilder in the town of See- 
sen, at the foot of the Hartz Mountains, he pursued his vocation, and there, in 
February, 1825, he married; and on November 6, 1825, their first child, C. F. 
Theodore Steinway, was born. 

Althoug-h a church-organ builder, Mr. Steinway's ambition centered on the 
improvement of the piano, the English and German models of which he had 
carefully studied. To put his ideas into practical expression he put in his lei- 
sure hours for a long period in the w'ork of building an instrument intended for 
use of his son as a learner. His careful selection of materials and original 
improvement in matters connected not only with mechanical construction, bttt 
also with the quality and permanence of tone, made this instrument such an 
artistic and mechanical success that it created a sensation among the musical 
people of Seesen, and so large a price was otTered for it by a wealthy resident 
of the place that Mr. Steinway sold it and postponed till later the making of 
a piano for his son. The success of this first complete Steinway piano led him 
to abandon the organ business and confine his attention, thereafter, to piano 
manufacture. 

He was very successful, considering his location and opportunities, 
but had always hoped to be able to transplant the business to the United 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



States. It was many years, however, before his ambition in this respect was 
realized. 

This recoi^nition of excellence in a large competition was the first of a 
long and honorable series. The Steinway pianos have carried off many medals 
and prizes in all parts of the world, as well as receiving encomiums from the 
most distinguished pianist and nnisical celebrities of three generations. His 
pianos grew in reputation, and in August, 1839, he had an exhibit in the 
State Fair of Brunswick, Germany, in which he showed a grand piano, one 
three-stringed and one two-stringed square piano, receiving a tirst prize medal 
and a special commendation of the tone and workmanship of the instrument 
from the chairman of the jury of the fair, who was the famous composer, 
Albert Methfessel. 

During the political and economic troubles of 1848 and 1849 many eyes 
were turned from Germany to America, with the result of most valuable addi- 
tions to the list of our German-American citizens, notably the Steinways. 
Charles Steinway, second son of Henry E. Steinway, came on a preliminary 
visit in April, 1849, niaking such a favorable report that in May, 1850, the rest 
of the family, except C. F. Theodore Steinway (who stayed behind to complete 
unfinished work), sailed from Hamburg for New York, which port they 
reached June 9, 1850. 

After his arrival Mr. Steinway, exercising special care, and realizing the 
necessity of learning trade conditions in this country and of studying the tastes 
of musical people here, put his money out at interest and secured work for him- 
self as a journeyman in a New York piano factory. Mr. Steinway had from 
the first insisted that his sons should learn the piano business practically at the 
bench, and so those who were old enough worked as journeymen until Mr. 
Steinway felt ready to embark in independent business, which was March 5, 
1853, when a factory was started on Warick Street, and the production of 
Steinway pianos in this country was begun, under favorable conditions as to 
the mechanical skill and high ideals of their makers. 

The distinctive excellence of Steinway pianos soon became known. The 
first year brought valued recognition in the award of the first premium by the 
judges of the Metropolitan Fair at Washington in March, 1854, for the best 
three-stringed and two-stringed instruments. From that time onward and 
always, the Steinway products have maintained precedence wherever used or 
exhibited, and when the founder died in New York, February 7, 1871, the 
house of Steinwav & Sons had reached the foremost place in the piano 
industry. 

Henry Engelhard Steinway had founded his house on correct principles, 
and had established the rule, \\hich has been adhered to through four genera- 
tions, that each male member should be a practical piano-maker by personal 



HEXRV IIXCRLHARD STEIXWAY 



experience at the bench and in tlie shop l^efore taking- up the financial or com- 
mercial branches of the business. Thus C. F. Theodore Steinway in Europe 
and Henry Steinway, Jr., sons of the founder, became inventive geniuses whose 
improvements added greatly to the quality of the instruments made by the 
house, and of the third generation Henrv Ziegler, son of the founder's oldest 
daughter, is similarly endowed with the inventive faculty and is head of the 
Department of Inventions and Construction. 

Henry E. Steinway had five sons and two daughters. The oldest son, 
who remained in Europe until 1865, and then came to New York, died with- 
out issue in 1889. The oldest daughter, Doretta, married Jacob Ziegler. Their 
son Henry Ziegler, mentioned above, and their grandson Theodore Cassebeer, 
are members of the present firm, and identified with the factory end of the 
business. 

Charles Steinway, the founder's second son, became the financial head of 
the house for several years before he died in 1865. His sons are H. W. T. 
Steinway, formerly a member and still a stockholder in the house, Charles H. 
Steinway, now head of the Department of Finance, and since December 4, 
1896, President of Steinway & Sons, and Frederick T. Steinway, head of the 
Department of Manufacture, and since December 4, 1896, A'ice President of 
the house. 

Henry Steinwav, third son of the founder, whose inventive skill contrib- 
uted largely to the perfecting of the Steinway pianos, and was of great value 
to the business in its earlier years, died in 1865. 

William Steinway, who was at the head of the Department of Finance 
and President of Steinway & Sons from 1865 to his death in 1896, was the 
father of William R. Steinway, now associated with his cousin Charles H. 
Steinway, the President, in the Finance Department, and of Theodore E. 
Steinway, who is collaborator of Henry Ziegler in the Department of Inven- 
tions and Construction. 

The fifth son and youngest child of Henry E. Steinway was Albert Stein- 
way, who died in 1877, leaving two daughters. He was in the Factory De- 
partment of the house, and had charge of the Steinwav Exhiliit at the Cen- 
tennial Exposition at Philadelphia a year before his death. 

Six lineal descendants of lienry Engelhard Steinway are now actively 
engaged in the Inisiness of the Steinway house; five grandsons, Charles H., 
Frederick T., \A'illiam R., and Theodore E. Steinway and Henry Ziegler, and 
one great-grandson, Theodore Cassebeer. All were born and reared to the 
principles and traditions of the founder, standing for a product of irreproach- 
able workmanship, and the highest technical skill — a work of art rather than 
a commercial product, and for business methods of the highest integrity, and 
at the same time full of enterprise and vitality. 



;;!s 



HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 




WILLIAM STEINWxW 



IVILLIAM STEI\]]\iy T39 



WILLIA:\I STEINWAY, the fourth son of Henry Engelhard Stein- 
\va_Y, founder of the house of Steinway & Sons, was born in See- 
sen, Duchy of Brunswick, Germany, March 5, 1836. He was educated in the 
schools of that place, and in 1850 came to the United States with his parents. 
He was apprenticed to William Nunns & Co., of 88 Walker Street, and when 
he was seventeen years old joined his father and elder brothers in the firm of 
Steinway & Sons, and took an active place in the manufacturing department. 
He contributed very largely to the perfecting- of the Steinway piano, which 
the combined abilities of his father and brothers soon made the peer of any 
of the best makes of Europe. In 1S62, after having won thirty-five American 
medals, the Steinways won a first prize medal at the London ^^'orld's Fair, 
and in 1867, at the Paris Exposition, in competition with the foremost Euro- 
pean makers, their square, upright, and perfect grand pianos were awarded 
the first of the grand medals of honor. This award gave the house its inter- 
national fame, and the Steinway firm became successively the court piano 
manufacturers to the Queen of England, the Queen of Sj^ain, the Emperor of 
Germany, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Queen of Italy, and the 
greatest composers and artists of the world l)ought and used their instruments. 
This came about under the administration of William Steinway as president, 
which position he held in the firm from 1S65 until his death in iSg6. 

Under his administration also the additional works of the firm at Stein- 
way in Long Island City were established, and the firm Ijuilt a large public 
school, free circulating library, model free kindergarten, public baths and park, 
church and other conveniences for the benefit of their employees and other 
citizens of the place. Mr. William Steinway also remembered his native town 
of Seesen, to which he presented a beautiful park, which the inha])itants. by 
vote, named Steinway Park in his honor. He also established annual prizes 
there for three male and three female students, and ])aid tuition for the chil- 
dren of seventv-five families. His benefactions in behalf of education were 
verv numerous, and he was at all times a liberal patron of many charitable 



organizations. 



Mr. Steinway and his eldest l)rother, C. F. Theodore Steinway, were m 
1867 elected members of the Royal Prussian Academy of Fine Arts at Berlin, 
and in the same year Mr. William Steinway received from King Charles of 
Sweden the grand gold medal, with an autograph letter from Crown Prince 
Oscar, later King of Sweden. After having been appointed pianoforte manu- 
facturer to the Imperial Court of Germany, :Mr. Steinway was received in 
audience by the Emperor, William II, and the German Empress, in the Mar- 
ble Palace at Potsdam, and was jM-esented by the Emperor with his portrait, 
which he autographed in his presence. The Emperor also sent him an auto- 
graph letter, thanking him for his gift to the Emperor William I Alemorial 



T40 HISTOR]' OF Mil!' VORK 

Church Buildino- in Berlin, and June 13, 1893, the Emperor bestowed upon him 
the Order of the Red Eagle. Mr. Steinway wa.s also, in April, 1894, elected 
a member of the Royal Italian Academy of St. Cecilia of Rome, founded by 
the great composer, Palestrina, in 1584. 

Mr. Steinway was a leader in civic affairs, and a sincere worker for good 
government in city, State and Nation; was an active member of the Com- 
mittee of Seventy appointed by the citizens of New York to prosecute William 
R. Tweed and his associates. He was active in the movement which resulted 
in the election in 1886 of Abram S. Hewitt for Mayor of New York; was the 
New York member of the Democratic National Committee in 188S, and a dele- 
gate to the National Convention which, in the same year, gave Mr. Cleveland 
his second nomination for the Presidency. He was a member of the committee 
appointed in 1890 to endeavor to secure the \\'orld's Columbian Exposition for 
New York City, opening the list for a fund to secure the Fair with a sub- 
scription for $50,000, but when Congress gave the Fair to Chicago, he re- 
mained friendly to the Fair enterprise, and made and subsequently paid a sub- 
scription of $23,000 toward its success. 

Mr. Steinway was one of the Democratic Presidential Electors elected for 
the State of New York in 1892, and in the following January was elected Presi- 
dent of the Electoral College at Albany, when it met and cast the vote of the 
State of New York for Grover Cleveland for President. He afterward 
declined several important Federal offices offered him by President Cleveland. 

Mr. Steinway is best remembered, so far as public service is concerned, for 
his valuable work in the promotion of rapid transit for the city of New York. 
He was a member of the Rapid Transit Commission for several terms, and to 
no one is more credit due for improvement in the conditions of interurban travel 
in the Greater City, his far-sighted view of the needs of the city, his optimism 
in regard to its future and his enthusiasm for its welfare resulting in a most 
favorable culmination to his eft'orts. 

Mr. Steinway was honorary president of the great Musical Festival at 
Madison Square Garden, New York City, June 24-28, 1894, making the opening 
address. He was a ready and forceful speaker, both in English and German, 
and was frequently the presiding officer of meetings of importance. 

He was an officer and director of several banking and railway corpora- 
tions, and was a business man of great ])restige and influence. In a social way 
he was twelve terms President of the Liederkranz Society; was an honorary 
member of the Arion Society, a member of the Manhattan Club, American 
Geographical Society, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. 

Mr. .Steinway was twice married, and had five children: George A. Stein- 
way, Paula, wife of Louis von Bernulh, William R., Theodore E., and Maud S. 
Steinway. 



iH.lRLES HERMAN STEINWAY 



741 



ii' I' ''II 



' (I It M 







CHARLES HERMAN STEINWAY 



:i-i HisroRV OF xi-w vork 



I 



N the active management of the Steinway house there are still six 
men of the Steinway blood, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of 
Henry Engelhard Steinway, and Charles Herman Steinway is president, and 
head of the financial department in the cor])oration of Steinway & Sons. 

His father, Charles Steinway, who was the second son of Henry Engel- 
hard Steinway, married Sophie Millenet, and of that marriage Mr. Charles H. 
Steinway is the second son, and was born in New York City, June 3, 1857. 
He was educated in excellent schools in the United States and Germany, and 
afterward entered the house of Steinway & Sons. Elis father, Charles Stein- 
way, had the financial management of the business during the formative period 
of its brilliant history until his death in 1S65, and when the son entered the 
business, while it was under the executive direction of his uncle, William Stein- 
way, he soon demonstrated the fact that he had inherited the financial abilities 
of his father, and became collaborator with William Steinway in the financial 
department of the business, becoming vice ])resident of the corporation in 
1878. Upon the death of Mr. William Steinway, in 1896, he succeeded him 
as ])resident and head of the financial de])artment of Steinway & Sons, in 
which capacitv he continues. 

Under his administration the house has maintained and more strongly 
emphasized its leadership in the piano industry, and Mr. Steinway, as its head, 
has, like his distinguished predecessor, been the recipient of many honors, 
including the decoration of the Order of the Liakat from the Sultan of Tur- 
kev, that of Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur of France, of Commander of 
the Order of the Lion and the Sun, by the Shah of Persia, the Order of the 
Red Eagle by William H, King of Prussia and German Emperor. 

Mr. Steinway is a trustee of the Citizens Savings Bank and director of the 
Pacific Bank, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the National 
Manufacturers' Association, and has gained recognition as one of the most 
representative business men and financiers of the country. 

Outside of business affairs ATr. Steinway is well known as an accom- 
plished pianist and as the composer of several highly meritorious musical 
compositions. This gift makes him thoroughly ap])reciative of the artistic 
side of the business of Steinway & Sons, whose pianos have from the first 
represented tlie highest musical excellence as well as the most perfect mechan- 
ical achievements in the art of piano-making. 

lie married, in New ^"ork City, October 10, 1885, Marie Anna Mertens, 
and thev have two children, Charles E. M. Steinwav, born in 1892, and Marie 
Louise Steinway, born in 1894. Mr. Steinway is a member of the Academy of 
Stockholm, Sweden, of the Liederkranz Society of New Vork, German Society 
of New York, the Larchmont Yacht Club, ALanhattan Club, and New York 
Athletic Club, and the Chicago Athletic Association. 



CHARLES SOOVSMITH 



N:i 



c 



HiVRLES SOOYSMITH, one of the best known civil engineers in 
the countrv, son of the eminent engineer General William Sooy 
Smith, graduated in iS^d. at the age of twenty, from Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute, afterwards studying in (Germany two years. In i>^/^j he was assist- 
ant superintendent of maintenance of the Atchison, Toyjeka and Santa Fe 
Railway. In iRSi he joined his father in the firm of William Sooy Smith iK; 
Son, engineers and contrac- 
tors. Six years later ', 
organized and became pre; 
dent of Sooysmith & Cor 
jiany, constructing enc 
neers. During the succee 
ing ten years this compai 
constructed many importa 
works, including found 
tions for larg-e bridges: t\\ ■• 
over the Mississippi, fon' 
over the Missouri, two ovn- 
the Ohio, central bridg> 
over the Harlem. Tin- 
company was the leadinv 
contractor in the held "i 
difficult under-water engi 
neering and all its work was 
carried out with a speed and 
integrity that made the 
company celebrated. ]\Ir. 
Sooysmith introduced into 
this country the freezing- 
process for making excava- 
tions, and he first used the 
pneumatic caisson method 
for foundations for large 
buildings as now so exten- 
sively applied. Since 1898 

he has been consulting engineer ; among other important engagements served 
the Belmont-McDonald interests in inaugurating the construction of the New 
York Subway. His office is at 71 Broadway. He is now a -Metropolitan 
Sewerage Commissioner. 

His clubs are the Century, University, ^lidday. Riding, New \nrk ^'acht, 
and others. 




CHARLES SOOYSMITH 



T44 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




JOHN CLAFLIN 



JOHX CLAFLIN 745 



JOHN CLAFLIN, president of The H. B. Claflin Company, was born 
in Brootclyn, N. Y., July 24, 1S50, being- the son of the late Horace 
Brio'hani Claflin and of Agnes, daughter of Calvin Sanger. He is descended 
on both sides from old New England families, his iirst American ancestor in 
the paternal line having been Robert (Mac) Claflin, who settled in Wenham, 
Essex County, Massachusetts, before 1661. He built a house in Wenham 
which he sold to the town for a parsonage about 1661 ; and a portion of this 
house is still standing. In the maternal line he is descended from Richard 
Sanger, who arrived in Boston in the ship Confidence, in 163S. His great- 
grandfather, Samuel Sanger, was a member of the Committee of Public Safety 
in 1777, while his great-great-grandfather, Richard Sanger, was a member of 
the Second Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1775. His grandfather, 
John Claflin, was a large landowner and the owner of the principal store and 
many other buildings in ]\Iilford, Massachusetts, and his father, Horace Brig- 
ham Claflin, who was born in Milford, Massachusetts, December 11, iSii, was 
the foremost merchant of his day, in this country. As a citizen he was distin- 
guished for his strong convictions on the slavery question and his powerful 
aid to the cause of human freedom, for his political independence, and for the 
support he gave to religious and benevolent causes in Brooklyn, where he had 
his winter home for manv years. 

Horace B. Claflin began his business career as a clerk in his father's store 
in Milford, and with his brother and a brother-in-law succeeded to that busi- 
ness in 183 1. Thev opened a branch drv goods store in Worcester in 1832, 
and after conducting that business for eleven years Mr. Horace B. Claflin 
came to New York in 1843 ^1"^ inaugurated the business which, within twenty 
years thereafter, under the name of H. B. Claflin & Company, became the 
largest of its class in the world. 

The success of that enterprise was a monument to the genius of Horace 
B. Claflin as a merchant, and the business of the firm was so efticiently organ- 
ized that its precedence in the dry goods trade has continued ever since. 

Mr. John Claflin received a liberal education, was graduated from the 
College of the City of New York in iS6g, and traveled in Europe for a year 
thereafter. In October, 1S70, he entered the wholesale house of H. B. Claflin 
& Company, in which he became a partner in 1873, and succeeded as head of 
the house upon the death of his father in 1885. In the later years of his 
father's life the executive burden of the business was borne by the son, so that 
the decease of his father left him fully equipped for the direction of the afl^airs 
of the house. 

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in his memorial sermon concerning his friend 
and faithful coworker, Horace B. Claflin, said, with reference to the condition 
in which the great business he had built u]) was left at his death: "His busi- 



746 HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 

ness was so organized that it could go on, as it were, of itself. He had a 
son upiin whom he leaned, upon whom has come the duty and the place, and 
whom he might justly trust. So his heart was largely set at rest in regard to 
the future." 

The confidence which the famous preacher expressed, as to the ability of 
the son to carry on the great business the father had established, has been fully 
justified bv the career of JMr. John Claflin in the twenty-five years since the 
words (|uoted were uttered. He incorj^orated the Ijusiness in June, i<ScjO, as 
The H. B. Claflin Company, of which he has been president ever since, and 
the hotise has for forty years been by far the largest wholesale dry goods busi- 
ness in New^ York City. 

In IQOO Mr. Claflin formed The Associated [Merchants" Company, and in 
Julv, 1909, the United Drv Goods Com])anies, Air. Claflin becoming the 
president of both corporations, which control, by ownership of a majority of 
the stocks, The H. B. Claflin Company, The O'Neill- Adams and the James Mc- 
Creery & Company stores in New York City, and leading stores in ButTalo, 
Baltimore, Minneapolis, Louisville and other cities. 

Air. Claflin, in addition to his commanding interest in the dry goods trade, 
is a trustee and director in many of the leading financial and charital)le insti- 
tutions of the cotmtry. 

He finds his recreation in travel and outdoor life, avoiding the beaten 
paths and the fashionable watering-places as vacation resorts, but preferring 
to spend his leisure in the Rocky Mountains or some other place of natural 
beauty and freedom. 

An especially notable journey was made by him in 1877; when Mr. 
Claflin, with a single companion, entered South America on the Pacific side, 
landing on the Peruvian Coast at aliout ten degrees, south latitude, and made 
his way across the Andean range, thence to the Madeira River, and from 
there to the mouth of the Amazon, on the Atlantic Coast. The route was 
one which had probably seldom, if ever, been traversed in its entirety, by a 
white man before that time, and much of it was in the range of savage tribes 
whose proximity added to the dangers of the itinerary. Part of the way 
afoot, part of it on mule-back, and the remainder by canoe, the journey was 
one of excitement, and full of novel experiences. 

Air. Claflin is in his political views a Republican, but independent; and 
his religious affiliations are with the Unitarian, Congregational and Episcopal 
churches. 

lie married, June 27, i8()0, Elizabeth Stewart Dunn, granddaughter of 
James Stewart, of Louisville, one of the fountlers of the Bank of Kentucky, 
and widow of William S. Dunn, a former member of the firm of H. B. Claflin 
& C<.)mi)anv. 



LoriS p. POMMERICH 



: i; 



L 



OUIS F. DOMAIERICH, long a leader in the dry goods trade of 
New York, was born February 2. 1841. in Cassel, Germany, where 
his father was a teacher, a writer of geographical books, and a maker of maps. 
Mr. Dommerich was educated in the schools of his native place, and served a 
mercantile apprenticeship in Germany, so that when he emigrated \<> the Ignited 
States, he brought with him the advantage of a thorough Inisincss prepa- 
ration. 

He arrived in New 
York in February, 1859, and 
at once entered the import- 
ing house of Noell & Uel- 
bermann, in the dry goods 
trade. After ten years of 
efficient service in that 
house, he became a ])artner, 
and later on became si )le 
owner of the business, the 
style changing to L. F. 
Dommerich & Company, 
who conduct a strictly com- 
missioit and banking busi- 
ness, which he has made 
continuiiuslv successful l)y 
sound and conservative bus- 
iness methods. 

He is also a director in 
the German- American In- 
surance Company, the Han- 
over Fire Insurance Com- 
panv, the Citizens Central 
Bank, and the New York 
Life Insurance Company. 
His office is at 57 Greene 
Street. 

Mr. r3ommerich is a 
member of the Union League Clul). the Merchants" Clul), Lawyers" Cluli. and 
German Club. He has a city residence at ,:;i4 West Seventy-t^fth Street, and 
a countrv home at ^Nlaitland, Florida. 

Fie has been twice married and has three sons: Otto L. and Alexander 
L., l)oth married, and Louis W. Dommerich : and also has a daughter, Paula, 
who is married to R. Siedenburg, Jr. 




LOUI.S F. DOMMERICH 



r48 



HISTORY OF NRW YORK 






■'■"' ftflW '" '■"i'/!',,:i"',"' 'IIIMI 




CLARENCE WHITMAN 



CLAREXCR WHITMAX ; i:i 



c 



LARENCE WHITMAN, wlio has long been one of the leaders in 
the dr}' goods commission trade of New York, is a native of Annap- 
ohs. Nova Scotia, the son of John and Rebecca ( Cutler ) Whitman. The Whit- 
man family is of English origin, descended from John Whitman, of Wey- 
mouth, Massachusetts, who came from England about 1625, among whose 
descendants have been many men of business and professional prominence. 

Mr. Clarence Whitman was educated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 
since leaving school his entire business life has been in connection with the 
dry goods interest, first in I'oston and afterward in New York City. He 
began as an employee of J. C. Howe & Company for a short time, and was 
then with the firm of James M. Beebe & Company, of Boston, until 1866. 

In that year he came to New York and for nine years was in the service 
of J. S. & E. \\'right & Company, drv goods commission merchants, which 
was later succeeded by the firm of W^right, Bliss &: Fabyan. 

During these years of activity in the dry goods business Mr. Whitman 
had not only been learning the business methods and trade usages, and gain- 
ing a thorough knoviledge of fabrics, but he had also become an earnest in- 
vestigator into trade conditions, hoping to formulate plans for his own mer- 
cantile career which would open up for him a practically new field of business 
enterprise. He had made patriotic appraisal of the capabilities and possibili- 
ties of achievement of American industry, and he had been face to face with 
daily demonstrations of the fact that at that time there were many varieties 
of cotton goods largely used, but not made, in America. He was particularlv 
impressed with the fact that the fine fabrics known to the trade as white 
goods were all imported from ]\Ianchester, England, or from Continental 
European markets. 

He had broached the subject to his Inisiness associates and others in the 
trade, but thev had assured him that it was not possible to make such goods 
in this country. The mills, he was told, were not equipped for such work; 
there were no operatives who knew anything about making such fine fabrics; 
the climate was unsuitable, and many other reasons supposed to form a per- 
petual bar to American enterprises along this line. 

Mr. Whitman was not convinced by the arguments launched against his 
theory and determined to give it a thorough trial. With his brother he estab- 
lished the firm of E. C. & C. Whitman in the dry goods commission business, 
securing several good mill connections. Getting the selling agency of the 
Ponemah Mills, it was set to work as the jMoneer manufacturer of white goods 
in this country. When Mr. Whitman tried to market the first products of 
the mill the jobl^ers advanced the same arguments that had lieen made before 
the attempt had been begun, and prophesied that he would ne\er make a suc- 
cess of the white goods industry in this country. 



750 HISTORY Of XEll' YORK 

To a man of Air. Whitman's teni])eranient such a prediction only acted 
as an additional spur to his determination. He persisted, and won. Soon 
two or three of the larger dealers were trying to contract for his entire white 
goods out])ut, hut he declined, feeling assured that the demand would grow. 
He secured control of the product of other mills, which were set to work on 
white goods, with the result, due to his bold pioneer endeavors, that the white 
goods industry is firmly planted in this country and the imported supply forms 
an insignificant ])ro|)ortion of that trade. Mr. Whitman's firm, now Clar- 
ence Whitman & Company, of which he is the head, is still the leading house 
in the white goods trade, handling the output of its own and other mills. 

The same reasoning which ]\Ir. Whitman has applied to the naturaliza- 
tion of the white goods industry in the United States he has ajiplied, with 
similar results, to other lines of production and trade. This is particularly 
true of the lace curtain industry, which was first established in this country 
through his initiative. He could see no reason why the United States should 
be entirelv dependent on the English mills at Xottingham for these goods. He 
established the Wilkes-Barre Lace ^Manufacturing Company, and was soon 
ofi'ering lace curtains made there which were as good as any of Xottingham 
make. His house still sells the product of that and other lace factories since 
established in this country, and imported Nottingham lace curtains are now 
scarcely a factor in the drv goods trade in this country. The Stevens Manti- 
facturing Companv, manufacturing bedspreads, represents an industry, the 
selling agencv of which is held by this house, and which while not a pioneer 
in that line, has carried it to a higher plane in the (juality of its products than 
had l)efore been attempted in this country. 

'Sir. Whitman's achievements along these pioneer paths have contributed 
in a most valuable degree to the ad\-ancement of American industry and com- 
merce. Besides these specialties, his house is selling agent for other impor- 
tant mills, especially for the finer grades of printed cottons, and he has been 
with many business activities. He organized and is vice president and a di- 
rector of the Pantasote Leather Company, of Passaic, New Jersey, and is a 
director of the Credit Clearing House. He takes an active interest in meas- 
ures for the improvement of trade relations, and was for five years presi- 
dent of the ■Merchants' Association of New ^'ork. 

He is a Reptiblican, though his activities are only in small degree politi- 
cal; is a member of the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Union Leagtie, 
.Metropolitan Riding and Merchants' Clubs, and of the New England Society. 
He married, at Andover, ALissachusetts, December i. 1875, ALary Hop- 
pin Ab)rton, daughter of the late Chief Justice Morton, of ]Massachusetts, and 
thev have four children: Clarence Morton. Harold Cutler, Esmonde, and Ger- 
ald. Tile f;imil\- luMiie is at Katonah, Westchester Countv, New ^'ork. 



IlliXRV IlLMRR GIBB 



::.i 



H 



ENRY ELMER GIBB, president of AJills e\: (iiljb, was born 
in Brooklyn, April 4, 1X61, being a son of Jolm (libb and Harriet 
Balsdon Gibb. 

Mr. Gibb became connected, in 1878, witli tbe Imnse of ]\Iills & Giljb, 
whicb bad been fonnded 1)\- bis fatber and Pbilo L. Mills, in i8()5. Tbey 
are importers and manufacturers of tbe various specialties in wbicb tbey 
lead: laces, embroideries, 
wbite goods, linens, hand- 
kercbiefs, ribbons, veil- 
ings, notions, cm'tains, 
kid and fabric gloves. 

Tbe business wa--' 
incorporated in Decern 
ber, 1899, Jobn (did 
becoming president, Pbil 
L. Mills, vice presideni 
Mr. Mills died in England 
August 23, 1905, and ]\1 
Jobn (dill) four days late 
at Islip, Long Island 
Tbe e X e c u t i v e otTficci 
now are H. Elmer (jibb 
president, Lewis "Si. G\\)\ 
vice president, \\dlliani 
T. Evans, secretary-trea: 
nrer, and AA' i 1 1 i a m 
Roescber, Xottingbam, 
England, assistant secre- 
tary-treasurer. 

Tbe bttsiness, located 
at Broadway and Grand 
Street for tbirty years will 
remove, in December, to tbe 
nortlnvest corner of Fourtli 
Avenue and Twenty-second 

Street, where Mills & Gibb are erecting for their exclusive occupancy a mag- 
nificent fourteen-storv building with basement and sub-basement, where their 
continued leadership is assured. They have l)ranch offices in llie i)rinci])al 
American cities and European manufacturing centres. 

Mr. H. Elmer Gibb is recognized as a representative figure in the dry 
goods trade of New York. His home is at ^^lorristown. New Jersey. 




HENRY ELMER (nii 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




JAMES HARPER POOR 753 



JAMES HARPER POOR, who has been for many years one of the 
most prominent of those engaged in the dry goods commission busi- 
ness in New York City, is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, where he was 
born December 17, 1862, the son of Eflward Erie and Mary (Lane) Poor; is 
a descendant of an old New England family of English origin through John 
Poor, who came from Wiltshire, England, in 1635, and settled in Newbury, 
Massachusetts. He afterward received a grant of land in the town of Row- 
ley, Massachusetts, and died on the homestead there, in 1684. He was the 
ancestor of many prominent and successful people, among whom was in the 
sixth generation, Benjamin Poor, a prominent Boston merchant, who mar- 
ried, in 1824, Aroline Peabody, of Salem, A'lassachusetts. The Peabody 
family is one of the most prominent of the old Massachusetts families, 
descendants from Lieutenant Francis Peabody, of Saint Albans, Herts, Eng- 
land, who came to America about 1635, ^^^d became a large landowner in 
Massachusetts. Benjamin Poor's son, Edward Erie Poor, father of James 
Harper Poor, became a distinguished business man, first in Boston, and after- 
ward in New York, where he was for many years of the dry goods com- 
mission firm of Denny, Poor & Company, and president of the National Park 
Bank of New York. 

James Harper Poor was educated in private schools, and in August, 
1880, began his business career as a boy in the dry goods commission house of 
Jacob Wendell & Company, and in 1883 went to his father's firm of Denny, 
Poor & Company, and he became a partner in 1892. In 189S, with his brother, 
E. E. Poor, Jr., he established the firm of Poor Brothers, and in 1901 organ- 
ized the firm of J. Harper Poor «& Company, which, in 1906, consolidated with 
the dry goods commission house of Amory, Browne & Company, his present 
firm. Mr. Poor in his long experience in the dry goods commission trade 
has attained an exceptionally thorough knowledge of the business, and a 
prominent and representative standard in the commercial service of New 
York. 

He is Republican in his political affiliations, but not especially active in 
politics beyond exercising his privileges as a voter. He is a member of the 
New York Yacht Club, the Riding Club, the Automobile Club of America, 
the Merchants' Club of New York, and the Essex County Country Club; also 
of the Algonquin Club of Boston, and the Chicago Athletic Club of Chicago. 
He has his home at East Hampton, Long Island. 

Mr. Poor married, in New York City, January 20, 1885, Evelyn Bolton, 
and they have two daughters : Evelyn Terry, born in New York City, Octo- 
ber 22, 1886, and married at East Hampton, Long Island, on June 4, 1910, 
to Philip Parkhurst Gardiner, of New York; and Mildred Harper Poor, born 
in Garden City, Long Island, October 4, 1890. 



754 



HISTORY OF NEIV YORK 






1 1 '' in IBM 
\\ \ 




GEORGE FREDERICK VIETOR 



GEORGE FREDERICK VIETOR 



G 



EORGE FREDERICK \'I I^TOR, who for fifty years was en- 
gaged in the dry goods coumiission business in New York City, 
and was one of its most distinguished merchants, was born in Brooklyn, New 
York, October 13, 1S39. a son of Frederick and },Iaric (Hiitterott) \'ietor, 
both of German birth. Flis father came to this city about 1820, and alwut 
1S35 estabHshed the dry goods house which has ever since l)een known under 
the name of Frederick Victor & Achelis. 

George F. Victor was c(kicated in Bremen, Germany, and New York, 
and was prepared from his youth with a view to participation in tlie business 
of the house which his father and uncle had established. 

In i860 he entered upon his business career in that house and ai)plied 
himself to the task of thoroughly learning the business, and in 1872 became a 
partner and later senior member until his death, on January 29, kjio. 

The house of Frederick Victor & Achelis, now the oldest dry goods 
house in the city, originally did an importing business almost exclusively, 
especially in hosierv, but later developed a commission lousiness in the prod- 
uct of domestic mills until that l)rancli of the business became greater in 
volume than that in imported goods. This was especially true after Mr. 
George F. Victor became the head of the house, which became one of the fore- 
most in the commission dry goods trade- The house has, however, continued 
to control important foreign connections and does a heavy importing trade, 
maintaining branch establishments in Bremen, Chenmitz, Paris and Lyons. 

Mr. Victor possessed ideal qualities as a merchant. His clear insight 
into the commercial outlook, his quick and alert judgment as to men, which 
enabled him to decide a question of credit with almost unfailing accuracy, 
and his strong and well-balanced mental powers, enabled him to so direct his 
house as to establish for it a Intsiness estimated at about $40,000,000. 

He was universally esteemed for his inflexible integrity, and his great 
business ability and financial acumen were known and recognized through the 
business world. He was a trustee of the American Surety Company, the 
Franklin Trust Company, German Savings Bank in the City of New York, 
United States Trust Company, Washington Trust Company; a director of 
the Credit Clearing House, Eciuitable Life Assurance Society of the United 
States, Jefferson Bank, Kingsljridge Real Estate Company, Mount Morris 
Bank, National Park Bank of New York, Plaza Bank, Yorkville Bank, and 
president and director of the Poldehard Silk Company, of Hoboken. 

He was a member of the Hamilton, Union League, Rumson Country, 
Lotos, and Merchants' Clubs, and the Deutscher Verein. 

He married, in Brooklyn, Annie AL Achelis, and had four sons and a 
daughter: Thomas F., Julia M. (now :\Irs. J. Lionberger Davis, of Saint 
Louis, Missouri), Carl L., George Frederick, Jr., and John A. Victor. 



r56 



HISTORY Of NEir YORK 







OSCAR VON PASSAVANT 



o 



OSCAR J 'OX PASSAJ'AXT 757 

,SCAR VON PASSAVANT, the present head of the internationally 
prominent importing- commission house of Passavant & Co., was 
born in Frankfort on the ]\lain, Germany, February ii, 1862, being a son of 
Hermann Passavant, mercliant, and Sopliie (von Heyder) Passavant. The 
Passavants were originally a Huguenot family, who emigrated in 15 17 from 
France to Switzerland, and thence to Germany, where, making their home in 
Frankfort on the Main, they became prominent as merchants. There was 
founded the mother house of Gebriider Passavant, of which Hermann Passa- 
vant, father of Oscar von Passavant, became the head. Of that old-estab- 
lished institution, the American house of Passavant & Co., was founded in 
1853 by Hermann Passavant and his cousin, Theodor Passavant. 

Mr. Oscar von Passavant attended the Muster Schule in his native city, 
and upon completing the educational courses of that institution, went direct 
to Basel, Switzerland, April 4, 1879, to begin his business training with the 
silk and ribbon commission house of Gebriider Passavant, in Basel, which is 
a branch of the mother house in Frankfort. He continued with the Basel 
house until 1882, when he returned to Frankfort on the Main to serve his 
year of military service in the First Hessian Hussar Regiment, No. 13. 

On completing his military service he resumed his business training, 
October i, 1883, with the commission export house of Kessler Freres et Cie. 
in Paris, France, remaining there until August i, 1885. Coming direct to 
New York, he attached himself to the importing commission house of Passa- 
vant & Co., 320 Church Street, now 83 Greene Street, where he worked him- 
self up, and after traveling for business three years in this country, and many 
years in Europe, he was made a partner, and became head of the firm of 
Passavant & Co., December i, 1890. The fiftieth anniversary of the Amer- 
ican house was celebrated in 1903, and Oscar von Passavant celebrated, on 
August 14, 1910, his twenty-fifth anniversary with Passavant & Co. The 
present head of the original Gebriider Passavant, at Frankfort on the Main, 
is now Geheimer Commercienrath Richard von Passavant, oldest son of the 
late Hermann Passavant. The New York partners of Oscar von Passavant 
are: Arthur W. Watson, H. Lambelet, and H. Sandhagen. 

Mr. Oscar von Passavant has developed the business of the house of 
Passavant & Co. to a standing and magnitude commensurate with the impor- 
tance of its origin. Socially, he is a member of the German Club, the Mer- 
chants' Central Club, and others. 

He married, in New York City, October 21, 1891, Miss Margaret Schmidt, 
and they have their home at 24 West Sixty-ninth Street. They have a son, 
Charles Hermann von Passavant, born July 30, 1892, and two daughters. 
Marguerite von Passavant, born February 5, 1897, and Helen \'on Passavant, 
born November 18, 1902. 



758 



HISTORY OF XEJT YORK 




EDWARD K. ruUR 



EDWARD E. POOR 759 



E' 



DW'ARD E. POOR, head of tlie firm of Edward E. Poor & 
Company, was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, December 2, 
1S61, and is the son of the late Edward Erie and Mary Wellington (Lane) 
Poor. 

The Poor family is of English origin, the earliest American ancestor, 
John Poor of Wiltshire, England, came to New England in 1635 and set- 
tled first in Newbury and later in Rowley, Massachusetts. Mis son Henry 
took part in King Philip's \Var, became very wealthy, and among his de- 
scendants were some of the prominent citizens and soldiers of the colony, after- 
ward the State of Massachusetts. P-enjanfin Poor, of the sixth generation, 
born in 1794 and who married, in 1824, Aroline Emily Peabody, of Salem, a 
member of the famous Massachusetts Peabody family, was an eminent Boston 
merchant. His son, Edward Erie Poor, one of eleven children, liurn in Bos- 
ton, February 5, 1837, became a prominent dry goods commission merchant. 
He started his business career in Boston and in 1864 established himself in 
New York City, and a year later formed the dry goods commission house of 
Denny, Jones & Poor, which in 1869 became Denny, Poor & Comi)an\-. He 
was also ])resident of the National Park Bank of New York from 1895 to 
i()00; and that important institution prospered greatly during these years 
under the management of Mr. Poor. 

His son, Edward E. Poor, the eldest of seven children, was educated in 
a private school and in 1878 started as a boy with Denny, Poor & Company, 
continuing as employee and partner until it ceased business in 1898. He was 
associated with his brother, J. Harper Poor, in the firm of Poor Brothers for 
three years, and since Alarcii, 1901, has controlled and sold the products of 
the Passaic Print Works. During the last ten years the print works have 
been largely rebuilt and the products greatly improved. Three years ago he 
organized the Queen Handkerchief Works, to make up and market handker- 
chiefs printed by the Passaic Print \\'orks, which business is growing rap- 
idly. He is treasurer and director of the Passaic Print Works: director of the 
Queen Handkerchief Works, and director of the Warehouse Company of Pas- 
saic, a company formed to store the goods produced by the Print Y i:)rks and 
Handkerchief W'orks. 

He is a member of the Union League, Merchants' and New York 
Athletic Clubs, Chamber of Commerce of New York, and the New England 
Society. 

Mr. Poor married, at North Adams, Massachusetts, January 18, 1888, 
Susie E. Grimes, daughter of the late Frank \\'ebster Grimes and ALary 
E. Johnson. They have three children: Edward E., Jr., graduated this 
year from Amherst College and starting in Inisiness under his father: a 
daughter, ?^larian, and a young son, Arthur Johnson. 



760 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



Ifc 



r: 



I I / 



I '/ 



|i^|^f:^t\y^ 



III- 



'''uA^lti'^1'" 'ill 





- ■- iiB;yyt-- 



MATTIIEW CI1A1J).\I:R DURFE1-: RORDEN 



MATTHEW CHALOXER DURFEE BORDEX TCI 

MATTHEW CHALONER DURFEE BORDEN, merchant and 
manufacturer, has long been recognized as one of the leaders in 
the dry goods trade, both in its selling and manufacturing branches. He 
was born in Fall River. Mass., July iS. 1842. being the son of Colonel Rich- 
ard Borden, who was a leading manufacturer of Fall River, connected with 
its pioneer enterprises as early as 182 1. and identified with the development 
and prosperity of the city until his death, in 1874. Tn its earliest historic 
origin the Borden family is of Norman-French derivation, being of the ancient 
village of Bourdonnay, in Normandy, and thence going to b!ngl;md with 
William the Concjueror, who granted to them an estate in the Countv of Kent, 
to which, and the parish there created, they gave the name of "Borden." 

His first American ancestor was Richard Borden, who came to America 
in if'>35, and settled in Rhode Island; and his son, Matthew Borden, was the 
first child born of English parents on Rhode Island soil, the date of his birth 
being recorded in the Friends' Book of Records as 1635. From him the line 
of descent is distinctlv traceable to ]\Iatthew C. D. Borden, and in the same 
line have been included many men who have taken prominent places in vari- 
ous lines of usefulness. 

Mr. Borden was educated in the famous Phillips Academy at Andover, 
Mass., and in Yale College, whence he was graduated in the Class of 1864. 
Upon leaving college he determined upon a mercantile career, in the dry goods 
trade, and entered the employ of a leading dry goods jobbing house in New 
York to learn the business, beginning as a stock boy and then working in vari- 
ous capacities until, in 1868, he became a member of the firm of Low, Harri- 
man & Compan\-, where he represented the American Print Works as selling- 
agent, and continuing in that capacity until the print works failed, when he 
left that connection. 

Mr. Borden and his eldest brother, after the failure of the American 
Print Works, set to work to rehabilitate that business, reorganizing it under 
the name of the American Printing Company, in January, 1880. In the same 
year Mr. Borden became connected with the dry goods commission house of 
J. S. & E. \Vright & Company, now Bliss. Fabyan & Company, with which 
firm he remained until July, 1910, when he established his own house of M. 
C. D. Borden & Sons, at 90 Worth Street. 

In 1887, Mr. Borden bought out his brother's interest in The American 
Printing Company, and has ever since conducted it as sole owner, maintain- 
ing for that enterprise the prestige of recognized leadership, and making it 
the criterion by which all other enterprises of its kind are compared. After 
Mr. Borden secured control of the business it increased its capacity so rapidly 
that it became desirable to make a part of its own supply of cloth so as to be 
not entirely dependent upon the oi)en market, and in i88() he built a large 



7G5 HISTORY OF .\7i[f' YORK 

mill. Subsequent inii^rovenients and enlargements have been made in both 
plants, until now seven large mills constitute the plant, supplying about one- 
halt of the cloth required In- the ]irinting establishment. These two enter- 
prises constitute im]M>rtant factors in the industrial welfare and progress of 
Fall River, employing a large force of well-paid operatives. In the entire 
list of those identified with the textile industries of the United States, no name 
is better known, or stands higher in the approval of the trade at large than 
that of :Mr. Borden. 

To the (listrilniting end of the business Mr. Borden, in his new firm, 
brings the advantage of forty-two years of experience, and a trade connection 
which extends to all parts of the world where American made printed goods 
are sold. In the house with which he has been connected for the past thirty 
years, he carried and managed the business he has himself l)uilt up. He has 
been remarkably and worthily successful in his undertakings, conducting his 
enter])rises upon thoroughlv sound, conservative and at the same time pro- 
gressive lines. 

At various times jMr. Borden has Ifccn identified with several financial 
institutions, and he is now a director in the Lincoln National P>ank of the Citv 
of New York, a trustee of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Companv, and a director 
of the ^Manhattan Company Bank. 

In politics ]\Ir. Borden has been a Republican ever since he was a voter, 
and an earnest and uncompromising advocate of the doctrine of protection to 
American industries. He has been active in charitable and philanthropic en- 
terprises; has served as treasurer and trustee of the Clinton Hall Association, 
and a governor in the \\'oman's Hospital in the State of New York. He has 
always identified himself in a public-spirited wav with progressive measures 
for the city's welfare: is a contributing member of the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art. and of the American ]\Iuseum of Natural History. He has never 
sought political preferment, but he served for six years as Commissioner of 
Parks of the City of New York, during which term he devoted a large part 
of his time to the ])romotion of the welfare and upbuilding of the park system 
of the city. 

He is a member of the New England Society in the City of New York, 
and of the LTnion League, Metropolitan, Republican, Down Town, New York 
Yacht and other leading clul)s, and the Yale Alumni Association, and he has 
always held a ])rominent i)lace in the social as well as the business life of the 
city. 

Mr. Borden married, at Fall River, Mass.. in 1865, Llarriet M. Durfee. 
They have had seven children, of whom three sons are still living: Bertram 
Harold, Matthew Sterling, and Howard Sevmour Borden. Two of his sons 
are associated with him in the new firm. 



Cn.'lSAR COXll 



)iio 



C 



EASAR CUXE, president of the Cune Exiiort and Commission 
Company and the Proximit}- ^Manufacturing Company, was born 
in Jonesboro, Tennessee, April 22, iS^i), the son of Herman and Helen (Gug- 
genheimer) Cone. He was educated in Jonesboro, Tennessee, and Baltimore, 
and at the age of fourteen he entered his father's wholesale grocery firm of 
H. Cone & Sons, Baltimore, in wliicli he was later a ])artner until icScji. 

Later, with his brother, 
Moses H. Cone (who died 
December 8, 190S) he es- 
tablished the Cone Export 
and Commission Company, 
now a leader in this coun- 
try in handling of Southern 
cotton goods, with head- 
quarters at Greensboro, 
North Carolina, and 74-/6 
Worth Street, New ^'ork 

The brothers also ei 
gaged in manufacturin; 
purchasing several hundre 
acres in and around Green 
boro. North Carolina, w, 
1895, and built the large 
cotton mills of the Prox- 
imity Manufacturing Com- 
pany, since greatly en- 
larged, and later erected 
the White Oak Mill, the 
largest cotton mill in the 
South and the largest denim 
manufacturing plant in the 
world. These mills employ 
about four thousand people, 
consume 28,000,000 pounds 
of cotton annually and turn 
out o\-er 56,000,000 yards of 




e'EASAR (.oxi: 



CIO 



th. 



ha\-e been built 



Two attractive \illages 
under Air. Cone's supervision, for the workers, with schools, boarding houses, 
hotels, churches, and all conveniences. He has served as president of the 
Central Carolina Fair Association and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. 
He married, in New York City, June 4, 1894, Jeannette Siegcl, and has three 
sons: Herman, Benjamin, and Ceasar. Jr. 



:(u 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




tiiojmas morgan turner 



T 



THOMAS MORGAX TURXHR 765 

iHOAIAS MORGAN TURNER, now president of the Consolidated 
Cotton Duck Company, was born in Chicago, Ilhnois, September 
28, 1S56, the son of J- Spencer and CorneHa (Eddy) Turner. He is of mixed 
Welsh and Scottish lineage, his first American ancestor, John Turner, having 
come to America and settled in Pennsylvania in the time of William Penn. 
His father, J. Spencer Turner, was long and successfully engaged in business 
as a commission merchant with a specialty in the handling of cotton duck. 

Mr. Thomas M. Turner was educated in the Brooklyn Polytechnic School. 
and having completed the courses in that institution, he began his mercantile 
career in the cotton-duck business in 1S75. '^i^tl has continued in it ever since. 
He gained a familiarity with the business in all its details, and an acquaint- 
ance with the market for cotton-duck products which is surpassed bv no other 
man connected with that trade, and he has long held a leading and represent- 
ative position among those engaged in this branch of commercial activity, 
both in the luercantile and manufacturing branches. He has long held a 
prominent place in the directorates of manufacturing corporations in the cot- 
ton-duck industry and in i(;05 was elected president of the J. Spencer Turner 
Company, cotton goods manufacturers and commission merchants, and in 
1910 was elected president of the Consolidated Cotton Duck Company, the 
leading corporation among those engaged in the cotton-duck industry, of which 
he had for several years before been a director. He is also president of the 
Tallassee and Montgomery Company; and is director of the H. B. Wiggin's 
Sons Company, Mount \'ernon-Woodberry Cotton Duck Company, Yarmouth 
Duck and Yarn Company, Cosmos Cotton Companv, Tallassee Falls Manufac- 
turing Company, and Greenwood Company. He has his business headquar- 
ters at 86-88 Worth Street, in New York City, and from that centre gives 
able and experienced executive direction to the large mamifacturing and com- 
mercial interest of which he is now the head. 

Mr. Turner is a Republican in his political views, and he is also actively 
interested in Masonry, being a member of Kane Lodge. Ele is a member 
of the Republican Club of the City of New York, of the Union League Club 
of New York, and The Lambs, and he is also a member of the Maryland 
Club, of Baltimore, Maryland. 

Mr. Turner has for several years been especially interested in yachting, 
in which he finds his most favored recreation, and he has long been a mem- 
ber, and is now commodore, of the Riverside Yacht Club. Lie has his city 
residence at 80 West Fortieth Street, New York City, and a country place at 
Shelter Lsland Heights. New York. 

He married, in Brooklyn. New York, in 1881. and has two sons: Harold 
McLeod Turner and Spencer Turner. The former married. April 17. igo6. 
Martha L. Strong, of New York. 



iG6 



HISTORV OF XEir YORK 




JOllX TAYLOR SHERMAN 



JOHN TAYLOR SHERMAN 767 

JOHN TxVYLOR SHERMAN, who was for many years prominent 
as a merchant in New York City, was a native of Suffield, Con- 
necticut, where he was born November lo, 1S31, being the son of Colonel 
Charles and Jennet Frances (Taylor) Sherman. 

He was of old and distinguished New England lineage, descended 
from Captain John Sherman, who came from England to Watertown, 
Massachusetts, about 16,^5, and who was the progenitor of a family which 
contained many men of distinction. Especially noteworthy in the line of 
descent was Roger Sherman, great-grandfather of Jcihn Taylor Sherman, 
who was born at Newton, Massachusetts, April ig, 1721, and died in New 
Haven, Connecticut, July 23, 1723. Leaving the farm he first became a 
mechanic and later a lawyer and judge in the colony of Connecticut, and 
during the Revolution was one of the strongest and ablest members of 
the Continental Congress, was one of the committee to prepare the draft 
of the Declaration of Independence and one of the signers of that immortal 
document. He was also an active member of the Connecticut Com- 
mittee of Safety, and later a memlier of the Constitutional Convention 
which drafted the United States Constitution. At the time of liis death 
he was mayor of New Haven, and had been for nine years. His grandson, 
Charles Sherman, who was father of John Taylor Sherman, was a farmer, 
a colonel of Connecticitt Voltmteers, and in charge of the port of New 
Haven during the War of 181 2. 

John Ta3dor Sherman was bred upon the paternal farm and was edu- 
cated at the Academy of Derry, New Hampshire. In 1847 he came to 
New York City, and was for a short time in the employ of E. D. Morgan, 
but later entered the employ of his cousin, Thaddeus Sherman, and his 
brother-in-law, William Watt, who composed the firm of Watt & Sher- 
man, and he was ultimately, about 1859, admitted to partnership in that 
firm, and continued in business in New York Cit}^ as a merchant in white 
goods, until his death in 1906. The business is now conducted l)y his sons, 
as the Sherman & Sons' Conipanv. at 62-64 Leonard Street, of which his 
eldest son, Charles A. Sherman, is the president. 

In politics he was independent, with Republican leanings, but always 
interested in measures for furtherance of the best business and social interests. 

He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, the 
New England Societv in New York, the Hamilton Clul) of Brooklyn and 
various sportsmen's clubs, and he had his summer home at Oyster Bay, 
Long Island, and town address, 35 Remsen Street, Brooklyn. 

He married, in Brooklyn, New York, May 10, 1859, Julia C. Deming, 
and they had eight children: Louise D., Charles A., Alice, Henry, Gertrude, 
Helen D., Frederick D., and lessie T. 



res 



HISTORY OF XEJF YORK 



FREDERfClv THEODORE FLEITAL^XX, dry goods commission 
merchant, was born in New \'ork City, March 26, 1S56. the son of 
Hermann Fleitmann. American citizen of German birth, and of Louisa Har- 
riet ( Medlicott ) Fleitmann. ])rirn in Bristol. England. 

Mr. Fleitmann livetl with his parents at FXisseldorf. Germany. i85()-i86i, 
then in Xew ^'ork. where he went to school until his mother died, in 1S66, 

after which he attended the 




Gymnasium at Elberfeld, 
Germanv, for three years, 
finishing in Berlin. 

After two years ap- 
prenticeship in the large 
ribbon mill of Abr. & Gebr. 
Frowein in Elberfeld. he 
returned to New York 
about 1876, to enter the 
liouse of Fleitmann & Com- 
pany, founded by his father, 
Hermann Fleitmann, in 
1850. drv goods commission 
merchants, becoming part- 
ner January i, 1884. He 
spent a year at Lyons in the 
firm's agency, to study the 
silk business, in 1880, at 
Diisseldorf, Germany, 1881- 
1884, and at Berlin 1884- 
1886, then returning to 
America. On the death of 
I-Lwald Fleitmann, in 1906, 
he became senior partner. 
He is a trustee of the Ger- 
man Savings Bank and a 
director of the Citizens' 
National Bank. 

Mr. Meilmann is a memlier of the Deutscher \'erein. the Automobile Club 
of America, and the Riding, Lotos, New York Athletic. Merchants", and Mer- 
chants" Central Clubs, and the Chamber of Commerce of New York; also the 
Club von Berlin, and the Imperial Automobile Club of Berlin. 

He married, at Wiesbaden. Germany, June 12, 1894, Amelia Lingdens, 
and has a son. Hermann Frederick Francis Fleitmaim. 



FRKDKRICK T H KOUOKE FLEITMANN 



WILLIAM MLIU.ICOTT FLFJT.]LL\'.y 



7G9 



w 



LLIAAI MEDLICOTT FLEITAIAXX, of the well-known dry 
goods commission firm of Fleitmann & Company, was born in 
Diisseldorf, in Germany, on jannar\- 30. 1X60, during- a visit of his ])arents 
abroad, and is the son of Hermann and Lonisa Harriet ( Medlicott ) I'leit- 
mann, his father being a nati\-e of (ierman\- and his muther ha\'ing Ijeen I)orn 
in Bristol, Tuigland. His father came to the L'nited States in 
established the firm of 
Fleitmann & Com])any, dry 
goods commissimi mer- 
chants, ever since snccess- 
fullv engaged in business in 
New York City. 

Mr. William .M. Fleit- 
mann lived with his jjarents 
in New York from 1861 to 
1869, attending the private 
schools. His further educa- 
tion was completed in Uer- 
lin and Cassel, (iermany. 
from 1869 to 1878, and 
after spending a year at the 
Textile College at Miilheim- 
on-the-Rhine, and a year in 
Lyons, France, learning- 
further details of the textile 
business, he entered the 
business of Fleitmann & 
Compan\-, in 1880, continu- 
ing in various capacities 
until January i, 1887, when 
he became a member of the 
firm, to the subset pient and 
increased success of which 
he has largely contributed. wii.i.iam midluott fi.i:itm.\xx 

Mr. Fleitmann is a 
member of the Deutscher \'erein, the ]\lerchants. Riding, Xew \\>vk Athletic, 
New York Yacht, and Columl)ia Yacht Clubs; the AutonKibile Club of Amer- 
ica, and various clubs at Bar Harbor, Maine. 

Mr. Fleitmann married, in Grace Church, Brooklyn, November 7, 1889, 

Lida M. Heinze, and has three children: Frederick Herman, Lida Louise, 

and William Medlicott Fleitmann, Jr. 
49 




rro 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



WILJJA:\[ RYLE. the founder of the firm of WiUiam Ryle & Com- 
pany, was born in ^Macclesfield. England, his father (also William 
Ryle) being a manufacturer of silk fabrics in that city. 

William Ryle came to America at the age of seventeen, and engaged in 
the silk manufacturing business with his uncle, the late John Rvle, who was 
one of the pioneer manufacturers in that line of this country. William Ryle 

afterwards engaged in busi- 
ness as a banker on his own 
account, and later aban- 
doned this for a mercantile 
career. 

He conducted the busi- 
ness in his own name until 
his death, and built up a 
large trade as an importer 
of raw silk, and also sold 
yarns and other silk mer- 
chandise on commission for 
various manufacturers. 

After his death in 
1 88 1, the business was con- 
tinued I)y his eldest son. the 
late William T. Ryle, under 
the name of William Ryle. 
In 1890 the firm of 
William Ryle & Company 
was formed by William T. 
Ryle, Arthur Ryle and Boe- 
tius ]\Iurphy, and in 1893 
William H. Barnard was 
admitted as a general part- 
ner. This firm as thus 
organized continued in 
business until December 
31, 1899, when the partner- 
ship ex])ired b\- limitatiim. After that the business was conducted for five 
years b\- Arthur I\yle, trading as William Ryle & Company. 

In lanuarv, i<jo6, Thomas D. Van Dusen and Charles P. Kelly were 
admitted ;is general partners in the firm, the business continuing from that 
time u]) to the present, under the old established firm name of William Ryle 
& Company. 




W'll.I.IA.M RVI.I 



WILLIAM POWELL DREWRY 



WILLIAM I'UWELL DREWRV, president of Larber-Urewry 
Company, dry goods commission merchants, is a native of Rich- 
mond, Virginia, born in iS68. The son of John Wilham and Blanche 
(Powell) Drewry, he is descended on both sides from prominent English 
families. His father was a Confederate officer, a brother of Major Drewry, 
of Drewry's Bluff, a famous spot in V^irginia during the Civil War. Also a 
famous ancestor was Sir 
Robert DrewrA-, for whom 
Drewry ( now Drur\- ) Lane 
in London was named in the 
Sixteenth Century. On his 
mother's side Mr. Drewry 
is connected with the Pow- 
ells, of Mrginia, a famous 
family beginning with the 
three brothers, Nathaniel, 
William and John, who 
came to Jamestown, froiu 
England, in 1609. The 
third brother, John Powell, 
was a burgess in 1632, and 
his son, John Powell, Ir.. 




was also a burgess and 
was elected seven different 
times. The line descends 
through his son, William, 
and the latter' s son, James, 
to J(->hn Powell, whose son, 
Dr. John Norment Powell, 
was the father of Mr. 
Drewry's mother. 

Mr. Drewrv was edu- 
cated in \'irginia. He came 
to New York in 1895 and 
was connected with the 

house of Joseph T. Low & Company until 189S, when he became a member of 
the firm of Farber, Drewry & Compan\-. He is a director of several impor- 
tant textile corporations in North and South Carolina. Mr. Drewry's long 
experience and thorough familiarity with the business have earned him a posi- 
tion of marked prominence among those identified with tlie dry goods interests 
of New ^'ork. 



WILLIAM POWELL DKKWKV 



772 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




c 



CORXELIUS NEJITOX BLISS 773 

lORNELIUS NEWTON BLISS, one of the leading American 
merchants and a citizen of national distinction, is a native of Fall 
River, Massachusetts, where he was born January 26, 1833, the son of 
Asahel Newton and Irene Borden (Luther) Bliss. He is of old New 
England ancestry, descended from a Devonshire family, a Puritan mem- 
ber of which came to New England in 1633 and settled at Weymouth, 
Massachusetts, afterward becoming one of the founders of Rehoboth, 
Massachusetts, where his descendants continued to live for two centuries. 
There Asahel Bliss was born, afterward removing to Fall River, where 
he married, and where his son. Cornelius Newton Bliss, was born, the 
father dying while the boy was yet an infant. The mother afterward 
remarried and moved to New Orleans, the boy remaining in Fall River 
with maternal relatives and being educated in the common schools and 
Fiske's Academy in that city until he was fourteen years old. He then 
went to his mother in New Orleans and attended the High School of that 
city. 

He began his business experience with a few months in the counting 
room of the stepfather in New Orleans, then returning in 1848 to the 
North and entering the employ of James M. Beebe & Company, at that 
time the leading dry goods importing and jobbing house in Boston. He 
applied himself to a study of the dry goods trade with such diligence that he 
advanced in the confidence of his employers and his knowledge of the 
business and became a ])artner in the firm which succeeded J. M. Beebe 
& Company. He there gained the exj^erience and connections which made 
him recognized as a representative merchant in Boston and one of the best 
known dry-goods men of the country. 

In 1866 Mr. Bliss became a member of the dry goods commission 
house of J. S. & E. Wright & Company. LTpon the death of the senior 
member the tirm was reorganized under the style of Wright, Bliss & 
Fabyan, but later became Bliss, Fabyan & Company, of Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia and Chicago. There is no more prominent dry goods 
commission house in the United States, and the firm handles the products 
of many of the leading American mills, for many of which it has for years 
held the exclusive selling agencv and has for manv vears enjoyed a trade of 
vast proportions. 

Mr. Bliss has continuously resided in New York City for more than 
forty years, and in addition to his large interests in the dry goods busi- 
ness he is a director of the Fourth National Bank and the Home Insur- 
ance Company, trustee of the Central Trust Company, a director of the 
American Round Bale Press Company and a director in various manu- 
facturing companies in Massachusetts. He is vice president of the 



774 HISTORY OF XHJV YORK 

Chamber of C(3inmerce of the State of New ^'ork, and a niemlxT of its 
Executive Committee. 

In politics ]\Ir. Bliss has Lmi^' been known as one of the leaders of the 
Republican part}', earnest in his support of its princijdes and especially of 
the Republican doctrine of the protection of American industries. He 
has had a place of prominence in the councils of the party almost from its 
inception, and has been for many years the friend and ad\'iser of those who 
have been most influential in formulating its jirinciples and contributing to 
its success. He served for several years as the president of the Protective 
Tariff League, and in 18S7 and 1888 he was chairman of the Republican 
State Committee of New York. 

When Chester A. Arthur was President, he offered Mr. Pliss a cabinet 
r-osition, l)ut he declined it, and in 1884 he was a]ipointed chairman of the 
Committee of One Hundred selected at a general meeting of citizens of 
New York to urge the renomination of Chester A. Arthur by the Repub- 
lican ]3arty for President of the United States. While always active in 
politics, he has many times declined nominations to high offices, includ- 
ing that of governor of New York in 1885, and several times the nomi- 
nation for mayor of the city of New York. He served for years as a 
member of the Republican County Committee of New York and was the 
treasurer of the Republican National Committee from 1892 to i8y6, and again 
from iQoo to 1004. His service in that capacity included the handling of the 
funds of several presidential cam])aigns. 

He was appointed and served as secretary of the interior of the United 
States during the first McKinley achninistration from 1897 to 1899, his term 
covering the entire period of the Spanish-American War and extending sev- 
eral months after the treaty of i^eace. His business ex]ierience and al)ility 
were of ereat value in that caliinet, which succeeded to rniwer following vears 
of panic and business depression, and after a campaign in which the issue of 
sound monev was the dominant feature. 

Mr. Bliss is a member of the Metropolitan Club, Century Associa- 
tion, Republican and Union League Clubs and was ]iresident of the latter 
five vears ; also member of the Metroi)olitan Club oi A\'ashington, 1). C, 
and jckvl Island Club of (ieorgia. He is also a contributing member of the 
National y\cademy of Design, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 
American .Museum of Natural llistory, and is a menil)er of the .\merican 
Geographical Societv. New \'ork, and of the New luigland Society in New 
Ynvk. 

Mr. r.liss married, in lloslon, .Massachusetts, ^larch 30, 1859, l-^liza- 
beth .Mary Plumer, and they have two children: Cornelius N. Bliss, Jr., 
and Lizzie Plumer liliss. 



ARTHUR GIBB 



A 



RTHUR GIBB, head of the great Brooklyn retail estahlishment of 
Frederick Loeser & Company, is the son of John and Harriet 
(Balsdon) Gibb and was born in Brooklyn, October 15, 1S57. His lather, 

^'ork, came from Scotland in 18^0. His 



one of the leading merchants of New 
mother was of English birth. 

Mr. Gibb was educated at Adelphi College, Brooklyn, and when seven- 
teen ioined his father with 
Mills & Gibb, of which he is 
still a director. He went 
abroad for Mills & Gibb 
twice a year from the time 
he was twenty-two until 
1897, when he became a 
partner in Frederick Loe- 
ser & Company. Brooklyn. 

Since IQ05, he has been 
the head of that firm, which 
holds a leading place among 
the great department stores 
of the country. The great 
success of Frederick Loeser 
& Company is in largest 
degree due to Mr. Gilib's 
executive capacity, mercan- 
tile experience and singular 
ability to forecast trade con- 
ditions. 

Mr. Gibb is a director 
of the New York Reciprocal 
LInderwriters, the Thrift, 
etc. ; a member of the Long- 
Island Historical Society, 
the Metropolitan Museum 
of Art, the Union League 
Club, New York; the New 

York Yacht, Brooklyn, Nassau Country, and Riding and Driving Clul)s, and 
Automobile Club of America. His favorite recreations are autoniol)iling, 
golfing and yachting. He is an independent Repuljlican. 

Mr. Gibb's town house is at 14 East Fifty-fifth Street, and he has a 
country home at Glen Cove, L. I. He married, November 27,, 1908, Emily 
Josephine Mathews. 




AKTHUR c;iiir. 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




HERMAN SIMON 



H 



ERMAX SIAIOX, who lias a position of niucli distinction in the 
silk manufacturing interest, is a native of Frankfort on the Alain, 
Germany, where he was born Ajiril 29, 1850, a son of Robert and Marie 
(Broell) Simon. His father was a tobacco merchant and cigar manufacturer, 
with business establishmenls in l^'ankfort on the Main and at Antwerp, Bel- 
gium. Two of his great-uncles, Charles and Joseph Simon, came to the United 
States in 1S15, and became prominent dry goods merchants in Baltimore. 

After a course in Hassel's Institute at Frankfort on the Main, Mr. Simon 
followed a technical course in the Royal Weaving Schodl at Mulheim on the 
Rhine, thus acquiring a practical training which proved to be of the utmost 
value to him in his later business career. In 1868 he came to the United 
States and secured a position in the wholesale silk department of A. T. Stew- 
art & Company, then located at the C(M-ner of Reade Street and Broadway. 
His brother Robert, two years his junior, who had received a technical edu- 
cation similar to that of his brother, and had specialized in silk weaving, came 
to America in 1870, and became superintendent of the silk mill of Benkard 
& Hutton, at West Hoboken, New Jersey. 

In 1874 the brothers joined in establishing the silk m;mufacturing busi- 
ness ever since conducted under the style of R. & H. Simon, wilh a i)lant at 
Union Hill, which they made one of the most successful in the countrv and 
which has since been greatly expanded. In 1883 thev established another 
plant at Easton, Pennsylvania, which is now even larger than the other, cov- 
ering seven acres of ground. The brothers divided the responsibilities of 
management until the death of Mr. Robert Simon, July 26, kjoi, since which 
time Mr. Herman Simon has conducted the business alone. 

Mr. Simon possesses every qualification for success in this business which 
technical knowledge and years of experience can confer. The policv ]nn"sued 
in the management of the business has been based upon the maintenance of 
the highest attainable standard of excellence in products, and to this end the 
most improved macliinerv and most advanced processes have been intro- 
duced, inclusive of some covered bv valual)le American and lun"oi)ean patents 
owned by the firm. The Inisiness has grown to be one of the largest in the 
country, and the two mills employ in the aggregate al)OUt two thousand six 
hundred persons. This great enterprise owes its prosperous upbuilding to Mr. 
Simon's personal supervision and high business standards. 

In politics Mr. Simon is an active Republican, and he was elected in 
igoS a presidential elector on the Taft and Sherman ticket from the Twenty- 
sixth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He has residences at Easton, 
Pennsylvania, and at Union Hill, New Jersey. He is a member of the Ger- 
man Club of Hoboken, New Jersey; the Deutscher A'erein. and National Arts 
Club of New York, and Pom fret Club of Easton. 



'78 



HISTORY Of NEJ]- YORK 



/ 



'■)i' 



h 



'! I f f 



F7' I ; \n ,i',i, .I'll 1,1 




■' 'Oa 



p. K. EDUARU STOEIIR 



p. R. EDUARD STOEHR :t9 



PR. EDUARD STOEHR, the president of the Botany Worsted ^lills, 
• and one of the most successful textile manufacturers of America, 
is, like many others of the most representative business men of the country, 
a man of German nativity and lineage. He was born in Eisenach, Sachsen- 
Weimar, Germany, March 22, 1846. 

From his boyhood days Mr. Stoehr has been continuously connected with 
the woolen and worsted goods industry, in which he was trained, with Ger- 
man thoroughness, in the leading establishments. There he devoted himself 
to a study of the best methods and processes, steadily advancing in knowledge 
and influence, and while still a young man gaining a position of considerable 
prominence in the woolen and worsted industr_\- in the old countr\'. In 1879 
he founded an important enterprise in this line, which has been conducted suc- 
cessfully ever since and is now known as the Kammgarn-Spinnerei Stoehr & 
Company of Leipzig-Plagwitz, German\'. 

Mr. Stoehr early became impressed with the superior opportunities which 
were offered by the United States for the transplantation, under conditions 
favorable to further develo])ment and improvement, of the methods of manu- 
facture which have earned for Germany its precedence in the worsted and 
woolen goods industry, and he put his \'iews into practical operation by estab- 
lishing- the Botany Worsted Mills, of which he has been jiresident ever since 
incorporation. 

The Botany W'orsted Mills were incorporated in May, 1889, with a capi- 
tal of $1,100,000. From that time on the record of the company has been 
one of material advancement as the result of the use of the best equipment 
and the most improved processes of manufacture and methods of distribution. 

The company owns a large plant located at Passaic, N. J., which is not 
only one of the most extensive and most admirably ecjuipped in the country, 
occupying at this time about thirty acres of ground and giving employment 
to a force of more than five thousand people, but is as distinguished for the 
merit of its products as for its capacity for production. 

The company's capital stock, which has been several times increased 
since its organization, now amounts to $3,600,000, fully paid in, without any 
mortgage bonds, and there is a reserve fund of $4,450,000. 

The company manufactures fine worsted, dry-spun yarns and all kinds of 
woolen goods, the entire plant being operated by steam and electric ])ower. 
The company have their New York salesrooms in the Fifth Avenue Build- 
ing at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, and their prod- 
ucts are sold directly to the retailers throughout the United States, and are 
known for uniformity of grade and high quality in their manufacture. 

Air. Stoehr has been a leader in the higher development of the worsted 
and \\()olen industrv of the L'nited States. 



(SO 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



'Hllj'll 'MW 










CHARLES LOUIS AL'GER 



c 



CHARLES LOUIS AUGER 781 

HARLES LOUIS AL'GER, who occupies a position of much dis- 
tinction among the representatives of the silk industry of the coun- 
try, is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsvhania, in which citv he was born 
September 26, i860, being the son of Peter F. and Marie F. (Clement) Auger. 
His father, Peter F. Auger, was of French nativity, and had been engaged 
in the silk-weaving industry in France, coming , from that country to the 
United States in i860, a few months before the birth of his son. 

Mr. Charles Louis Auger received a common and business school edu- 
cation. His father after coming to this countrv had engaged in business as 
a silk weaver, and his son had his etl'orts attracted in that direction and has 
been connected with the silk industry ever since leaving school. Beginning as 
a boy, he obtained a practical knowledge of the silk business in all its various 
departments, but especiallv of silk dveing, and he has been acti\'elv engaged 
in business as a principal since 1884. 

He is interested in various banks and financial, industrial and other com- 
panies, in several of which he is a director. He is also a director in the 
National Silk Dveing Companv, in which he has held the ofiice of president 
since its organization in 1908. This is a consolidation of several of the most 
important silk-dyeing plants located in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other 
sections of the country, in organization of which he played a prominent part. 
His business headquarters are in Paterson, New Jersey, and New York City. 

Mr. Auger has enjoyed the advantages which come from extensive 
travels, which have covered the L^nited States, Canada, and Mexico. He has 
also made several visits to various parts of Europe. 

Mr. Auger enjoys pleasant social and business relations, is a member of 
the Automobile Club of America, and of other clulis in New York City ; of the 
Hamilton Club of Paterson, New Jersey, the North Jersey and Areola Coun- 
try Clubs, Cercle Republicain of Paris, France, and the Society of Chemical 
Industry of London, Eno-land, and also of numerous other clubs, charitable 
associations, and societies of various kinds in America and Europe. 

In his own special line of business effort as well as in the financial held, 
Mr. Auger has obtained a position of favorable prominence and the rank of a 
leader, demonstrating in his management of the large enterprise in his charge, 
not only advanced technical knowledge, but a high order of administrative 
executive, as well as financial ability. 

He married, in Paterson, New Jersey, in June, 1881, :\Iary Mirandon, 
who died the following year, and in April. 1884, he was again married, to 
Emma Chadwick. Five children were born: Frank C. in February, 1885; 
Emma M. C, in April, 1887, who married Frank H. Powers, May 11, 1910; 
May C, in June, 1S89: Charles L., Jr., in Deceml^er, kjoi, and Louis F., in 
January, 1905. There were no children from the first marriage. 



:S2 



HISrOKV OF XEir YORK 




Sirril MKLLEX MILMKEN 



SETH MELLEX MIL/JKEN 783 

SETH i\I ELLEN MILLIKEN, dry goods commission merchant, was 
born in Poland, Maine, January 7, 1836, the fourth son of Josiah and 
Elizabeth (Freeman) Millikcn, and descendant in the seventh generation from 
Hugh Milliken, who came from Scotland to Massachusetts in 1650. His 
father was born in Buckfield, Maine, and after his marriage lived in Poland, 
Maine, and carried on a farm, a tannery, and a luml^er l)usiness. 

Seth M. Alilliken attended the pulilic schools in Poland, followed liy a 
year in the Academy in Hebron, Maine, then for a year was engaged in a flour 
mill at ]\linot, Maine, then one year in the Academy at ^'armouth, Maine, 
and later taught school at Mechanic Falls, Poland, Maine. 

In May, 1856, when twenty years old, he began his mercantile career, 
opening a general store in Minot, Maine. Four years later he removed to 
Portland, Maine, and engaged with his ])r()ther-in-law. Daniel W. True, in 
the wholesale grocery business, under the tlrni name of True & Millikcn. In 
1865, in association w'ith William Deering, he established the wholesale dry 
goods house of Deering, Milliken & Company, at Portland, and in 1866 he 
established the dry goods commission house under the same name in New York 
City. William Deering left the firm to engage in harvester manufacturing 
business in 1869, and since then Mr. Milliken has been head of the house. 

Mr. Milliken is president of the Madison Woolen Company, Cowan 
Woolen Company, Farnsworth Company, and Pondicherry Company of Maine ; 
Great Falls Woolen Company of New Hamjishire, George W. Olney Woolen 
Company of Massachusetts, Lockhart Mills of South Carolina, Gainesville 
Cotton Mills of Georgia, and Dallas Manufacturing Company of Alabama ; 
also a director of the Cascade Woolen Company, Forest Mills Company, 
Pacolet Manufacturing Company, Lockwood Company, Poland Paper Com- 
pany and Worumbo Manufacturing Company, of Maine; Abbeville Cotton 
Mills, Darlington Manufacturing Company, Drayton Mills, Hartsville Cotton 
Mills, Laurens Cotton Mills, Mills Manufacturing Company, Monarch 
Cotton Mills, Reedy River Manufacturing Company, Spartan Mills and 
Whitney Manufacturing Company, of South Carolina; and the Saco and 
Pettee Machine Shop of Massachusetts. He is a trustee of the New York 
Life Insurance Company and the Bowery Savings Bank, and director of the 
Trust Companv of America and the Fidelity Bank. 

Mr. Milliken is an active Republican and has served as presidential 
elector ; and he is a member of the Union League, Metropolitan, Merchants', 
Republican, Riding and Suburban Riding and Driving Clubs, the New Eng- 
land Society in New York, and Cumberland Club of Portland, Maine. 

He married, in Dover, New Hampshire, in 1874, Margaret L. Hill, who 
died in 1882, and has three children: Seth M. Milliken, M.D., Gerrish H. 
Milliken, and Margaret L., wife of Harold L. Hatch. 



784 



HISTORY OF NliW YORK 




STAXLI:Y THAYER COZZENS 



STAXfJi)' THAYIIR COZZEXS 



STANLEY THAYER COZZENS. who is now at the licad of the 
extensive lace and embroider}' house of Goldenberg Brotliers & Com- 
pany, is a native of Xew York City, born December 31, 1S59, being the son 
of Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens, who was the proprietor of the Cozzens Hotel 
at \\'est Point, Xew York, and his wife, Susan Allen (Wilson) Cozzens. On 
the paternal side he is of English descent through Leonard Cozzens, who 
came from England to America in 1648, and who was the ancestor of a 



arge familv, which has included man\- men who have made their 



' to 



mark m 



business and professional life. One of his descendants, well known in liter- 
ary circles, was Frederic S. Cozzens, author of The Si)arrowgrass Papers and 
other books, who was the first cousin of Svlvanus Thaver Cozzens, father of 
Stanley Thayer Cozzens. On the maternal side his ancestors lived in Belfast, 
Ireland. 

Mr. Cozzens was educated in ])ublic and i)rivate schools until 1S75, when 
he entered upon a business career in the old established dry goods house of 
Arnold, Constable & Company, with which he continued for seven years, 
becoming connected with the firm of Goldenberg P>rothers & Company in 
1886, in which house he has ever since continued, becoming the i)resident of 
the firm in [March, 1909, upon the retirement of Samuel L. Goldenberg, the 
former president, who has since lived abroad. The house of Goldenberg 
Brothers & Company holds a distinguished place among those representing 
their line in this market, being extensive importers of laces and embroideries 
from the leading manufacturing centres in those lines. ]\Ir. Cozzens gives to 
the executive end of the business the benefit of his own practical experience 
with the result that the volume of trade of the company continues to increase 
with the years. 

Since 1882, Ivlr. Cozzens has been an extensive traveler in foreign lands, 
chieflv on business, but also for recreation ; and he has also become thoroughly 
acquainted, 1)y visits to its various sections, with his own country. He is 
Republican in his political atifiliation. 

Mr. Cozzens served from 1880 to 188.^ a full term in the Twenty-second 
Regiment of the National Guard of the State of New York. Lie is a mem- 
ber of the Chamber of Commerce of New ^'ork, the Union League Club, 
Aldine Club, Old Guard, Essex County Country Club of New Jersey, and the 
New England Society of East Orange, New Jersey. He has a city residence 
at 2 East Sixtv-third Street, New York City, and a country ])lace at 145 FLar- 
rison Street, East r)range. New Jersey. 

Mr. Cozzens has been married twice, first in Ohio, August 4, 1885, to 
Margaret Harvey, who died in April, 1892, b_\- whom he has a daughter, 
Marie Christine, born in 1887. Mr. Cozzens married again in New York 
City, June 4, 1901, Mrs. Sarah C. Sloane (born Sarah C. Harvey). 



T86 



HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 








p. KOIiKRT G. SJOSTRUil 



p. ROBERT G. SJOSTROM 787 

P ROBERT G. SJOSTRO^I, secretary and treasurer of the United 
• States Worsted Company, is of Swedish birth and ancestry, the 
son of Ludwig and Maria EHzabeth ( Norelius ) Sjostrom. He is of an excellent 
Swedish family on his father's side, his ])aternal great-gradfather having been 
well known in Swedish history as a large operator in copper, and a well- 
known public official, who entertained King Carl XR' Johan of Sweden on 
several notable occasions. His mother is a direct descendant of King Robert 
Bruce of Scotland. ]\Ir. Sjostrom's father, Ludvig Sj(")Str()m, was a textile 
manufacturer, chemist and dyer. He came with his family from Sweden to 
Canada in 1867, and in 1881 to the United States, becoming prominent in the 
textile interests of the country; and he organized and develo])ed the Lawrence 
Dye Works and Finishing Company. With his wife he now lives on his 
estate in Aliami, Florida. Their family consists of eight children, five sons 
and three daughters, all living and all married. 

]\Ir. P. Robert G. Sjostrom attended school in Sweden from fi\-e years 
of age until eight years of age, coming to Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, in 
1867. He attended the Sherbrooke Academy, and private classes, and at the 
age of fourteen he entered upon a full technical and practical course in 
woolen manufacturing. At the age of eighteen he entered a law office, and 
matriculated as a law student in McGill University at Montreal, from which 
famous institution he was graduated at the age of twenty-one with the degree 
of Bachelor of Civil Laws, and with first-rank honors in the class of 1881. 
He was admitted to the bar in the Province of Quebec, Canada, in 188 1. 

Coming to Law-rence, Massachusetts, he entered a law office in that city, 
but in 1882 took a position as private secretary in the banking house of Wins- 
low, Lanier & Company, of Xew York, and in the following year took charge 
as office and credit manager of a large importing firm engaged in trade in 
laces and embroideries. He later became vice president and general manager 
of a large manufacturing company in Xew York, and after that for twelve 
years treasurer of the Lawrence Dye ^^'orks Compan}- at Lawrence, Massa- 
chusetts; secretary and treasurer of the Patchogue }ilanufacturing Company 
of Patchogue, Long Island, and secretary and treasurer of the United States 
Worsted Company of Xew York, all of which ])ositions he still occupies. He 
is also treasurer of the Xorth American Fruit Company; director of the 
Atlantic Xational Bank, Providence, Rhode Island, and president uf the Hun- 
garian-American Bank of Xew York. 

Mr. Sjostrom, during his twenty-six years of residence in Xew York, 
has displayed extraordinary skill as a business organizer and financial man- 
ager, being an expert stenographer and accountant, and an inxeiitor of many 
advanced methods in accounting, whereby he has the happy faculty of being 
able to manao-e at one and the same time as manv as eight dift'erent liusiness 



788 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

estal:)lislinienls in the capacity of treasurer. By a system all his own, c(_)ncen- 
trated re])orts of every phase of each business, showing the status of each day, 
are furnished dailv, and from these reports, instructions are given, actions 
taken, and arrangements made, so that the l)usiness of each independent con- 
cern runs along smoothly, as well financially as physically, and the strenuous 
al)ility and energy thus emjiloyed is evidenced by the marked success of all the 
companies managed. 

Mr. Sjostrom is at present actively engaged in developing and man- 
aging the United States Worsted Company at loo Fifth Avenue, one of the 
leading textile corporations of this country, with a capital of six million 
dollars, operating five large mills, manufacturing high-grade woolen and 
worsted factories. 

The United States Worsted Company has developed from the Lawrence 
Dye Works of Lawrence, Massachusetts, founded by Ludvig Sjostrom, and 
built u]i hy him and his family to a position of great success and satisfactory 
development. The capacity of these works is being largely increased, and 
closely connected are the Iroquois Mills at Saugus, Massachusetts, which 
operate 150 looms; the Musketaquid Mills, at Lowell, Massachusetts, with a 
newly installed equipiuent of 200 looms; the Tinkham Mills at Harrisville, 
Rhode Island, with 225 looms; and the company have a new plant nearing 
completion at Lawrence, Massachusetts, with a capacity of 600 looms. Con- 
trolling these large plants with established outlets for their products, and 
with their unsurpassed ability and experience of management, the LTnited 
States Worsted Company has taken an envialile ]iosition in the textile indus- 
tries of the country. 

Mr. Sjostrom is a Republican in politics, and has been active in custom 
house and tariff matters for many years, and he served as a member of the 
Board of Education of Westfield. New Jersey, from 1904 to 1907. 

He has also been prominent in church affairs, was treasurer and trustee 
of the Park Methodist Episcopal Church of Elizabeth. New Jersey, from 1S92 
to 1897, and president of the Eliz;il)eth District ( Xew Jersey) Epworth 
League in i()0i-i<)02. Lie is a thirty-third degree Mason, and a member of 
Mecca Tem])le of the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of the Aldine Clulj. 
the Merchants' Central Club. Masonic Club, Canadian Society of New York, 
the New York Swedish Chamber of Commerce, and ALanhattan Chess Club. 
His city residence is at the Hotel luidicott. and he has a country place at 
New Rochelle. New York. 

Mr. Sjostnim married, in I'^lizabeth. New Jersey, June 21. 1883, Emma 
L-ene Wright, and the\' have three children: Mary Elizabeth L^ene, born 
Se])tember 10, 18S5; Paul R. (i.. born January 21. 18SS; and Carl Reginald, 
bnrn December 2<), lcS()2. 



JOSEPH II. emhr: 



:s9 



JOSEPH H. E]\IERY, now president and general niana<j-er of the 
great dry o-Qods house of Lord iS: Taylor, was l)orn in Dover, New 
Hampshire, the s(^n of Jose])h Huntress and Rehecca Caroline ( Hill) Emery. 
He is of an old New England family, descended from John and Anthony 
Emery, brothers, who came from Ronisey. England. arri\ed in Boston in 
1635. and soon afterward settled at Xewhurv, [Massachusetts. 

Mr. Emery was grad- 
uated from the high school 
at Portsmouth, Xew Hamp- 
shire, in 1877. EI is first 
employment \vas as a news- 
boy and he was afterward 
errand bov in a dry goods 
store. He came to Xew 
York, August 15. 1878. and 
entered the employ of Lord 
& Taylor as a stock clerk. 
He afterward filled many 
] positions in the house, be- 
came a traveling' salesman, 
department manager and, 
when the lousiness was in- 
corporated, was elected sec- 
retary. After the death of 
Mr. Hatch, who had been 
president, he succeeded to 
the executive charge of the 
business as chairman of the 
Executive Committee, and 
on July 12, 1910, was 
elected president of the cor- 
poration and is now in full 
charge of its affairs. 

Mr. Emery is an active 
Republican and is a member 
of the Executive Committee of the Repu])lican Club of New ^'ork; has ser\'ed 
in the Twenty-second Regiment of the National Ckiard, and is a thirty-sec- 
ond degree Mason; also member of the Union League antl Aldine Clubs, the 
Chamlier of Commerce, and the New England Societ\- in New York. 

Mr. Emery was married, in New York City, on Jul}' 6, 1889, to Eannie 
Adele Constant. 





JOSEPH H. EMERY 



HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 



E 



-^ 






DWARD HEXRY CLIFT, of the firm of Clift & Goodrich, com- 
mission merchants in knit nnderwear, was born in Philadelphia, 
November i8, 185 1, son of Edward and Martha T. (Herring) Clift. He is 
of an old American family, on his father's side of English Quaker and Dutch 
origin, and niaternallv of English, French and Irish descent. 

He was educated in ]n-i\-ate schools and by special tutors, and after leav- 
ing school was trained com- 
ercially through the vari- 
I is financial and merchan- 

sing departments of the 
isiness in which he is now 
gaged, and in 1S91 he 
.jcame associated in the 
fiirmatiim of the firm of 
(Written, Clift & Company, 
which continued until June 
I, i<jo8, when, because of 
the death of Mr. DeFrees 
Critten, who had died No- 
xemlier 29, IQ07, the pres- 
ent firm of Clift & Good- 
rich was organized and has 
since ci inducted an exten- 
sive business as commission 
merchants in knit under- 
wear at 74 Leonard Street, 
with lirancbes in Chicago, 
Philadelphia and Boston, 
and are considered one of 
the leading factors in their 
line. 

;\fr. Clift is a Re|)ubli- 
can in his ])olitical afiilia- 
tions, and is especially a 
firm sup]iorter of the Re- 
])ublican doctrine (if the jirdtectiiin (if American industries: and he is a mem- 
ber of the I''.xecuti\e Cdinmittee of the American Portective TariiT League 
of X'ew \'ork. 

lie is a member of the l^nion League Club, the Merchants' Club, and 
New York Riding Club, and also of the Pennsvlvania Society of New York 
City. 




HDWAKI) IIKNRV CLIFT 



EDWARD ISMOX GOODRICH 



roi 



E 



DWARD ISAIOX GOODRICH, who has for years been a leader 
in tlie underwear business in New ^l)rk, was born at Grand Rapids, 
Micliigan, Auoust 13, 1861, the son of Phihp AI. and Betsey ( Isnion ) Good- 
rich, and is of English descent. His father was a hardware merchant 
in Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Goodrich was educated in a ])ul)lic school at Grand Rapids, and in 
1883 entered the employ of 
W. H. & A. D. Rowe, o 
Troy, New York, in th 
underwear busmess, and i 
1896 became a partner ii 
that firm. On Ji-ine 2C 
1898, he started in the un- 
derwear business on his 
own account, and June i, 
190S, he joined his business 
with that of E. H. Clift, at 
74 Leonard Street, New 
York City, where they con- 
duct business as commission 
merchants under the firm 
name of Clift & Goodrich, 
and are recognized as one 
of the leading houses in the 
knit underwear trade. 

Mr. Goodrich having 
devoted practically all his 
life since attaining man- 
hood to the underwear busi- 
ness, has become recog- 
nized as one of the leading- 
experts and best informed 
merchants in that depart- 
ment of commercial activity. 

Mr. Goodrich is a Re- 
publican, but he has never given nnich 
and never held a public oftice. 

He is a member of the Union League Club, the Alerchants" 
the New York Riding Clul). 

He married, at Big Rapids. :\Iichigan, June 30, 1882, Lillie Bell Stickney, 
and thev have a daughter, Irene Goodrich. 




EDWARD ISMON GOODRICH 



if his time to politics i)r 



)Ul 



fe 



)Ul)lic lite 



Club, and 



'.)3 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




JOSEPH H. WRIGHT 



JOSEPH H. WRIGHT 793 



JOSEPH H. WRIGHT, president of the United States Finishing Com- 
pany, is a native of Paterson, N. J., where he was born April i6, 
1853, being the son of James and Mary ( I^^o(.)te ) Wright. His father, who 
was born in Scotland, in 1829, was a master mechanic of such expert skill 
that he was frequently called upon, from all ])arts of the country, to give his 
opinion upon mechanical matters. He died January 11, 1908. 

Joseph H. Wright was educated in the public schools of Paterson until he 
was twelve years old, when he entered, as a lioy, the employ of F. C. \'an 
Dyke & Cnm])any, dry goods dealers, with whom he became a clerk, and re- 
mained with that firm for about six years. He then connected himself with 
the Reid & Barry Company, conducting the Dundee Dye and Print Works at 
Passaic, beginning in a minor position and by energetic, faithful and efficient 
service winning his way, until he became secretary of the company, and upon 
the death of William I. Barry, in 1S95. he succeeded him as treasurer and 
general superintendent. In 1S97 the company, with the Norwich (Conn.) 
Bleaching, Dyeing and Printing Company and the Dunnell Manufacturing 
Company of Pawtucket, R. I., were merged into one corporation under the 
style of the United States Finishing Compau}-, with a capital of $2,000,000 
preferred and $1,000,000 common stock. The active management of the new 
company was placed in the hands of Mr. Wright from the tirst, though Mr. 
William W. Dunnell was chosen president and held the office until October, 
1900, when he retired, '\l\-. Wright becoming ])resident and general manager. 

In May, igoi, the Sterling (Conn.) Dyeing and Finishing Company was 
acquired by the company, making a valuable addition to its resources and 
facilities, and the Silver Springs Bleaching and Dyeing Company, of Provi- 
dence, R. I., was also added to the United States Finishing Company, which, 
thus augmented, has become one of the largest enterprises in the line of 
bleaching, dyeing and finishing in the world. Under the management of 
Mr. Wright, new mills, machinery and equipment ha^'e been added, the plant 
has been brought to a high degree of perfection, while the capital stock was 
increased by $600,000, and a surplus of $2,000,000 has been accumulated. 
Mr. Wright is regarded as the leader in the finishing business in this country. 

He is also president of the Apponaug Company, at Apponaug, R. I., the 
Queen Dyeing Company, Providence, R. I., and the Biddell & Bogart Paint- 
ers' Supply Company; a director of the Chatham National Bank of New York, 
the Hobart Trust Company of Passaic, and the First Mortgage, Title and In- 
surance Company of New Jersey. 

He is a member of the Union League and Merchants' Clubs of New York, 
and the Hope Club of Providence, R. I. He married Emily Pelton, in 1881, 
and they have two children, William Pelton and Marie Louise (now Mrs. 
Ralph M. Robins). 



79i 



HISTORY or NEW YORK 






MlHi> i' wi 





HENRY STANTON CHAPMAN 



H 



HEXRV ST.IXTOX CHAPMAX :93 

ENRY STAXTOX CHAPAIAX, president of The Arlington 
Company, was born in Huntington. ^^lass.. December 22, 1837, be- 
ing tlie son of Hiram and Fannie (Stanton) Chapman. 

On his father's side he comes from an English famil\- of Chapmans, 
transplanted in New England in the Seventeenth Century, his grandfather, 
Jedidiah Chapman, being born in X"ew England. In the maternal line he 
is a direct descendant from Thomas Stanton, born at Rodway in England, who 
came to America in the early ]iart of the Seventeenth Century. He was 
not onlv a successful trader in furs, dealing with the Indians of X^ew England 
and Xew York, but possessed a thorough knowledge of the Mohawk and other 
principal Indian languages of these colonies, so that he became recognized as 
the best practical master of these languages among the colonists. He was 
therefore appointed, and served for many years Interpreter-General of the 
Colonies. He married Ann, daughter of Thomas Lord, and he and his wife 
were among the founders of Hartford, Conn., and their descendants ha\e 
figured in an honorable and constructive way in the nation's advancement. 

Mr. Chapman received his education in local schools and academy at his 
birthplace until he was eighteen years old, when he went to Dutchess County, 
Xew York, and began his business career by securing employment in a drug 
store, of which he became one of two proprietors. The business grew and 
a large trade was built up at wholesale and retail, but finally he sold out and 
for vears was actively identified with iron-mining interests in Dutchess County. 

Thence he came to New York City and organized The Arlington 
Company, of which he is president, and which has a very large and complete 
manufacturing plant at Arlington, X. J., turning out enormous quantities of 
fine goods, including combs, brushes, mirrors, fancy goods, sheeting, collars 
and cuffs, etc., of superior composition, manufacture and finish, these products 
under their trade-mark "Pyralin" or "Celluloid,"' enjoying not only a national, 
but also an international reputation and demand. 

He has also made extensive and judicious investments in real estate in 
Glen Ridge, N. J., and elsewhere. He is also a director and oflicer in other 
corporations, chiefly subsidiary or auxiliary to The Arlington Company He 
is Republican in politics, and has been a member of the Court of Appeals to 
regulate taxes and assessments in the Borough of Glen Ridge, X. J., where 
his attractive home, "Sunny Crest." is located. 

He is a member of the Republican and [Merchants Central Clubs of Xew 
York City, and of the Glen Ridge Club and Glen Ridge Golf Club. 

]Mr. Chapman married first in 3>Iarch, 1873. Jennie Brewster, a descendant 
from Elder ^^■illiam Brewster of the Ma}-flower. She died in 1883. leaving 
a son. Charles Brewster Chapman. In September. 1887. he remarried, his 
wife having l)een Aliss Emilv ?\1. Payne, of Poughkeeiisie. X. Y. 



IIG 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



I I 




C. JUMUS FORSTMANN 



G 



C. JULIUS fORSTMANN 797 

JULIUS FORSTMANN, president of the Forstmann & lluffnianu 
!• Company, of Passaic, New Jersey, was born at W'erden on the Rnhr, 
Rhenish Prussia, March 22, 1S71. He attended schools at Diisseldorf and 
Duisburg, Germany, and after leaving school spent several years in Germanv, 
England and France, studying the theory and practice of woolen manufac- 
turing in all its stages, as well as the marketing of woolen goods in different 
countries. 

Upon the completion of these studies Mr. Forstmann entered, and 
is still a partner of, the firm of Forstmann & Huftmann at Werden on the 
Ruhr, established by his great-grandfather in 1803, and ranking among the 
foremost manufacturers of high-grade woolens in Germany. His family has 
been uninterruptedly engaged in the business of woolen manufacturing in Ger- 
many for seven generations. 

Mr. Forstmann also traveled extensively and made two trips around the 
world for the special purpose of studying the wool industrv and trade, visiting 
all the principal countries of Europe, the United States, India, China, Japan 
and Australia. 

He was a member of the Essen Chamber of Commerce, one of the lead- 
ing German Chambers, in which district are included such important interests 
as the Krupp Works, the Coal Syndicate, and other large industrial enteri)rises ; 
and he was also a member of the Board of Directors of several financial and 
industrial institutions in Germanv, from all of which he resigned in 1904, 
when, after several lengthy visits to the United States and a careful study of 
the business conditions in this country, he came here with the express object 
of founding the Forstmann & Huf¥mann Company, located at Passaic, New 
Jersey, an undertaking which has duplicated the success attained in Germany 
by the old firm. 

Building of the plant was begun in Passaic in 1904 and in the fall of 
1905 the mill commenced operations. From the outset the enterprise was 
extremely successful and has steadily grown until it now occupies large plants 
in Passaic and Garfield, employing twenty-five hundred people and with every 
prospect of still further extending its activities. Controlling the entire proc- 
esses of woolen and worsted manufacture — buying the wool in the primary 
markets, spinning the yarn and weaving, dyeing and finishing the cloth in 
its own mills — the company has succeeded in turning out fabrics of the finest 
(|uality, recognized as equal in all respects to the best imported goods and fully 
sustaining the reputation enioved for over a century by the parent firm in 
Germany. 

Mr. Forstmann married, in 1902, Miss A. Lynen, of Biebrich-am-Rhein, 
and thev have a familv of four boys. Since coming to America Mr. Forst- 
mann has resided with his familv in Passaic, New lersev. 



ros 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




IIEIXRICII ERNST SCUNIEWIXD, JR. 



H 



HRIXRICH HRXST SCHXIEJVIND. JR. TOO 

EIXRICH ERNST SCHNIEWIND, Jr., is a member of a distin- 
guished German family of silk manufacturers who through several 
generations have successfully prosecuted the industry in their native land, 
and through him as their representative have taken a position of prominence 
in the same line of industry in the United States. 

He was born in Elberfeld, Germany, January 21, 1869, the son of Hein- 
rich and Maria (Bredt) Schniewind. His father is a silk manufacturer, and 
a partner in the house of H. E. Schniewind, of Elberfeld, Germany, where it 
has been engaged with success in that line of production ever since 1794. 

Heinrich Ernst Schniewind, Jr., received a sound and thorough educa- 
tion in the gymnasium of his native city, his scholastic training being directed 
with special reference to preparation for an efficient and successful participa- 
tion in the family business, and after the completion of his studies in the 
gymnasium he at once entered upon his commercial training in the firm of 
H. E. Schniewind, in Elberfeld, which he pursued with the thoroughness that 
is so characteristic of the business houses of that great commercial and indus- 
trial country. As the operations of the firm are international, it was neces- 
sary that besides full training in all the activities of the main house, he should 
also participate in the work of the liranch establishments of the firm. With 
this in view Mr. Schniewind spent, consecutively, a year in London, half a 
year in Paris, and one year in Lyons. France, in the branches maintained by 
his firm, and one and a half years in New York. Mr. Schniewind learned the 
usage of the silk trade in these several markets, and greatly added to his 
practical equipment and capacity for usefulness to the house, and he became 
a member of the firm of H. E. Schniewind, at Elberfeld, July i. 1895. 

His investigations in New York had led him and his firm to determine 
upon the establishing in this country of an American branch of the ])usiness 
of H. E. Schniewind, and he came to this country after his admission to the 
firm and established an oftice in New York (now at 18 West Eighteenth 
Street), securing a manufacturing plant and establishing, in November. 1895, 
the American branch of the firm as an independently organized but closely 
allied enterprise, under the name of the Sus(|uchanna Silk Mills, of which cor- 
poration he is president, treasurer, manager and a director. Mr. Schniewind 
personally directs the business with excellent executive ability. 

He is a Republican in politics; is a member of the Society of Chemical 
Industry, a member of the Aldine Association, the Union Leagite, Deutscher 
Verein, and Merchants" Club, of New York, and of the Casino of Belle Haven, 
Greenwich, Connecticut. His town house is at 8 East Seventy-ninth Street, 
and his country place at Greenwich, Connecticut. 

He married, at College Point, Long Lsland, August 23, 1899, Helen 
Greefif, and has five children: Helen, Margaret, Emily, Henry and Ethel. 



800 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




JACOB WEIDMANN 



JACOB WEIDMANN 801 



JACOB WEIDMANN, whose career of many years in the silk-dyeing 
business in Europe and America earned him a place of special dis- 
tinction in that important industry, is a native of Thalweil, Switzerland, 
where he was born March 22, 1845, the son of Frederick and Esther 
( Schaeppi ) Weidmann. 

After elementary training at home he attended, for a four-years course, 
the boarding and preparatory school conducted by Otto Huni, at Horgen, 
Canton Zurich, Switzerland. His father was a silk dyer and Mr. Weidmann, 
on leaving school, devoted himself to a thorough and complete study of the 
same profession. In 1867 he came from Switzerland to this country, and 
became one of those who aided in the most effective and i)ractical way in 
the upbuilding, in this country, of the silk industry. 

Although the culture and manufacture of silk in this country began in 
Colonial times as a home industry, and in the first half of the Nineteenth 
Century many factories were established in Connecticut, Massachusetts and 
New Jersey, it was not until after the Civil War that the industry became 
important. The services of several European experts who came to the coun- 
try about that time were of special value, because of the higher development 
of the arts of dyeing and finishing of silk fabrics which had been attained 
in those countries. 

Mr. Weidmann started in the silk-dyeing business in Paterson, New Jer- 
sey, in 1870, and he developed it until, under the name of the Jacob Weid- 
mann Silk Dyeing Company, the plant became the largest individual silk- 
dyeing plant in the United States. His success was achieved by his untiring 
personal supervision over the Inisiness and by his adherence to the highest 
standards of workmanship and the most advanced process known to the in- 
dustry. Mr. Weidmann retired from business, selling his plant to a French 
company in 1909. During his nearly forty years' connection with that indus- 
try in Paterson, he saw it grow to great ])roportions and contributed in the 
largest degree to that growth and to the improvement which has made the 
production of domestic silks one of the most important branches of American 
textile manufactures. His complete knowledge of the technical processes 
and details, his business and executive ability and his enterprising methods, 
brought him a success which was fully and fairly earned. 

Mr. Weidmann married, in South Manchester, Connecticut, in 1869, 
Ellenor Cheney. They have a daughter, Esther Weidmann, who is now the 
wife of Roberto Ziist. Mr. Weidmann resides in Paterson, New Jersey. 

He is a member of the Union League, Merchants', Central and Swiss 
Clubs, of New York; the Hamilton and North Jersey Country Clubs, of Pat- 
erson, New Jersey: and the Princess Anne, Pocahontas, Blooming Grove, 
Amabelish, and Spesutia Island Hunting and Fishing Clubs. 



802 



HISTORY OF XEJJ- YORK 




CTT.\KT.i:S C. COPKI.AXD 



c 



LllARLliS C. COP EL AND So:! 

HARLES C. COPELAND, senior memlier of the firm of Charles 
C. Copeland & Company, manufacturers and commission mer- 
chants in (h^y goods, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, August 21, 1859, 
the son of Francis AI. and EHzabeth V. (Woodson) Copeland. The 
family is of English origin, transplanted in America about 1690. His father 
was engaged in business in Memphis, Tennessee, before the Civil War, as a 
member of Copeland & Edmonds, wholesale cotton factors and dealers in gen- 
eral merchandise. He was an officer in the Confederate Army, and after the 
war removed North with his family. 

Mr. Charles C. Copeland was educated, with the idea of training for 
the legal profession, in the College of the City of New York, but since 
1879 has been engaged in the dry goods business, ultimately becoming the 
head of the prominent and successful firm of Charles C. Copeland & Company, 
manufacturers and commission merchants. 

Mr. Copeland has given much attention to the study and investiga- 
tion of economic subjects, and has contributed valuable papers, notably in 
the First of January issue, for several years, of the Journal of Commerce, 
of New York, containing a yearly analysis of business conditions and 
l)usiness topics. Among the subjects discussed in these papers have been 
those of "Tariff Commission," "Gold Inflation," "Interference with the 
Laws of Supply and Demand," etc. Fie originated the bill to create a 
State Department of Commerce and Industry, and he has been promi- 
nently identified with many important economic movements. He was 
chairman of the New York delegation of the Board of Trade and Trans- 
portation to the Indianapolis TarilT Commission Convention; has served 
as chairman of the Committee on Commerce and Transportation of the 
Manufacturers' Association of New York; was a delegate to the New 
York State Water Ways Convention of 1910, representing New York 
City; delegate to the National Rivers and Harbors Convention at W\ash- 
ington, D. C, 1910, as representative of New York State, under appoint- 
ment of Governor Charles E. Hughes, and representing the ]\Ianufac- 
turers' Association; was a delegate to the Fort Wayne Convention on the 
Michigan and Erie Canal project. He was also appointed on the Citi- 
zens' Committee of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. 

Mr. Copeland is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State 
of New York, the Board of Trade and Transportation, Manufacturers' 
Association of New York, Academy of Political Science, Montauk Club, Red 
Bank Yacht Club, and City Club of East Orange, New Jer.sey. 

He married, in East (Irange, New Jersey, May 26, 1891, Susan Wiley 
Baker, and they have five children : Ashfield, Marion W., Carroll Pray, 
Francis Tuttle. and Katharine Copeland. 



S04 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



L 



OUIS SIEGBE.RT, senior member of tlie firm of Louis Siegbert & 
Brother, cotton converters, was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, 
January 12, 1864. the son of Henry and Mariana Siegbert. He is of German 
descent in l)oth tlie paternal and maternal lines, his father, Henry Siegbert, 
having come, in 1S40, from Germany to the United States, and having been 
for manv vears successfully engaged in mercantile business. 

Louis Siegbert received 
his education in the public 
schools, and upon complet- 
ing his school work he en- 
tered upon a business ca- 
reer, first in a preparatory 
way in various positions 
wliich gave him a training 
for the active and responsi- 
ble commercial career upon 
which he was later to enter. 
In iSijo, with his brothers 
Samuel and Julius Siegbert, 
he organized the firm of 
Louis Siegbert & Brothers, 
cotton converters, to which 
he has since devoted an 
executive supervision so 
thoroughly eflicient that the 
firm has taken a place in 
the front rank of the indus- 
try with which it is identi- 
fied. Mr. Samuel Siegbert, 
of the original firm, is now 
deceased and the house is 
now composed of the other 
two original members, and 
there has been a steady de- 
velopment in the trade of 
the house, due to its thoroughly demonstrated ability to meet every require- 
ment of the business, and the experience and efticiency of its management. 
The office is at 1 14-120 Greene Street. 

Mr. Siegbert is a Republican in political views, though his activities are 
not to any large degree political. He lives at the Hotel Gotham, and in sum- 
mer at Long Branch, New Jersey. 




LOUIS SIEGBERT 



WILLIAM L SI'IRGRLBERC, 



8()o 



WILLIAM I. SPIEGELBERG, of L. Spiegelberg & Sons, cotton 
goods merchants, was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 8, 
1863, the son of Levi and Betty Spiegelberg. His father was of the tirni of 
Spiegelberg Brothers, leading merchants and bankers of Santa Fe, and after- 
ward established the firm of L- Spiegelberg & Sons, in New York. 

William I. Spiegelberg was educated in public schools and the Columliia 
Grammar School in New 
York, and in the Weaving 
and Technical School of 
Miilheim on the Rhine, Ger- 
many. He afterward en- 
gaged in banking- with a 
leading house at Frankfort 
on the Main. In 1887, with 
Levi and Charles S. Spie- 
gelberg he founded the firm 
of L. Spiegelberg & Sons, 
New York, and in that rela- 
tion he has earned a promi- 
nent place among the repre 
sentative merchants of the 
city. 

He is a member of the 
Board of Ambulance Serv- 
ice of the City of New 
York ; president of the 
Sydenham Post-Graduate 
Course and Hospital and 
Training School for 
Nurses ; is a trustee of Tem- 
ple Emanu-El and of the 
Hebrew Orphan Asylum, 
and a director of the Night 
and Day Bank. He is a 
member of the Chamber of 
Commerce of the State of New York and of the Harmonic Club. 

He married, in New York City, April iq, 1897, Beulah \'. Guggenheim, 
oldest daughter of Isaac Guggenheim, head of the mining and smelting firm 
of M. Guggenheim & Sons, and niece of Senator Guggenheim, of Colorado. 
He has two children: Marjorie Betty Spiegelberg and William I. Spiegel- 
berg, Jr. 




WILLI.\M I. SPIEGELBERG 



siii; 



H/SrORV OF XFJJ' YORK 




JOHN B. KEPNER 



JOHX B. KEPNER 807 



JOHN B. KEPNER is one of the most successful of the younger group 
of merchants identified with the dry goods interest in New York City. 
He was born in Philadelphia, July 15, i8<So, and completed his schooling after 
having qualified for the first year at the University of Pennsylvania. His 
tastes led him toward a business career, and in order to make adequate prep- 
aration he obtained a position as clerk in one of the i)ioneer dry goods com- 
mission houses of Philadelphia. In that establishment he secured a thorough 
training in the principles of the Imsiness, and a knowledge of the trade in its 
technical and practical details, w4nch constituted a complete pre])aration for 
the larger activities of his later business career. 

When the Philadelphia firm retired from ])usiness, Mr. Kepner came to 
New York City and took charge of the cotton goods department of one of 
the most prominent dry goods commission houses in this market. After con- 
ducting that department for some time, Mr. Kepner interested some capitalists 
in the launching of a new enterprise in the cotton goods trade, which, under 
the firm name of the F. C. Schwab Company, began business on February i, 
1905, at 350 Broadway. The firm was successful, and from the start enjoyed 
a steadily enlarging business under ]\Ir. Kepner's successful guidance, and on 
June I, 1906, the name of the copartnership was changed to the Schwab-Kep- 
ner Company. The firm thus designated was on February i, 1908, changed 
to an incorporation under the laws of the State of New Jersey, with the same 
title, Mr. Kepner accjuiring practically all of the capital stock of the company. 

The expansion of the business which followed was so marked that the 
original quarters of the company became totally inadequate for the greatly 
augmented business of the company and made a removal absolutely impera- 
tive. Therefore, on May i, 1909, the company removed to the premises at 66 
to 70 Leonard Street, corner of Church Street, where they occupy one of the 
most prominent locations in the trade, with every facility for the convenient 
transaction of business. The company's relations with the leading mills at 
home and abroad are such that they are enabled to meet the demands of their 
trade in this city and the country at large with the utmost promptness; and 
the list of their customers includes many of the most important business houses 
in the dry goods trade here and elsewhere. 

Mr. Kepner personally has a wide acquaintance with the leaders in the 
cotton goods trade of the country, and his commercial standing is of the 
highest. His success is the result of his own well-directed efiforts, and of his 
adherence in all his dealings to correct and conservative business principles, 
coupled wnth an enterprising promptness and intelligent appreciation of the 
needs of customers. 

Mr. Kepner's city home is at the Hotel xA.stor, while his country resi- 
dence is at Cranford, N. J., where he usually makes his summer home. 



808 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




WILLIAM McKENZIE SO'J 



WILLIAM McKENZIE, who has gained, as head of the successful 
Standard Bleachery Company, a position among tlie leaders in 
the bleaching, dyeing and finishing industry, is a native of Scotland, born in 
Glasgow on August 22, 1841. He received a sound education in the public 
schools of that citv, and came to the United States as a young man. 

From 1866 to 1884 Mr. McKenzie was at Norwich, Connecticut, with 
the Norwich Bleachery, and there obtained that thoroughness of practical and 
technical knowledge which has made him one of the foremost experts in that 
industry. After his eighteen years with that establishment he was for a year 
with the Bunnell Manufacturing Company, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. 

In 1885 Mr. McKenzie formed a partnership and acquired the Boiling 
Springs Bleachery at Carlton Hill, New Jersey, a property which had gone 
through various troubles under different managements, and which had prac- 
tically been abandoned. Its condition called for great skill to give it new 
life, but Mr. McKenzie, fortunately, had all the qualifications for the task. It 
was renamed the Standard Bleachery, and for years Mr. McKenzie devoted 
his entire energy, executive ability and technical skill to building up the busi- 
ness. The enterprise was incorporated in 1896, as the Standard Bleachery 
Company, its success having been assured for several years before, and Mr. 
McKenzie became its president. Since 1905 Mr. McKenzie and his sons 
have been the sole owners of the property. It has so developed under his 
executive supervision that it now holds a place in the esteem of the trade cor- 
responding with the magnitude of its facilities and the volume of its output. 
The plant of the Standard Bleachery at Carlton Hill covers over twelve 
acres and the company operates the largest works in its particular line of any 
bleaching concern in the world. Its operations consist in the conversion of 
cotton piece goods from gray cloths, as they come from the loom, into the fine 
finished products which eventually reach the market. 

These goods, manufactured principally in New England, are shipped 
direct to the bleachery. They include lawns, India linens, organdies, crepes, 
Swiss curtains, Persian lawns, long cloth, embroidery goods and a number 
of fancy woven fabrics for women's and children's dresses, in plain and mer- 
cerized finish. 

Many processes of great interest are used in converting the fabrics into 
the finished product, several days being spent in passing through the different 
stages of development. When finished the goods are neatly packed and ship- 
ped all over the world, the bleachery having a reputation for careful work- 
manship which is unsurpassed. An average of over one thousand hands are 
employed, and the plant is operated day and night. The village of Carlton 
Hill is practically an outgrowth of this industry's development, and the com- 
pany owns eighty acres of land there. 



sin HISrORV OF NEW YORK 

These results have been obtained by INIr. IMcKenzie l\v close application 
to the manifold problems involved in taking- a moribund enterprise and in- 
jecting into it new life and vigor, and the task involved not only earnest 
effort, but executive and administrative abilities of a high order. Its success 
was the personal triumph of Mr. McKenzie. The offices of the company are 
at Carlton Hill, New Jersey, and at 320 Broadway, New York City. 

In the earlier years of his connection with the bleachery every moment of 
Mr. McKenzie's waking hours was devoted to the business, but its rapid 
development centered the attention of the community upon the man who had 
made the enterprise so successful, and he was induced to serve the township 
of Boiling Springs as a member of the Township Committee. He showed a 
quick grasp of public matters and a keen perception of the needs of a grow- 
ing community; headed a movement to create the borough of East Ruther- 
ford out of the township; became East Rutherford's first mayor, and served 
with reelections for twelve years until he positively declined to run again. 

For some years he represented his borough on the Bergen County 
Republican Executive Committee. In 1S96 he was an alternate delegate 
from his congressional district to the Republican National Convention, and 
in 1900 he was chosen as one of the presidential electors who cast the vote 
of New Jersey for ]\IcKinley and Roosevelt. Governor Murphy appointed Mr. 
McKenzie a member of the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, which has 
been solving the vexed question of the Passaic River pollution, and he still 
holds that place, contributing to the solution of this public problem the same 
abilities that he applied so successfully in the building up of his own business. 

About fifteen years ago he assisted in founding the Rutherford National 
Bank, and is its vice president. For many years he has been president of 
the liobart Trust Company of Passaic. Since its foundation he has been 
president of the East Rutherford Savings. Loan and Building Association, 
which has a capital of about $700,000. He is president of the Passaic Lum- 
ber Company of Wallington, and a member of the Board of Governors of the 
Passaic General Hospital. A lover of good literature, he first became vice 
president of the Rutherford Free Public Library and later was instrumental 
in founding the East Rutherford Free Library. 

In recent years Mr. McKenzie has traveled extensively abroad, and has 
cultivated his natural taste for good books, art, the drama and the opera. 
His home is "Braeside", at Carlton Hill, New Jersey, a beautiful place on a 
hill which overlooks the plant of the concern which he has built up. 

Mr. McKenzie's sons are James J.. \\'illiani. Jr.. Kenneth M., and Ber- 
tram D. McKenzie, all of whom are married. His daughter is Mrs. Harry 
W. Pierson, of Boston. He is a member of the St. Andrew's Society of New 
York and the Union Club of Rutherford. 



CF.ORCn DIXKliL 



811 



G 



was jirncurcd in the piihlic schools of Jersey City, 

' \ 



EORGE DINKEL, consulting engineer of the American Sugar Re- 
fining Company of New York, was Ijorn in Boston, November 29, 
1867, the son of George and Barbara (Kammerer) Dinkel. His father, an 
engineer by professsion, was a native of W'urtemberg, Germany, and had 
come to this country in 185.S. 

Mr. Dinkel's education 
the Stevens High School 
and the Stevens Institute ( 1 
Technology, from which 1 
was graduated as mechai 
ical engineer in the Class ( 1 
1888. 

After graduation he 
started his technical career 
testing electrical plants, en- 
gines and other devices, 
then became connected with 
the Whittier iXIachine Com- 
pany, of Boston. He then 
entered the employ of the 
Matthiessen & W'eichers 
Sugar Refining Company of 
Jersey City as an assistant 
engineer, and from that 
worked up to his present 
position as consulting engi- 
neer of the American Sugar 
Refining Company of New 
York. He has attained 
great distinction in the en- 
gineering profession, and 
has taken out numerous pat- 
ents for important inven- 
tions, especially in the line 
of machinery connected with 

the refining of sugar. Mr. Dinkei is a member of the American Society of 
Mechanical Engineers, the Engineers' Club of New York, and the Stevens In- 
stitute Alumni Association: and he was secretary of the Congress of Arts and 
Sciences held at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in 1904. 

Mr. Dinkel was married, on November 16, 1909, to Anna D. Wittpenn, 
of Jersey City, New Jersey. 




GEORGE DINKEL 



Sl-J IIISTORV OF XEir YORK 

WILLL\M BARBOUR, president of the Barbour Brothers Com- 
pany, The Linen Thread Company and other large enterprises, is 
the representative of a family that has taken the leading place in the creation 
and development of the linen thread industry, being a great-grandson of John 
Barbour, who introduced the manufacture of flax thread into the North of 
Ireland in 1784. He built uji the business to a position of prominence and 
on his death bequeathed it to his two sons, \\'illiam and John Barbour, who 
continued in business together for a few years. Then William Barbour with- 
drew from the partnershij) and erected, at Lisburn. near Belfast, Ireland, 
great mills of his own, carrying on the industry until his death, during the 
later years as head of the firm of William Barl)our & Sons, which became a 
very large enterprise. 

It was by two of his sons, Robert, born in 1828, and Thomas, born in 
1832, that the manufacture of linen thread was introduced into the United 
States. Thomas Barbour, after being graduated with honor from Queen's 
College in Belfast, determined to come to New York City, his attention being 
attracted to that metropolis as one in which it might be possible to greatly 
enlarge the market for the product of his family's mills. When he reached 
New York he secured employment in the store of A. T. Stewart, then the 
leading dry goods house in the city, and he showed such business ability that 
it was not very long before Mr. Stewart gave him charge of his wholesale 
linen department. He continued in that department until 1858, when he started 
a linen store of his own, which he carried on until 1862, when he was admit- 
ted to partnership with his father and brothers in the firm of William Bar- 
bour & Sons, for whom he established and managed a selling agency in New 
York City. 

His brother, Robert Barbour, who was a thoroughly trained tlax spin- 
ner, also came to this country. The American tarifif had been created along 
the lines of a protective policy and made it much more profitable to manufac- 
ture linen thread here than to manufacture in Ireland and sell the goods here. 
As in the case of many other industries, the opinion was commonly held that 
there were obstacles too great to be overcome in the endeavor to make linen 
thread in this country. But Robert and Thomas Barbour believed that they 
could make a success of the industry here, and in 1864 they bought a mill in 
Paterson, New Jersey, and began spinning fiax. The thread produced was 
excellent in quality and found a ready sale, so that the selling agency in New 
York soon had no occasion to import its threads to fill the orders of the trade. 
In 1865 The Barl)our Flax Spinning Company was established with mills in 
Paterson, with Thomas Barbour, president, until 1875. when Robert Barbour 
was elected president and Thomas Barbour vice president and treasurer of the 
company. The business was remarkably successful, the firm maintaining un- 



WILLIAM BARBOUR 813 



questioned leadership in the hnen thread industry in this country. The num- 
ber of the people employed in their mills increased until there were more than 
a thousand, and the sales increased with great rapidity. The two brothers 
accumulated large fortunes and earned a very high place in the commercial 
world. Mr. Robert Barbour remained active in the business until his death, 
November 25, 1892; but ]\Ir. Thomas Barbour went to Ireland in 1883 with 
the intention of spending his remaining years in his native country, and died 
there January 19, 1885. He was a business man of clear insight and great 
ability, a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, and 
a director in various large corporations; and he was greatly interested in 
measures for the welfare of Ireland. His wife and son survived him. 

The son of Thomas Barbour, Mr. William I'arbour, early in life devel- 
oped a talent for executive management which soon brought him into active 
relation to the industries with which his father had been connected. He has 
long been at the head of various Barbour interests, greatly augmented by 
consolidation with other establishments in similar lines, and he is now presi- 
dent and director of the Barbour Brothers Company, The Linen Thread Com- 
pany, Algonquin Company of Passaic, New Jersey, Dunbarton Flax Spinning 
Company, Finlayson Flax Spinning Company, American Net and Twine 
Company, United States Twine and Net Company, Dundee Water Power and 
Land Company, W. & J. Knox Net and Twine Company, Hamilton Trust 
Company of Passaic, New Jersey, and the North Jersey Rapid Transit Com- 
pany; is vice president of the Barbour Flax Spinning Company; trustee of the 
Washington Trust Company; director of the First National Bank of Passaic, 
New Jersey, Hanover National Bank of New York, Home Trust Company of 
New York, Paterson Safe Deposit and Trust Company, Paterson Savings 
Institution, Pintsch Compressing Company, Safety Car Heating and Light- 
ing Company, United States Shoe Machinery Company, United States Smelt- 
ing, Refining and Mining Company, and Varona Land and Investment Com- 
pany, and has other corporate interests. His office is at 96 Franklin Street, 
New York City. 

Mr. Barbour is a Republican in politics and is especially prominent as a 
supporter and advocate of the doctrine of the protection of American indus- 
tries by means of a customs tariff, and he was elected in 1910 to the office of 
president of the American Protective Tariff League. 

He is a member of the Union League Club of New York, the Republican 
Club of New York, New York Athletic Club, and the Morris County Golf 
Club of New Jersey. 

Mr. Barbour married Adelaide Sprague, and they have three sons: 
Thomas, Robert and William W. Barbour. His residence is at 11 West 
Fiftv-third Street. New York Citv. 



Sl^ 



IIISTOKY 01- XI-.W YORK 












.'' I 'ill 




■■IT- 




W AUUi;.\ CRUIKSIIAXK 



irARREN CRUIKSHAXK 815 



WARREN CRUIKSHAXK, well known in realty circles, was 
born at Hempstead, Long Island, ^lay 5, 1861, and was edu- 
cated at the village school, afterwards attending a business college, and 
then entering the real estate office of E. A. Cruikshank & Com|)any in 
1S77. Nine years later he was admitted to partnership and when the hrm 
was dissolved, November i, 1903, he became president of the corporation 
of Cruikshank Company, its successors. 

Mr. Cruikshank is a descendant of an old Scotch family. His grand- 
father, William Cruikshank, born in Boynsville, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 
in 1760, came in early life to New York City and lived and died at 40 
Greenwich Street, corner of Alorris, the location of the family hcinieslead. 
He married Sarah Allen, born in 1777, wdio resided at the corner of Wall 
and Pearl Streets. Their fifth child w^as James Cruikshank, born Jan- 
uary I, 1804, who died at Hempstead, Long Island, August 28, 1895, at 
the age of 91. James Cruikshank married Mary Ann Wheeler, born at 
Crutched Friar, England. January 12, 1820, wdio was the mother of 
Warren Cruikshank, and who died in Brooklyn, New York, in 1892. The 
Cruikshank family have been more closely identified with the business 
and management of New York City real estate than any other. 

Mr. Cruikshank's grandfather established the business in 1794 at 40 
Greenwich Street, carrying on the business until 1831. when he was succeeded 
by his son, James Cruikshank, who continued it until ]\Iay, 1865, when his son, 
Edwin A. Cruikshank, took up the business. In 1875 the firm of E. A. 
Cruikshank & Company, composed of Edwin A. Cruikshank and his brother, 
Augustus W. Cruikshank, since deceased, was organized. This firm was located 
at difl^erent times at 68, 163 and 176 Broadway, and on May i, 1898, moved to 
141 Broadway, where the Cruikshank Company is now located. In addition to 
the ])residency of the Cruikshank Company. ]\Ir. Cruikshank is vice president 
and director of the Flatl)ush Trust Company, a director of the Irving National 
Exchange Bank, the Alerchants' Refrigerating Company of New York and 
the Merchants' Refrigerating Company of New Jersey. He is a member of 
the Wyandanch Club of Smithtown, Long Island, Adirondack League Club, 
Knickerbocker Field, Meridian, and Underwriters' Clubs, and of the Llistorical 
Society. 

Mr. Cruikshank married Fannie Augusta Minshull, daughter of 
Samuel ]\Iinshull, of Hempstead. Long Island, May 20, 1885. The chil- 
dren are Russell \\ and Douglas M. 

Mr. Cruikshank's residence is at 70 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, and his 
country home is at Hauppauge, Long Island. In the real estate world 
Mr. Cruikshank is considered a very able, conservative and aggressive 
man. He is fond of outdoor sports and the domestic rather than social life 



SIC) 



HISTORY or XF-ir YORK 



m-Mmm^ 



mm 



I'M' 



ill 



I 

m 



I, ' \« 




GEORGE ROWLAND READ 



G 



GEORGE KOU'LAXD READ 817 

EORGE ROWLAND READ, wlio by long cxi)erience and trained 
knowledge has gained a place with the leaders in the real estate 
business of the metropolis, was l.)orn in r.r()r)klvn. Long Island, in 1(^49, son 
of George W. and Rowland Augusta ( I'urtis ) Read, his ancestry on both 
sides being Eliglish. 

He was educated in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Listitutc, and in 1S67 
entered upon business life in the office of E. H. Ludlow & Company, real 
estate. He remained with that lirni for seventeen years, acquiring an ex])ert 
knowledge of realty conditions and values second to that of no real estate 
man of New York. 

In 1S85 he established the firm of Geo. R. Read, and in i()02 Geo. R. Read 
& Company, of which he is still llie head, so that he now has the prestige of a 
remarkably successful career during more than forty-two years of activity as 
a real estate man in the city of New York, covering a period of great changes 
and unprecedented development improvements and of an increase in ^'alues of 
property which has outdistanced the hopes of the most optimistic forecasters 
of those earlier years. 

Mr. Read has, in his long connection with real estate in the city of New 
York, been identified with many of the most prominent realty operations in 
that city, and represents many of the large financial institutions and estates in 
their real estate interests. 

Among the recent operations of his firm have been many large transac- 
tions in realty north of New York City, comprising farms in Westchester and 
Putnam Counties and nearby localities across the State line in Connecticut, 
in which operations many prominent New Yorkers ha^■e lieen associated with 
Mr. Read. 

Mr. Read is president of Geo. R. Read & Company, the [Mutual Trust 
Com]iany of Westchester County, Roxton Realty Company, and the Waccabuc 
Company. 

He is a member of the ^Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Down 
Town Association of New ^'ork, and the L^nion, JMetropolitan, Riding and 
Coaching Clubs. 

Mr. Read married, in Brookl_\-n, December 20, 1874, Louise C. iM'ost, who 
died in 1902, and of that marriage there are four children: Rowland Read, 
who married Helen T. Dykman; Sarah, who married John I. Downey; Doro- 
thy, who married E. Rutledge Davis, and Newlmry Erost Read, who is un- 
married. 

IMr. Read again married, in St. Thomas Church, New \'ork, No\'ember 
20, 1907, Adelaide R. Hastings. 

Mr. Read has traveled widel>-, making frequent trips to Europe and to 
the Pacific Coast. His town residence is 2S East EiftA--sixth Street. 



818 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




WILLIAM EYRE GIBSON GAILLARD 



UlLUAM EYRE GIBSOX GAILLARD 819 



WILIJAxM EYRE GIBSON GAILLARD was born March i, 1877, 
at Louisville, Kentucky, the son of Edwin S. Gaillard. M.D., 
LL.D., Ph.D., and Mary Elizabeth (Gibson) Gaillard. 

He was educated at Trinity School. New York City, and commenced his 
business career in March, 1893. when he entered the office of Stephen van 
Rensselaer Cruger & Company, whose business, the management of estates, 
was founded in 1796, principally to manage the large land grants and develop 
the then farm holdings of the Patroon Ivilliaen van Rensselaer, who acquired 
nnich of such property direct from the Crown about 1629. This business had 
continued under various styles without interruption, its immediate predeces- 
sor having been Van Rensselaer & Cruger. composed oi Philip van Rensselaer 
and S. van Rensselaer Cruger, the then comptroller of Trinity Corporation. 
Mr. Gaillard soon inaugurated a policy of progressiveness for the old firm, 
which theretofore had confined its activities to estates in its exclusive con- 
trol, and in 1897 he was admitted to partnership, the firm then being McVickar 
& Company, one of the most prominent in the general real estate business. 

In 1902, with his partner. Harry Whitney McVickar, Mr. Gaillard or- 
ganized the McVickar Realty Trust Company, capital and surplus $1,000,000, 
becoming first vice president of the company which was. in 1904, merged with 
the Empire State Trust Company, afterwards the Empire Trust Company, 
capital and surplus $1,300,000; the real estate and mortgage business being 
continued under style of the McMckar-Gaillard Realty Company, and the in- 
surance business as Gaillard & Company. He continued as vice president of 
the Empire Trust Company until 1908, resigning to become vice president of 
the New York Real Estate Security Company, organized by him. 

Mr. Gaillard is president and director of the McVickar-Gaillard Realty 
Company and Gaillard & Company, and is vice president and director of the 
New York Real Estate Security Company; a director of the Empire Trust 
Company; vice president and director of the Cedartown Knitting Company; 
director of the Josephine Knitting Mills Company, and of the Wahnita Knit- 
ting Mills Company; a member of the Real Estate Board of Brokers and 
Real Estate Auctioneers" Association; governor of the New York Southern 
Society and member of the City Midday, Lawyers'. Knollwood Country, Sea 
Bright Lawn Tennis and Cricket, New York Athletic and City Lunch Clubs. 
The Virginians, the South Carolinians, and South Carolina Historical Society. 

Mr. Gaillard is of French Huguenot ancestry, the family being founded 
in America Iw Pierre Gaillard, Avho settled in South Carolina about 1685, 
immediately after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His descendants 
were prominently identified with the Revolutionary War and Colonial history. 

Mr. Gaillard married, in 1906. ^lary Stamps Bateson. and has one daugh- 
terj Mary Stamps Bateson Gaillard. 



820 HISTORY OF XEJJ' YORK 



R 



L)1'>ERT E. DOW'LIXG, president of the City Investing Company, 
is a native of California, where he was born at ]Mokekimne Hill, 
Calaveras County, October 21, i<S66. His ancestors came from England and 
Ireland, some settling in Nova Scotia, and thence removing to New York. 
His father, at the age of twenty, went to California with other pioneers in 
1849, ^^ii*^' '^'^■'^s 01^^ of the first settlers of the town of ^Nlokektmne Hill, which 
liecame the county seat of Calaveras County. There he became a lawyer and 
mine owner, and one (^f the most influential citizens of the place. About six 
months after his son was born, he returned, in 1867, to Xew York Citv, locating 
in the village of Bloomingdale, now a part of Riverside Drive. 

Mr. Dowling was educated in public school and in the College of New 
York. On leaving college he became a clerk in a law office, designing to enter 
the legal jirofession, but in (October, 18X5, he opened a real estate office at 
Columbtis Avenue and One Htmdred and k^)urth Street. There he engaged 
sttccessfullv in a general real estate and brokerage btisiness until iSqo, when, 
with Alliert Flake, he organized the New York Realty Company, which after- 
ward was merged in the New York Realty Corporation, of which he became 
vice president and so continued until that company dissolved. In Janttary, 
1905, the City Investing Company was incorporated for the purpose of deal- 
ing in New York real estate, in which the operations of the company are very 
large; and the company is the owner of the City Investing Building, one of 
the largest and most modern of the great office buildings of New York City, 
located at 165 Broadwav. He is also president and director of the Broadway- 
Cortlandt Companv, the Number Sixty-eight William Street Company, and 
the Seventy-second Street Company; vice president and director of the Im- 
proved Property Holding Company; director of the National Reserve Bank of 
the City of New York, the Lincoln Trust Company, the State Investing Coni- 
pan}', the Commonwealth Insurance Company of New York, and the City of 
New "S'ork Insurance Company. 

]\Ir. Dowling has made many of the largest real estate jjtirchases of re- 
cent years in New York City, including that of the Hotel Langham for 
$1,750,000; of the Hotel Empire, January 19, 1907; of the Evans Block 
bounded by Broadway, West luid Avenue, b'ighty-ninth and Ninetieth Streets; 
the Yerkes Mansion, April Ji, i<)io, for $1,230,000; and the Yerkes Art Gal- 
lery, May 23, 1910. for T. I-". Ryan. 

He is a Democrat in politics, president of the Tilden Club, and lie is a 
veteran of Company C, Twenty-second Regiment of the National Guard of 
the State of New \'ork. He is also a member of the Manhattan Club, the 
Lawyers' Clttb, and the New York Riding Club. 

Mr. Dowling married, in Xew ^'ork Citv, June 2>>, 181)4, Minnetta Adele 
Link, anil has two children: Roi)ert Whittle and Ruth Percival Dowling. 



ClI.lh'LliS F. XOVES 



821 



c 



HARLES F. NOYES, successful real estate Ijroker. was born in 
Norwich, Connecticut, July 19, 1878, the son of Charles Denison 
Noves, now retired, and one of the owners of the Norwich Alorning- Bulletin, 
and of Carrie P. (Crane) Noyes. He is a descendant of Rev. James Noyes, 
who came from England and settled at Mystic, Connecticut, in 1633. 

Charles F. Noyes was educated in the Norwich Academy, and when 
twenty years old came to 
New' York and engaged in 
the real estate business 
which he has since con 
ducted successfully. In 189! 
the business, now conducted 
l)y the Charles F. Noye 
Company, was organized 
and Mr. Noyes is manage 
and treasurer of that com- 
pany, with offices at 92 Wil- | 
liam Street. The compau}- 
is specially prominent in the 
business of rental, sale and 
management of downtown 
business property, in which 
department of the real es- 
tate profession the firm is 
one of the leaders, having a 
business so large that the 
company now has an office 
force of about thirty em- 
ployees and employs about 
seventy in its agency de- 
partment. 

Mr. Noyes is a mem- 
ber of the Union League 
Club of Brooklyn, Crescent 
Athletic, New York Ath- 
letic, Drug and Chemical, and Underwriters' Clubs, Brooklyn 
Real Estate Board of Brokers; and a director of the Realty League of New 
York. He is also interested, as an officer and director, in several important 
corporations. 

He married, in Brooklyn, Septemljer 16. 1903, Eleanora Seward Hal- 
sted, and has a daughter, Eleanora Halsted Noyes. 




lJIARLES F. XOVES 



League 



and 



8-22 



HISTORY OF Xnir YORK 







CHARLES EUWAKI) SCHUYLER 



CHARLES EDWARD SCHUYLER S-23 



c 



HARLES EDWARD SCHUYLER, who is one of the leading real 
estate brokers of the City of New York, and is most particularly 
identified with the upbuilding of the West Side, and after Avhoni Schuyler 
Square was named, was born in New ^'ork City, January 7, 1S59, the son of 
Garret Lansing and ALary Elizabeth Schuyler. He is a member of one of the 
oldest and most prominent of the Dutch families of New York, and directly 
descended from Philip Pieterse Schuyler, who settled in Albany in 1631 and 
who became a large landed proprietor in Albau}- and New ^'ork Citv and 
along the Hudson, became captain of a company of Albany militia in 1667, 
and was distinguished throughout his life for his friendship with the Indians. 
He married the daughter of the Patroon Van Rensselaer, and their son Peter, 
who was born in Albany, and upon its incorporation, July 22, 1688, became 
the first mayor of that city. This family was prominently identified with the 
patriot cause in Revolutionary times, and in all matters afifecting the welfare 
of the province and afterward of the State of New York members of this 
family gained distinction in war, diplomacy, education, divinity, the legal pro- 
fession and in business life, and none of the New York families has a more 
honorable record. 

Mr. Schuyler was educated in Columbia Grammar School, and was after- 
ward a member of the Class of "82 in Yale, and later in Columliia Law 
School. 

He has been engaged in the real estate business in New York City since 
1885, and has been an expert appraiser in many important matters both for 
the Citv of New York and for the Banking Department of the State of New 
York, as well as for various estates and numerous attorneys. 

Mr. Schuyler was the organizer and secretary of the Riverside and ]\Iorn- 
ingside Heights Association ; secretary and governor of the Real Estate Board 
of Brokers of New York ; was organizer of the Century Bank of New York 
City, and one of the reorganizers of the Colonial Bank of New York. He was 
president of the Real Estate Business Men's Club in the McClellan campaign. 

Mr. Sclnnler is a veteran of the Seventh Regiment of the National Guard 
of the State of New York, and one of the original members of S(|uadron A. 
He has traveled extensively; is a member of the St. Nicholas Club and the 
Holland Society of New York, and he enjoys the best social connections. His 
residence is in Dobbs Ferry-on-the-Hudson, and his office at 165 Broadway. 

Mr. Schuyler married, in Philadelphia, in 1895, Adele Sartori, and has 
two children: Juliette de Coursey, born August 5, 1898, and Rutherfurd 
Schuyler, born July 8. 1903. Previously Mr. Schuyler had been married to 
Sarah Roach (daughter of John B. Roach, the shipbuilder, of Chester, Penn- 
sylvania), who died in 1893, by whom he had a son, Lansing Roach Schuy- 
ler, who died in 1887. 



S-.'t 



HISTORY or XEJV YORK 



D 



^A\'ID LEW'IS PHILLIPS, who has taken a prominent place 
anions;- the representatives of real estate interests in New York 
Citv, was Ijorn in this city June 3, 1861, the son of Lewis J. and Eliza 
(Davies) Phillips. In the paternal line Mr. Phillips is a descendant of an 
English family, and on his mother's side is of Dutch descent. His father 
was a prominent husiness man of New York Cit}', and founder of the 

firm of L. J. Phillips & 
Tompany, real estate 
brokers. He was a donor 
"nr life of the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art. 

David Lewis Phillips 
was educated in the public 
schools of New York City 
and, upon completing his 
studies, he entered his 
father's firm of L. J. Phil- 
Hl^s & Company, learning 
the business thoroughly 
and becoming a member 
of the firm of which, since 
the death of his father, he 
has been the senior mem- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^ her. The firm is one of 

j^^^^^^^^^^/p' JH leaders 

city, and does a large bro- 
kerage, auctioneering and 
appraising business in 
New York real estate. He 
is also a director of the 
(ireat Eastern Casualty 
and Indemnity Company. 
The firm has its offices at 
I5(S Broadway and branch 

offices, for its large uinnwn l)usincss, at _'6[ Columljus Avenue. 
Mr. Pliillips is a Repuljlican. I)ut voted for Grover Cleveland. 
Pie married in New York City, :\Iarch 3, 1885, Gertrude M. Kuhn, 

and they have six children: J. Dudley, Edna, Helen S., Robert W., ]\Iar- 

jorie, and Lloyd 1. He has his city residence at 35 Riverside Drive, and a 

countr_\- place at Bay Shore, Long Island. 




D.W'Il) l-KWIS I'lIILI ITS 



RICHARD MAIXOLM MOXTGOMF.RY 



x-K< 



R 



ICHARD MALC01..M .MONTGOAIERY, wlio is proniiiK'iitly iden- 
tified with the real estate brokerage business in Xew York, is a 
native of South Bergen, New Jersey, wliere he was l:iorn Decenilier 19, i!^53, 
the son of John Rol)!) Montgomery. long a ])rominent tea merchant, and his 
wife Jane Malcolm (Ball) Alonlgomerw 

He is of Scotch-Irish descent. His earliest American ancestor was James 
Montgomery, of Belfast, 
Ireland, who came to the 
United States in 1799. 

Mr. Montgomery at- 
tended the Hasbrouck Insti- 
tute in Jersey City, leaving 
that institution when four- 
teen years of age to engage 
in business life. He entered 
the tea business, where he 
remained for twelve years, 
gaining in that business a 
valuable commercial expe- 
rience. In 1893, Mr. Mont- 
gomery entered the real es- 
tate business as broker. He 
acquired an intimate and 
expert knowledge of values 
of real estate, and was suc- 
cessful in organizing manv 
large syndicates for the pur- 
chase and resale of real es- 
tate on ^Manhattan Island, 
and has gained for himself 
a prominent place in the 
real estate profession. 

Mr. Montgomery is a 
Republican ; a member of 
the City Club of New York 
City, and has served on several of its important committees; member of 
the New York Zoological Society, the Civil Service Reform Association, the 
Society of the Sons of the Revolution and Westchester Country Club. 

Mr. Montgomery married, in Washington, D. C, January. 1903, Maud 
MacFarland. He has three sons by a former marriage: Richard Malcom, 
Jr., John Robb Montgomery and Francis Stuart [Montgomery. 




RICHARD MALCOLM MOXTCOM KK V 



836 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




FLOYD STEWART CORBIN 



FLOYD STEWART CORBIX 



FLOYD STEWART CORBIN. Avell known as a specialist in water- 
front and dock properties, was liorn in Thomaston, Ujison County, 
Georgia, and was educated in the schools of his native State. 

Coming to New York City in 1895, 'Mr. Corhin engaged in the real 
estate business and soon established a reputation as a specialist in dock and 
terminal ]M-operty. often being called u]ion to give expert testimony in cases 
where the question of valuations arose. He has devoted years of study to this 
one branch of the real estate business and his knowledge is so complete that 
he was recently selected to deliver a lecture before the Real Estate Class of 
the Young Men's Christian Association on "AA'ater Front Properties in New 
York Harbor." 

Mr. Corbin comes of an illustrious ancestry, the historv of the familv 
being traceable in England for eight centuries. The American branch was 
foimded by Henry Corbin, of Sutton Coldfield, \\'arwickshire, England, who 
settled in Stratton Mayor, King and Queen Countv, A'irginia, in 1654, Init 
also owned land in Lancaster, \\'estmoreland and ^^liddlesex Counties. He 
was burgess for Lancaster in 1659, justice of Middlesex in 1673 and a mem- 
ber of the Council in 1663. His son, Garwin Corbin, once president of the 
Council and burgess in 1700. 1702, 171 8 and 1738, had three sons, Richard, 
John and Garwin, the latter marrying a sister of the famous Richard Henry 
Lee, while John Corbin served as a sergeant of the Virginia A^olunteers dur- 
ing the Revolution and was given a farm for his services. It was Garwin 
Corbin, who was the direct ancestor of Floyd Stewart Corliin. 

The history of Virg-inia shows that the Corbins were always foremost in 
the civic, military, social, ecclesiastical and diplomatic circles of that period; 
being contemporaneous, and intermarrving with the Taliaferros, Lees, Cur- 
tises. Beverlys, Churchhills, FitzHughs, W'oodfords, Batailes and many others 
famous in Colonial days and immediately following the Revolution. 

In the early days the family adhered strictly to its English training and 
the homes of the sons were noted for priceless plate and armorial trappings 
which had been brought from the old country. One of the cherished relics 
was an officer's side arms and accoutrements which one of the forliears wore 
while an aide-de-camp on the staff of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

The right of the Corbin family to use a crest is attested by the Heralds' 
College, where the family arms. "Saljle nn a chief or. three ravens proper," 
are recorded. The ?vIotto is Dcus Pascif Coi-ros — "God feeds the ravens." 

Mr. Corbin's ancestrv on the maternal side is from the Jolm B. Floyds ; 
father and son were governors of Virginia, and the younger hloyd also sec- 
retary of war under President Buchanan. 

Mr. Corbin is secretary antl one of the Board of Governors of the Georgia 
Society. He married Miss Adelia }*Iyers, of Augusta, Georgia. 



s-.'S 



IIIsruR)' OU Mill' ]'()RK 



JOHN \V. PARIS, who lias created for himself an cnvial)le position 
in the real estate ■\vi)rkl in this city, is like many another of the suc- 
cessfnl business men of New \'(irk, a product of the Middle West. 

He was born on a farm near Rensselaer, Indiana, in i860, being the son 
of Berry Paris and Sarah (Dwiggins) Paris. 



I'nl'Hf',^ 



' ' M , " ' 



I \\'1| 




JOHN W. PARIS 



His education was linn'tcd to the high schools of his native town and a 
partial course in I'urdue Lhii\-ersity. At the age of nineteen he accepted 
employment in a bank at Oxford, Indiana, and at twenty-two was elected 
cashier and manager of the Citizens National Dank at Attica, Indiana. Thus, 
at a very early age did he assume responsibilities generally reserved for men 



JOHX U\ PARIS 839 



of more mature 3-ears. This institution was remarkably successful under his 
management, and the experience which ]Mr. Paris gained while there aided to 
prepare him for later and larger duties. 

In 1891 he resigned this position and removed to Indianapolis, where he 
opened, in connection with Hon. J. Shanman Xave, an investment banking 
business and became the field manager of the United States Loan and Trust 
Company. In this capacity his travels were extended throughout the United 
States, Mexico and Canada, giving him the opportunity of a thorough study 
of this Northern Hemisphere and its resources. 

Mr. Paris' numerous trips to New York City revealed to his analytic 
mind the unlimited opportunities in the city's real estate world, and desiring 
to participate in the wonderful and fascinating work of the building of the 
greatest city on the globe, he removed to this city in 1897. 

His first ambition was to thoroughly accjuaint himself with the real estate 
conditions in the city, its past and present zones of growth, and the reasons 
therefor. As a result of this study, Brooklyn appearing to be the most attrac- 
tive field, his operations were begun there on a conservative scale with profit- 
able results. 

Realizing that the large undertakings of the Pennsylvania Railroad taken 
in connection with the building by the city of the Queens Borough Bridge — 
and by Mr. Belmont of the Belmont Tunnel — meant to Queens Borough, into 
which all this transit improvement entered, an era of development unsurpassed 
in the city's history, he became a pioneer operator and developer in that sec- 
tion; and he is to-day one of the most extensive real estate operators and 
developers of properties in Queens Borough. 

jNIr. Paris is the senior member of John \\'. Paris & Son, president of the 
Mutual Profit Realty Company, treasurer, secretarv and director of the Wood- 
side Heights Land Corporation and E(|uitable Sales Company, and is secre- 
tary and director of the Kissma Park Corporation, and of the Park Terrace 
Company. 

He is a Republican in ]iolitics. a member of the Third Ward Rei)ublican 
Club, the City Club of New York, the Flushing Country Club, the Bayside 
Yacht Club, the Cornucopia Lodge, F. and A. :M.. the Men's Club of Flush- 
ing, vice president of the Flushing Association, and president of the Real 
Estate Exchange of Long Island. He and his family are affiliated with the 
Dutch Reformed Church of Flushing. 

Mr. Paris married Miss Frances Johnston in Oxford, Indiana, in 1883, 
and four children have been Inirn to them, the oldest, a son. Rex. and the 
)'Oungest, a daughter. Helen, being the only ones surviving. 

Their home is at the corner of Parsons and Rose Avenues, in Flushine, 
Queens Borough. 



830 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



G 




's^^N 



ERALD RL'DDEROW BROWX, who enjoys well-earned distinc- 
tion as one of the successful real estate men of New York City, is 
a native of Brooklyn, where he was born May 3, 1S57, son of Theodore 
Rudderow and Caroline Edwards (Tinipson) Brown. He is of Irish, English 
and Dutch descent, his first American ancestor having been Robert Brown, 
who came to America in 1750. He was educated in Lockwood's Academy, the 

Adelphi Academy, and the 
Polytechnic Institute in 
Brooklyn. 

In January, 1876, he 
entered the service of The 
Ejjuitable Life Assurance 
Society of the United 
States, as office boy, and 
made steady progress in the 
service of the society until 
he was given charge of their 
office buildings and real 
estate; and in 1907 he was 
promoted to comptroller of 
the society, in which office 
he has since continued. 

About 1890 he formed, 
with John Noble Golding, 
the real estate firm of Brown 
&' Golding, and he is still 
largely interested in real 
estate operations. M r . 
Brown is a member of the 
Real Estate Board of Bro- 
kers of New York. 

Ele is a member of the 
Lawyers' Club and The Pil- 
grims, in New York City, 
and of the Englewood Club, 
luiglewood Fiekl Club of Englewood, N. J., where he 



.1 '" 



v^jjlj^^l 


;• '"''TBli 




fm 






ti 




7 / ^ 



GERALD RUDDKkuW L;RO\\'X 



Englewood Golf Clul) anc 
has his home. 

Mr. Brown married, in Brooklyn, jNIay 20, 1884, Elizabeth Stewart 
Gregory, and tliey have two daughters. Constance Gregory Brown, who was 
born January 6, 1894, and Geraldine \'an Gelder Brown, born January 16, 
1896. 



MAX I MILL IX MORGEXTHA U 



831 



MAXLAIILIAN MORGENTHAU, born in Alannheim, Grand 
Duchy of Baden, Germany, Octol:)er 23, 1847, was educated at the 
Grand Ducal Lyceum there, came to New York, was oraduated LL.B. from 
New York University Law^ Scliool and admitted to the Bar. After engaging 
successfully in the retail dry goods business in Chicago, he was attracted Iw 
the greater possibilities olTered in the real estate field in New York, which he 
entered in 1898. He is now 

iiiiim 



(1910) president of many 
realty companies, among 
them the Hudson Realty 
Company,Woodmere Realt\' 
Company and Banister 
Realty Company ; and is a 
director of the Union Ex- 
change National Bank. 

His largest and most 
recent operation was tht 
purchase for $3,000,000 0I 
the entire town of Wood- 
mere, a beautiful residential 
suburb adjoining Cedar- 
hurst, on the south shore of 
Long Island, together witli 
scores of handsome resi- 
dences, clubhouses, etc. 

He is a governor of the 
Woodmere Country Club, 
and a member of the Repub- 
lican Club, Lawyers" Club, 
Society for Ethical Cultm-e, 
and other organizations. 

Mr. Morgenthau mar- 
ried Fannie Ehrich, in New 
York City, July 10, 1872, 
and they have seven chil- 
dren: Adele M. (Mrs. James Erank), Alice R. (Airs. Jesse W. Ehrich), Maxi- 
milian, Jr. (married Rita, daughter of the late Leopold Wallach), Minna J. 
(married Dr. Ludwig M. Loeb, of Chicago), AA'illiam \\'.. Beatrice F. and 
Dorothy R. 

Mr. Morgenthau is interested in art, music, travel and literature. He is 
especially known for his quick judgment and his rare executive ability. 




MAXIiIlLI.\N MORGENTHAU 



83-? 



HISTORY or NEW YORK 



MILTOX ALBERT L"ECLUSE, successful real estate operator, 
was born in Bayport, L. I. At the age of sixteen he became clerk 
in a General store at Roslyn, L. I., and after seven years there he acquired 
a business (if his own at Great Neck. L. I. He made a great success of it, 
as well as of numerous transactions in real estate and mortgage loans. He 
was ajipointed jxistmaster by President McKinley. in 1897, serving 

until 1902. 

He then entered the 
Gountry Department of S. 
' )sgood Pell & Company, 
was admitted to the firm in 
less than a year, elected 
treasurer in two years, and 
in KjO/, its president. He 
[ resigned, to become presi- 
' dent of L'Ecluse, Wash- 
burn Company, and The 
Woodmere Land Associa- 
tion. He is also president 
of the Country Develop- 
ment Compau}', who own 
several million dollars' 
worth of Long Island prop- 
erty. Mr. L'Ecluse is the 
largest country real estate 
broker in Xew York City, 
lie is best known as the 
broker who discovered the 
\-alue of Long Island City, 
in 1906, having sold seven 
million dollars' worth that 
vear; and also as the man 
who made the largest single 
transaction, when he sold 
the town of Woodmere for 
nearh- three millinn dollars. He has a country home at Huntington, L I. 
He was formerly ])resident of the Republican Clul) of Great Neck, L. I., 
and superintendent of the Laiion Sunday School there. He is a Presbyterian 
and a jirominent [Mason. 

lie married, in Xew ^'ork, Gctolicr 31. 1004, Julia }^lanley Weeks; and 
tlie\- h:\\Q two eliildren, |ulia ^lanlev and Milton Weeks. 




MiLTOX ALUKKT L ECLUSE 



A 



ARTHl'R UKAXCEIVAY PAY x-V''> 

RTHUR FRANCEWAY DA^^ banker, is one of the best known 
of the younger men who have made their mark in the financial dis- 
trict of New York. He was born in Harris, Missouri. August 3, 1.SS3, the 
son of Samuel S. and Olive ( Pennick) Day. The family is of English origin, 
his first American ancestor, William Day, coming from that country to \'ir- 
ginia in 1670. In the line of descent from this ancestor ha\-e been soldiers 
who distinguished themselves in the Revolutionary, ^Mexican and Civil Wars. 
His grandfather was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln and closely associated with 
him, and he was a major, serving in the Mexican War and taking part in the 
sieges of Vera Cruz and the City of Mexico. 

Mr. Day was educated in pttblic school and at Grand River College, in 
Gallatin, Missouri, and received his early business training- in a small bank in 
that city. From there he went to the Xew England National Bank at 
Kansas City, Missoiu'i, where he rapidlv advanced and later became vice presi- 
dent of the American National Bank of the same place. 

Mr. Day spent a year in Europe, making a study of banking methods 
and the banking situation from June, 1906, to June, KjO/. He then returned 
to this country and has since been engaged in the banking business in New 
York City. He is now the representative in America of the Banrjue Franco- 
Americaine, of Paris, employing large ca]iital in financial and railway enter- 
prises. He is also vice president of the Savoy Trust Company and a director 
of the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway. 'Mv. Day has participated in 
many important financial operations and his banking experience and sound 
judgment have earned him a place of importance in the l)anking operations of 
the financial district of New York. His active experience in banking. East 
and West, his knowledge of the important investment enterprises of the coun- 
try at large, his wide acquaintance with financial leaders in all parts of this 
country and abroad, and the results of his intimate study of financial institu- 
tions, methods and conditions enable him to give efiicient service to the impor- 
tant interests placed in his hands. 

In political views and afiiliations Islw Day is a Repuldican of the "stand- 
pat" variety, and as formerly in the West, so also in New ^'ork since he has 
made his home in the citv, he has taken an active part m ])olitical aftairs in his 
endeavor to promote the success of the Reiuiblican jiarty, its principles and 
its candidates. 

Mr. Day is a memlier of the Lawyers' Club, the Rei)ublican Club of 
New York, and the Hudson-lYilton Yacht Club. He has Ids city home at 
380 Riverside Dri\-e, and his country home at Stamford, Connecticut. 

]\Tr. Day married, in Kansas City, Missouri, in June. 1906, Nellie Kene- 
fick, and the\- have two sons: William Kenefick Day and Arthur Franceway 
Day, Jr. 



834 



HISTORY 01' XP-W YORK 




JOHN D. WING 



JOHX D. iriXG 835 



JOHN D. WING, late chairman (if Wing & Evans, Incorporated, was 
one of the representative merchants of New York, having been for 
half a century at the head of one of the l)est known business houses of the 
metropolis. He was born in Ulster County, New York, June 22, 1834, the 
son of Jacob and Anna IMarie (Cornell) \\'ing. He was descended from an 
old New England family, liis first American ancesturs having been the Rev. 
John and Deborah Wing, English Quakers, who came to Massachusetts in 
1632, and were among the first settlers at Sandwich, Massachusetts. In 
the maternal line he was a descendant from Governor John Winthrop, the 
second governor of Massachusetts Bav Colony, and was also a descendant 
from Captain John Underbill, who at one time commanded the British forces 
in New England in war against Indians and who also took a very active part 
in the early contro\'ersy over the claim of England to sovereignty over Long 
Island, and was appointed surveyor of customs for Long Island by Governor 
Nicolls, in 1665. 

In his childhood Mr. Wing moved with his ])arents to Dutchess County, 
New York, and there attended the Quaker School conducted under the name 
of Nine Partners, at that time a prominent institution at what was then 
known as Mechanic, in Dutchess County, New York, but which is now called 
Millbrook, the entire property having Ijeen purchased in after years by Mr. 
Wing for his country home. After com])leting his preparatory studies in that 
institution, Mr. Wing went to New York and attended the famous Anthon 
Grammar School, in College Place, from which he was graduated. 

After leaving school Mr. Wing began his business training and soon 
showed great executive and administrative ability, with a notable readiness 
of grasp and comprehension of business proljlems as they presented them- 
selves. \A'hen he was only twenty-two years old he sailed for San Francisco 
by way of Panama, and there, becoming associated with Joseph S. Paxson, of 
San Francisco, who was at that time filling the office of State treasurer of 
California, he fountled the firm of John D. Wing & Company, and embarked 
upon a successful business. At the time of his arrival in San Francisco the 
city was in the midst of disorder, owing to the wild and turbulent character 
of much of the population, who were emboldened b}- the lax enforcement of 
the law by the constituted authorities, 'Sir. Wing became a member of the 
second Mgilance Committee, organized in 1856, which for a time tried, con- 
victed and punished criminals in an extra-judicial manner. Though the 
method was drastic, it was needed, and restored law and order to the com- 
munity. 

For three years Mr. \A'ing continued in business in San Francisco and 
then returned to New York, where, in 1859, in association with John Henry 
Evans, he established the chemical brokerage house of Wing & Evans, which 



HISTORY Ul- XliW YORK 



grew to be one of the foremost enterprises connected with the trade in heavy 
chemicals. Mr. \\'ing's bnsiness acnmen led him to seek constantly the expan- 
sion of his trade connections in this country and abroad. In November, 1865, 
he ^•isited England for the first time, and while there he established connections 
with various prominent manufacturers and large handlers in the various in- 
dustries which, in later years, were merged in the United Alkali Companv. 
lie made numerous triyis across the ocean after that, and in tSj^ he secured 
for his firm the United States agency for Brunner, Mond & Company, Lim- 
ited, and was the first to introduce ammonia alkali into the United States. 
Eight vears after\\ard the firm of Wing & Evans secured the agencv for the 
Solvay Process Companv, of Svracuse, New York, and Detroit, Michigan. 

Mr. Evans died in iSScj, Init the firm name has been retained without 
change of title although it was incorporatetl in IQ05. Mr. Wing devoted to 
its upbuilding not onlv business abilities of exceptional quality, Init also the 
highest principles of personal and commercial integrity, which place his 
house not only on a high ])lane as to its success, but also in the esteem of the 
business community. 

]\Ir. W^ing took a dee]) interest in his stock farm at Milljrook, Dutchess 
County, New A'ork, which he bought and stocked \\hile still a young man, and 
to its develo])ment a]:)])lied the genius for success which was characteristic of 
his career. The farm at Milbrook became famous for the high grade of fancy 
cattle reared there, and Mr. Wing became known as an authority on fine 
stock breeding and agricultural topics. He was an active member and presi- 
dent of the New N'ork State Agricultural Society in 1882; was one of the 
organizers and for a time president of the N^ew ^'ork Farmers, and one of 
the founders and first president of the American Jersey Cattle Clulx 

Mr. Wing was a prominent lavman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
a vestryman of St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City, and for forty- 
six years senior warden of Grace Church at Millbrook, New ^'ork. He was 
interested in the welfare of crippled chiklren, and vice president of the Hos- 
])ital for Ruptured and Crippled. ] le was a life member of the New York 
Zoological Society, member of the New York Botanical Gardens, American 
Museum of Natural History, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Mr. Wing was also a member of the .Society of Colonial Wars, the Met- 
ropolitan Clul), New ^'ork Yacht Club, Down Town Association, and JMidday 
Club. He died at his city residence, I'l West b'orty-ninth Street, on January 

I, KJIO. 

Mr. ^\'ing married, in iS5<), Adelaide W. llinman, who survives him, 
witli tlieir two sons: John ^Morgan Wing and 1 .. Stuart Wing (who are re- 
spectivelv jiresident and vice president of the house of \\'ing & Evans. Incor- 
]wrated), and a daughter, Marion \A'ing Flint, wife of Dr. Austin Flint, Jr. 



irurST KLIPSTEIX 



A 



UGUST KLIPSTEIN, who has for years held a representative 
place in the trade in (h-estults and clieniioals. was horn in Ger- 
many, June 2/, 1S4S. 

After attending high school at Frankfort on the Alain he entered uijon 
his business training at Frankfort on the Alain, Dresden, Paris, and in Eng- 
land. In 1872 he established himself in the dyestuffs and chemical business 
in New York City- To this 
enterprise he has applit 
himself in an energetic an 
progressive way, taking a( 
vantage of the fruits ( 
modern invention, whic 
has, in the past few decade 
wrought such a ^vonderf■ 
revolution in the manufa- 
ture of chemicals and dv 
ing materials. The hou: 
he established, A. Klipste: 
& Company, of which he 
president, is now one of tl 
foremost in its line, with 
trade of international scop 
conducted not onl}- fro 
New York, but also fro: 
branch houses in Bosto 
Providence, Chicago, Phil; 
delphia, and Frankfort on 
the Main, Germany; the 
headcjuarters of the com- 
pany being at Xew^ York. 
129 Pearl Street. In Can- 
ada it is represented by A. 
Klipstein tS: Company, Ltd., 
Montreal. He is a member 
of the Riding and Driving 
and Germania Clubs of Brooklyn, German Club, and Liederkranz, New York. 

Mr. Klipstein married, in New York City, June 6, 18S6, Hedwig, daugh- 
ter of F. A. Flemmer, Esquire. They have a daughter. Louise Klipstein, 
born August 2, 1887; and two sons: August Klipstein, Jr., born May 5, 1889, 
and Herbert C. Klipstein, born December 30, 1890. Both sons are now stu- 
dents at Williams College, Williamstown, Alassachusetts. 




AUGUST KLirSTEIN 



838 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



' 'A 






Ht| ' ^"*P]1M* 



/ 



':^'^ W<^^^: 




JOHN JACKSON RIKER 



JOHX JACKSON RIKER S;19 



JOHN JACKSON RIKER. president of J. L. & D. S. Riker, Incorpo- 
rated, was born at Newtown, Long Island, New York, April 6, 1858, 
the son of John Lawrence and Mary Anne (Jackson) Riker. The Riker 
family has been prominent in the history of New York since it was New 
Netherland, coming from the old \'an R\'cken family, of Amsterdam. Hol- 
land, where several of the members of the family were engaged in the great 
contest won by William of Nassau for Dutch independence. The first Amer- 
ican ancestor was Abraham Rycken, who came from Amsterdam to New 
Netherland in 1636, and is registered six years later as living on his own 
premises at "Heeren Gracht" (Broad Street) on the Old Dutch Road (Beaver 
Street). In 1654 he received from the director-general, Pieter Stuyvesant, a 
grant of one-fourth of the township of Newtown, on Long Island, now a part 
of the Greater City of New York; and although most of the grant has long 
since been disposed of for building purposes, the family have retained the 
Riker homestead and burying ground, comprising about one hundred and 
thirty acres of land. Ever since the first settler, members of the family have 
been prominent in the city and its neighborhood, and several members have 
served the city. State and country in civic and military offices. Samuel Riker, 
great-grandson of Abraham Rycken, and the youngest of the three sons of 
Andrew Riker, all of whom served with excellent records in the Revolutionary 
Army, was for a long time a prisoner in the hands of the British, and after 
the war was prominent in civil life on Long Island, serving a term as a 
member of the State Assembly, and after that being for two terms a re]M-e- 
sentative in Congress. The youngest of his nine children was John Lawrence 
Riker, who was the grandfather of John J. Riker, and who was a leading law- 
yer, practising his profession for more than fifty years. His son, John Law- 
rence Riker, of this historic family, was prominent in the last generation as 
one of the most successful of the progressive merchants of New York, estab- 
lishing the house of J. L. & D. S. Riker, of which his son. John J. Riker. is 
now. the head. 

The latter was educated in day and boarding schools in the city and pre- 
pared for college, but preferred a business career. He went from the Char- 
lier Institute, New York, direct into the office of his father's firm as office boy, 
August 28, 1876. There he thoroughly learned the business in all its depart- 
ments and details, and after serving in various capacities of increasing respon- 
sibility, he was admitted as a partner in the firm in January, 1888, and so con- 
tinued until the dissolution of the firm, and the incorporation of its successor 
as J. L. & D. S. Riker, Incorporated, in December, 1901, when he was elected 
the first president of the company, which office he continues to hold. The 
firm has long been one of the foremost in the country in tlie chemicals trade, 
and Mr. Riker, who has been the active head of the business for the past 



840 HISTORy 01' NEIF YORK 

twenty years, lias fully maintained the rejaitation whieh has heen attached to 
the house from its foundatiini. There is no business house in New York 
with a higher standing" for commercial probity than that of which Mr. Riker 
is the head, and the personal and business (|ualities of Mr. Riker are reflected 
in the high standard which has always been maintained in the transactions of 
his house. 

Mr. Riker, in addition to his ])osition at the head of this important com- 
mercial enterprise, is a director of the Mdelity-Phenix Fire Insvu"ance Com- 
pany of New V(.irk, The Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, The Fidelity and 
Casualty Company, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company; trustee, officer and 
directi^r in several large industrial corporations located in various States; di- 
rector of the R\e National Bank, Rye, New York; treasurer New York Eye 
and Ear Intirmary. 

Mr. Riker is a Republican in his political affiliations, but he has never 
held anv puljlic office except that of school trustee for the Twenty-first Ward 
of the Citv of New York in the early nineties. 

He has, however, had an honorable an<I ])r(iminent military career in the 
National Guard of the State of New York, in which he enlisted as a jirivate 
in the Seventh Regiment on May 26, 1878. He was commissioned as aide-de- 
camp with the rank of first lieutenant on the staiT of Brigadier General Wil- 
liam G. Ward, of the b^irst Brigade, First Division of the National Guard of 
the State of New York, on August 18, 187Q. He was promoted to be senior 
aide with the rank of cai)tain, on April i, 1880; and was commissioned brigade 
inspector of rifle practice with the rank of major on October 27, 1882, serv- 
ing until January 9. 1884, when he was commissioned major of the Twelfth 
Regiment of Infantrv, National Guard of the State of New York, so serving" 
until January 14. i88(j. when he resigned from the service. 

Mr. Riker is a member of numerous societies and clubs. He is a mem- 
ber of the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of New Jersey by virtue of 
collateral descent from Dr. John Berrien Riker. surgeon of the Fourth New 
Jersey Regiment of the Continental Line in the Revolutionary AV'ar; is also a 
mem])er of the Society of Colonial W'ars, the Sons of the Rev(")lution, vSociety 
of the War of 1812, and the Holland Society of New York. He is a member 
also of the Union and St. Nicholas Clubs, the Down Town Association of 
New ^'ork, the Apawamis Club of Rye, New York, New York Yacht Club, 
Citv Aliddax' Club, Automobile Club of America, St. Nicholas Society, the 
Adirondack League, and of the Rittenhouse Club of Philadelphia. Besides 
his citv residence at 2()>> Lexington Avenue, he has a country place. "Rock 
Ledge Farm." near Port Chester, in \\'estchester County, New N'ork. 

Mr. Riker was married, in Brooklyn. New York, April 20, 1881, to Edith 
M. Bartow. 



SAMUEL WILLIAM l-AIRCHILD 



841 



SAMUEL WILLIAM FAIRCHILD, a leadin- pharmaceutical chem- 
ist of the country, member of the tirm of Lairchilcl llrothers & Fos- 
ter, was born in 1853 at Stratford, Connecticut, directly descended from 
Thomas Fairchild, of England, who settled at Stratford in i(\^2, and from 
Lieutenant Thomas Elwood, who served under I'aul Jones. 

Mr. Fairchild was graduated in 1X73 from the i 'hiladelphia College of 
Pharmacy, which, in njoS, 
conferred upon him also the 
degree of Master of Phar- 
macy, in recognition of his 
effective work in the higher 
interests of pharmacy, nota- 
bly while president of the 
College of Pharmacy of the 
City of New York, i8()0- 
1896. 

Mr. Fairchild is a 
member of the New Eng- 
land Society of New York 
and Society of Sons of 
the Revolution ; was a com- 
missioner representing the 
City of New York at the 
World's Columbian Exjjosi- 
tion, 1893; a trustee of the 
Hudson-Fulton Celebration 
Commission, 1909; is on the 
Executive Committee of the 
Bowery Savings Bank; a 
director of the Market-Ful- 
ton National Bank; chair- 
man of Committee on Inter- 
national Trade and Com- 
merce of the Chamber of 
Commerce of New York; a 

director of the United States Life Insurance Comiiany; vice ])resident of the 
Union League Club; member of the Metropolitan, Lawyers', Fulton and Ards- 
ley Clubs, of New York; Travellers' Club of Paris; South Side Sportsmen's 
Club of Long Island; Virginia Club of Norfolk; president of Princess Anne 
Club of Virginia ; trustee of Fordham Home for Incurables, Sevilla Home for 
Orphan Children, and Polyclinic 2\Iedical School and Hospital. 




s.xmuilL willi.vm fairchild 



S4e 



HISTORY OF NEir YORK 



JACOB PIUS MARIA HASSLACHER, manufacturer, was born in 
Ems on the Lalm, Germany, July 5, 1S52, the son of George and 
Agnes ( Schaetlncr ) I hisslacher. His father held important official position 
as administrator of the government bath, parks and buildings in Ems. 

He attended elementary and high schools in Ems, and the Gynmasium 
in Hadamar. a collegiate institution, being graduated in 1S72. He served in 

the Reserve of the Prussian 
Army, becoming lieutenant. 
He was with the Ger- 
man Gold and Silver Refin- 
ery (late Roessler). at 
Erankfurt on the Main, 
from 1872 to 187S, then 
other i)ositions in Germany 
and Switzerland, coming to 
New York in 1S84. and 
with Eranz Roessler creat- 
ing the firm of Roessler & 
Hasslacher, manufacturing 
and importing chemists. In 
[8S9 the business was in- 
corporated as The Roessler 
& Hasslacher Chemical 
Company, of which he has 
since been president, now 
one of the largest chemical 
enterprises of New York. 
He is an officer in the Niag- 
ara Electro Chemical Com- 
pany, Perth Ambov Chemi- 
cal Works and Chlorine 
Products Companv. 

Pie is a mem])er of 
the American Association 
for the Advancement of 
Science. Chemists' Club, Drug and Chemical Club. Metropolitan Museum of 
Art, American Museum of Natural History, and the German Hospital; also 
of the New York Athletic and German Clubs, German Liederkranz and Arion 
Societv in New York, and the Elka Park Association of Elka Park, New 
York, where he has his summer home. He married, in lioboken, N. J., in 
1893, Elizabeth Fleck, and has two sons and four daughters. 




JACOB PIUS M.XRIA HASSLACHER 



ISAAC FRAXK STOXE 



I 



'SAAC FRANK STONE, president of the National Aniline & Chem- 
ical Company, was born in Chicago, Illinois, ]March 2. 1867, and is a 
son of Theodore Stone, a merchant, and Mary S. (Owen) Stone. He is of 
English descent, his first American ancestor, John Stone, having settled in 
Guilford, Conn., about 1650. 

Mr. Stone was educated in the jjublic schools of Chicago: and was mar- 
ried in that city on Jvme 5, 
1889, to Mary Louise Peck, 
and they had two children, 
Grace H. Stone, born March 
12, 1892, and Truman 
Stone, born October 15, 
1894. 

Mr. Stone removed to 
New York in 1897 to make 
it the headquarters of the 
Stone & Ware Company, 
previously established 1)\' 
him in Chicago. In 1900 
this company was amalga- 
mated with the Schoellkopf, 
Hartford & Hanna Com- 
pan}-. of which he became J 
vice president; and in I90(' 
he became president of thi 
National Aniline & Chem 
ical Company. 

Mr. Stone has becomr 
one of the leading represen- 
tatives of the chemical in- 
dustry, and is president of 
the Chemists' Club for the 
year 1910, is a member of 
the New York Section of 
the Society of Chemical In- 
dustry, and a trustee of the Drug and Chemical Club. He is a member of 
the Chamber of Commerce, the New York Board of Trade and Transporta- 
tion, and several of the leading clubs, including the Lotos, City and New 
York Athletic. 

His office is at 100 \\'illiam Street, New York City, and his home is in 
Greenwich, Conn. 




ISAAC FRAXK STOXK 



84 + 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




c 



CLEMEXT COOTE SPEIDEX. JR. Sir, 

LEMENT C0(3TE SPEIDEX, Jr., was liorn in A[arshall, Fau- 
quier County, A'irg'inia, Mav 24, 1866, the son of Dr. Clement 
Coote Speiden and I^len Douglas (Norris) Speiden. He was educated by 
private tutors and at the Marshall Academy and received a technical train- 
ing at the Coopers Institute Chemical Schoi)]. 

Upon finishing his studies at the Cooper Institute, Mr. Speiden entered 
the emplo_y of an importing chemical house, and from 1S84 to 1005 rose from 
an unimportant position to a junior partnership in the firm and gained a 
knowledge that was to make him an im])ortant factor in the chemical trade. 
In lanuarv, 1906, he assisted in forming the house of Innis, Speiden & Com- 
pany, which was incorporated with Mr. Speiden as its president, a position 
which he has retained since. The cor])oration succeeded the old firm of Innis 
& Company, which was established at Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1816, 
and which bail bv nearly a hundred years of honorable dealing" liecome one 
of the most successful and best known houses in the United States, its great 
deA-elopment being" largely the result of the indefatigable eftorts of George 
Innis, one time mayor of Poughkeepsie, who was known extensively as a 
banker, manufacturer and philanthr(i])ist. 

Mr. Speiden's associates in the firm of Innis, Speiden & Company, are 
George V. Sheffield, who acts as vice president and treasurer, and Marion 
Speiden, his brother, who fills the position of secretary. The house handles 
chemicals and colors, as importers, manufacturer's agents and commission 
merchants, and has branches in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. Since suc- 
ceeding Innis & Company the business of the iiresent firm has been largely 
increased and its field of operation widely extended, and much of its success 
is due to the thorough knowledge of Mr. Speiden, gained by his long and 
varied experience in the business. 

Mr. Speiden is of Dutch, Scotch and English ancestry, the first American 
branch having been founded, in 1645, 1)>- AA'illiam Norreys, who was one of 
the large number of Stuart adherents who came to A'irginia at the time of 
the Commonwealth in England. His father was a physician in \'irginia, in 
which State the family was prominent in social and professional circles. 

Mr. Speiden has traveled extensi\-el\- in two continents, having at various 
times toured the Old World and is familiar with all of the European capi- 
tals, his firm having business relations with many European manufacturers. 

He is a member of various clubs, including the Southern Society, the 
Reform Club, Monday Night Club, Canoe P.rook Country Club, Highland 
Club, Drug and Chemical Club, and of the Society of Chemical Industry and 
the Electro-chemical Society. He married, at Hamilton, Ontario, October 12, 
1892, Mary Eleanor Wright, and has four children: Clement Leith, Kather- 
ine Douglas, John Gordon Eerrier and l^leanor Coote Eeith Speiden. 



8-i6 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 






'' I ' J. 'S?* 



if if' r« 




FRAXCIS MAKIOX SMITH 



FRAXCIS M.IRION SMITH 847 

^RAXCIS MARION SMITH, president of the Pacific Coast Borax 
Company, has contributed in a valuable degree to American com- 
merce and industry by adding- an important item to the list of its commoner 
commodities. He was born in Richmond, \\'isconsin, February 2, 1846, being 
son of Henry G. and Charlotte (Paul) Smith. On his mother's side he is of 
an old American family, being a descendant of William Paul, an Englishman, 
who came to America in 1637, and of Lemuel Paul, who served in the Rev- 
olutionary Army. 

He was educated in Milton College, Milton, Wis., until 1863, and 
remained on his father's farm until he reached his majority. He had an 
ambitious spirit which longed for adventure and a career, and could not 
be pent up within the narrow confines of a Wisconsin farm. Therefore, as 
soon as he was of age he left home. About that time Horace Greeley's 
advice to young men to "Go West and grow up with the country" was bear- 
ing deep impress upon the minds and imaginations of the youths of America. 
So, although his home was comfortable, and his father's farm a good one, 
he left home in 1867. 

Going first to St. Louis, he started from that city up the Mississippi 
and Missouri rivers to the Territory of Montana, and for five years followed 
a varied career as prospector, miner and contractor, and continually kept on 
the alert for any business opportunity. He kept pace with the de\-elopment 
of new mining camps in Montana and Idaho, and thence southward into 
California and Nevada. Every man in the mountain territories of that time 
had for his chief ambition the discovery of some good mine, and ]\Ir. Smith 
engaged in nearly every vocation pertaining to mining. He l)ecame a con- 
tractor for teaming and for the delivery of wood and timber to the mines, 
and while so engaged in 1872, he discovered Teal's Borax Marsh in Esmer- 
alda County, Nevada. 

Miners and prospectors, traveling from place to place in the valleys of 
the Sierra Country, had cursed their luck for having to pass through an 
alkali country full of discomforts for a jaded traveler. But Mr. Smith was 
a college-bred man of alert mind and keen eye, and when he found tins large 
deposit of alkaline material, knew enough to recognize the fact that it was 
borax, and to have a perception, dim, perhaps, but sufiicient to excite him to 
action, of the possibilities which this discovery opened up to him. Like the 
rest, he had been seeking for mines of gold and silver; but borax was not 
to be despised. He secured title to the deposits, and here laid the foundation 
for the large fortune he now enjoys and began the de\-elopment of a new 
American industry. 

The market price of borax at that time was thirtv-two cents per pound, 
and the deposits he had discovered aggregated thousands of tons. Mr. Smith 



S48 HISTORY OF XHW YORK 

liad found his field of opportunity, and at once applied himself to its culti- 
vation. Through his energy and enterprise these deposits were developed, the 
production increased and the ])rice reduced, thereby greatly augmenting the 
consum|)tion of tlie commodity, as manv industries were enabled to make use 
of borax that, up to that time, had been ])revcnted from doing so because of 
the prohibitive ])rice. At the time of the discovery of Teal's [Nlarsh the total 
consumjition of borax in the United States did not amount to more than six 
hundred tons ])er annum. It was a costlv chemical. Xow the consumption 
amounts to manv thousands of tons and it has I)ecome an indispensable article, 
not only in many industries, but also in the households of America. The 
Nevada deposits were long since exhausted, the supplies of crude material 
now being procured from Death A'allev, California. The industry is con- 
trolled liv the Pacific Coast Borax Companv, of which Mr. Smith is the presi- 
dent. The trade of this companv extends to all parts of the continent, and 
has shown remarkable expansion. 

At an early date in bis business career be became a permanent resident 
of Oakland, California, and he has done much to develop that city, particu- 
larly in its electric car system, and also the Key Route Ferry service between 
Oakland and San Francisco, which is recognized as being one of the model 
ferry systems of this country. He is also largelv identified with the banking 
interests of Oakland, being president and director of the Svndicate Bank and 
of the Twentv-third Avenue Bank in that citv, and a director in other banks, 
and is also president of the Realty Syndicate of Oakland, California, and the 
Oakland Traction Company, the Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose Rail- 
road, and the Tono])ab and Tidewater Railroad. He has offices in the Albany 
Block, (Jakland, California, and his eastern offices are at lOO \\'illiam Street, 
New York Citv. 

Mr. Smith has taken an active interest in political affairs as a Republi- 
can, and he lias sexeral times been elected a presidential elector for the State 
of California. He is a Congregationalist in his church relations and is a 
trustee of Mills College, California. His favorite recreation is yachting, and 
he is a member of the New York Yacht, Atlantic A'acht, and Larchmont 
Yacht Clubs. He is a member, bv virtue of his descent from Lemuel Paul. 
of the Sons of the American Revolution, ruid he is also a member of the 
I'nion League Club of New York and of the Pacific Union Club of San Fran- 
cisco, California. 

Mr. Smith married, in Oakland. Califoi-nia. January 23, ntO/, Fvelyn 
Ellis, and thev have two children, ^Liry Jivelyn Smith, born Xovenil^er 8, 
IQO/, and Charlotte Dorothv Smith, born November 25, iQcS. 'Sir. Smith 
has his home in .\rl;or A'illa. b'ast Oakland, California, and a summer resi- 
dence' .'it I'resdelieu, Shelter island. New \'ork. 



I'll.l.I.lM STEELE GRAY 



SI!) 



le obtained a clerical position, and in 
nil (// //i| 



WILLIAM STEELE GRAY, one of the leaders in the chemical 
trade in New York, is a native of the North of Ireland, of that 
strong and sturdy race which has given to America so much of its best 
citizenship. He was born in 1856, the son of John and Sarah Jane (Steele) 
Gray. 

On coming to America, in 1871, 
1876 began his connection 
with the chemical trade. In 
1 88 1 he founded the jiresent 
business, which was carried 
on under his own name until 
1901, when it was incorpo- 
rated under the title of Wil- 
liam S. Gray & Company, 
with offices at 76 William 
Street, New York. The 
house does a large foreign 
business, making a specialty 
of wood product chemicals, 
which thev ship all over the 
world. 

Mr. Gray, in addition 
to being president of his 
own concern, is a director 
in a number of other indus- 
trial companies; and he is a 
member of the Chamber of 
Commerce, The Hoard of 
Trade and the Merchants 
Association. 

He is a Republican in 
politics, and is a member 
of the Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Gray served in the Sev- 
enth Regiment, National 

Guard of New York, and is now a member of the Seventh Regiment \'eteran 
Association. He is also a member of the Union League CIuIj, Lotos Club, 
New York Athletic Club and Chemists' Club of New York City, and of the 
Greenwich Country Club. 

He married, in 1884, Georgia C. Kinney, and resides with his wife and 
three children at 39 W^est Fiftv-third Street, New York. 

61 




WILLIAM STEELE CRAY 



850 



HISTORY Of XEir YORK 



H 



I{XI\\' R( )\\'LEV. son of Thomas and Jane (Rose) Rowley, was 
burn in W'oodhouse, Leicestershire, England, April 24, 1855, and 
was educated in the school there and at St. Andrew's School, Derby, England. 
He ])cgan active life as a newsboy at the Derby railroad station, after- 
ward bccDming, successively, clerk in a large iron works, a public accountant, 
manager ')f a coal mine, and foreign and domestic correspondent. He came to 

America in i88g, and soon 

U\H'I\' |||l fiiillVljy lillPI' ifterward became the first 

.nd only treasurer of the 
\dams & Sons Company, of 
Ijrooklyn ; and was selected 
IS secretary, treasurer and 
general manager of the 
\merican Chicle Company, 
vhich absorbed the Adams 
__'ompany and six other 
hewing-gum factories in 
:890. Their products are 
;old all over the world, the 
-European countries being 
;up])lied from the London 
actory. The Sen-Sen Com- 
,iany was organized in if)OQ, 
Air. Rowley becoming its 
president, and has six fac- 
tories and three branch 
offices. 

Air. Rowley married 
.Sarah Cartwright. in Roth- 
erham, England, in 1873, 
and has two sons, 1 larrv C. 
and b^rederick C, both of 
whiim are married. 

Air. Rowley is a mem- 
ber of the Lawyers' Club, 
of New A'ork City, and of the Abmtauk Club, of Brooklyn. 

Air. Rowley is an ardent student of literature and languages, and has 
delivered many lectures on classic and popular literature in England and in 
this country. He is also an extensive traveler, and has toured all through 
all countries of Europe, every State in the United States, and also in Canada 
and Mexico. 




IIEXRV ROWLEY 



HEXRY JONES BRAKER 



s,-,i 



H 



ENRY JONES BRAKER was trained in the school of experience. 
Entering at eighteen the emiiloy of H. J. Baker & Brotlier, drug 
importers, of which his father, Conrad Braker, Jr., was a member, and begin- 
ning at the bottom, he worked early and late and rose steadily until he became 
head of the firm and leader in certain lines of trade, making his business a 
great success and a factor in the markets of the world. To keen judgment 
he added perfect self-reli- 
ance, and a splendid courage 
which rendered no under- 
taking- too large or intricate 
and no opposition too for- 
midable. He had many ven- 
tures outside of his firm's 
business, including some of 
the largest real estate trans- 
actions in the city. 

On his social and 
friendly side he was tender 
and faithful and was "to 
those who sought him sweet 
as summer." He belonged 
to the Down Town Associa- 
tion, the X'ew ^'ork, New 
York Athletic, and Drug 
and Chemical Clubs, and the 
Automobile Club of Amer- 
ica. 

His charities were wide 
and munificent, including 
among the more recent, 
$10,000 in memory of his 
father, to St. John's Guild, 
and $10,000 to the Shelter- 
ing Arms as a memorial to 
his mother. 

In his long-cherished desire to benefit business interests and his fellow- 
men, Air. Braker established by a gift of $500,000 The Braker School of 
Commerce and Finance at Tuft's College, a postgraduate school to fit college 
men for business; and in memory of his parents gave $1,000,000 to found and 
maintain a home for Old Men and Women. Surelv "his works will live after 
him." 




HEXRV JOXKS DRAKER 



8 -J -2 



HISrOKV Of XliW YORK 




FK.IXK riLFORP 853 



^RANK TILFORD, merchant and financier, was Imrn in New York 
City, Jnly 22, 1852. liein^- the son of John ]\I. and Jane (White) 
Tilford, one of tlie original menil>ers of the firm of Park & Tih'ord, estab- 
Hshed in 1840. 

The family of Tilford was a transplantation into Scotland of an older 
strain from Normandy, the original name there l)eing' Taillefer. Tt comes 
from the ancient Counts of Angouleme, who were the founders of the family, 
and was conferred by Charles the Bald of France upon Guillaume de Taillefer, 
because of a remarkable act of strength and valor performed by him in war 
in the year 916. From him the family line is traceable, without a break, to 
the present generation. When some of the family settled in Scotland the 
name became Tilford, and it was from that liranch that it came to this coun- 
try. James Tilford, from Scotland, came to the Province of New York alwut 
the middle of the Eighteenth Century, and settled at Argyle, near Albany. 
He became a soldier in the Patriot Armv and served through the Revolu- 
tionary W^ar. His son, also named James Tilford, was a captain in the War 
of 1812, and was father of John M. Tilford, who became one of the foremost 
merchants of the City of New York, to which place he came in 1835 at the 
age of twenty years, and fi\-e years later, with Joseph Park, established the 
now nationally famous grocery house of Park & Tilford. 

Frank Tilford, his son, received his early education in the public schools 
and completed his studies at Mount Washington Collegiate Institute. It was 
thought at the time that he should embrace a profession, but this not being 
in accord with his wishes, :\Ir. Tilford entered his father's establishment and 
began his apprenticeship at the very lowest rung of the ladder. 

He applied himself zealously to the duties assigned him, and steadily 
advanced in the firm, of which he became a junior partner, and later, upon its 
incorporation in 1S90, a director of the company, his father, John AI. Tilford, 
being at the same time elected vice president and director of the company. To 
that office Mr. Frank Tilford succeeded upon the death of his father, January 
7, 1891. 

On June i, 1906, he bought all the outstanding interests, became presi- 
dent of the company, and assumed the actiye general uKUiagement of the entire 
business. While the house of Park & Tilford has prospered steadily from 
its inception seventy years ago, its progress since Mr. Tilford has been at its 
head has been especially great, and to-day it is conceded to be the leading 
house in its line in the world. 

Mr. Tilford has been identified in a constructive and executive way with 
many other enterprises: and in 1874, at the age of twenty-two, he was elected 
a director of the Sixth National Bank of New York, being the youngest bank 
director in the city; and he later became a trustee of the North River Savings 



S5J HISrORV OF XniJ' YORK 

Bank. In 1880, in association with GeorQc C. Haven, he organized the Hank 
of Xew Amsterdam, which afterward became the New Amsterdam National 
Bank. Mr. Tih'ord was elected vice president of the institution, and in 1896 
became its president. In i()Oi he sold his interest, the de])osits of the bank 
having increased sevenfold during his presidency, and the market price of the 
stock from $150 to .$725 per share. 

He organized and established the Fifth Avenue Trust Company, but 
afterward sold his interest; and in 1902 organized the Lincoln Trust Com- 
panv, of which he became vice president, and later president and chairman of 
the Executive Committee, l)ut retired from the executive management of the 
institution in njoS, in order to concentrate his entire attention upon his large 
and constantly expanding mercantile interests. 

]\Ir. Tilford is a Republican in politics and was a presidential elector in 
1900, but has never aspired to a political career. He was a member of the 
Executive Committee of the Grant Monument Association, and was very suc- 
cessful in helping to raise money to comi)lete that great memorial. 

In addition, he has been actively identified for a long period with many 
charitable, patriotic and other inililic organizations. Realizing that the pre- 
cepts of earlv life almost invariably become the fixed principles of maturity, 
Mr. Tilford, in 1901, donated to each of the public schools of New York a 
large bust of General George \\'ashington, believing that the constant pres- 
ence in the schoolroom of a concrete image of "The Father of His Country" 
would do much to instill in the minds of the young a love of country, inspire 
loftv ideals, and promote a spirit of true patriotism. For many years, the 
Christmas dinners to the newsboys and to the "little mothers" have been an 
important event in philanthropic circles. 

Mr. Tilford is a director of the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hos- 
pital; New York School of Applied Design for \Vomen; trustee of the Xew 
Y'ork Historical Society, and a member of the Advisory Committee, National 
Association for the Prevention of Mendicancy and Crime. Ele is a member 
of the Chamber of Commerce, the New York Zoological Society, New York 
Botanical Gardens, Sons of the Revolution, Colonial Society of America, 
Sheriff's Jurv, and is a life member of the New York Genealogical and 
Biographical Society. 

^'achting is Mr. Tilford's favorite recreation, and he was commodore of 
the Indian Harbor Yacht Club three terms, declining a fourth nomination. 

In addition, he is a member of the New York Yacht and Larchmont 
Yacht Clubs, Automo])ile Club of America, z'\utomobile Cluli de France, Tour- 
ing Club de France, and of the Union League, Lotos, City Lunch, Press, 
Pen and Republican Clubs of New York; Country Club of Lakewood, Rum- 
son Country Club, and is a life member of the New York Athletic CIuIj. 



JOIIX C. Ji'IfRIXG 



S.J.J 



JOHX C. JUHRING, merchant, was born in Xew ^'(lrk, son of John 
C. Juhring, real estate operator, and of Lena (Stuke) Juhring. 
September 22, 1873, he entered the employ of Francis H. Leggett & 
Company, importing and mannfacturing grocers. He advanced ra])idly 
from one position of trusst to another, was admitted to partnership in 1892, 
became vice president and secretary when the Inisiness was incorporated in 
1902, and Februarv 4, 

iJ 



ic;io, president of tl 
company, sncceeding Era 
cis H. Leggett, deceased. 

Mr. Juhring was 
charter member of tl 
Merchants' Association 
New York, and vice pre^ 
dent upon its organizati( 
in 1879. Through his pul 
lie-spirited efforts mo 
than two thousand out-ct 
town merchants visits 
New York in 1904 ; 
guests of Francis H. Le; 
gett Company, were roy- 
ally entertained and sho^^"n 
the great business strui 
lures and enterprises "i 
New York. Many "i 
them became so impressol 
with the superior comme 
cial advantages of the cii 
that numerous permanent 
trade connections were built 
up. In this connection a 
leading city paper said, "If 
all Gothamites had Mr. 
Juhring's public spirit and 
energy. New York would be the l)est-advertised city in tlie world." 

He is a director of the Coal and Iron National I'.ank. American Can 
Company of [Maine, Seacoast Canning Company, and trustee of the Citizens 
Savings Bank; member of the Merchants" and Ardslev Club?. 

Mr. Juhring married, in New York. October 19, 1901, Frances Bryant 
Fisher, and they have a son, John C. Juhring, 3d, born August 30, 1902. 




JOHN C. JUHRING 



Sofi 



HISTORY OF .VEff YORK 




GEORGE GEXNERICH 



CnORGR GENNERICH S.-,r 



G 



EORGE GENNERICH, a leading representative of the wholesale 
grocery business of the metropolis, is like many of our other 
successful merchants, a German by birth and lineage. He was born in 
Scharmbeck, Province of Hanover, November 27, 1853, being tiie seventh 
son of Christian Frederick Gennericli, woolen goods manufacturer, and 
Gesiene (Jantzen) Gennerich. In accordance with an ancient custom of 
that kingdom, where there is a seventh son and no sisters. King George of 
Hanover became the godfather of Mr. Gennerich at his christening. 

He received a sound education in public and private schools, including 
valuable instruction in the English language, which made his way easier 
when he came to New York, in 1868. He began in the wholesale grocery 
business, as office boy, in 1869; making steady advancement in the business 
year by year, and becoming, in 1883, junior partner of the firm of A. J. D. 
Wedemeyer & Company. 

Three years later he established the firm of Gennerich & Liss, Mr. Liss 
retiring in 1889 from the firm, which then became Gennerich & Von Bremen, 
of which ]\Ir. Gennerich has been the head ever since. The house has pros- 
pered, steadily enlarging its business, and enjoys an enviable standing in the 
wholesale grocery trade of New York City as also throughout a number of 
States in the Union. The firm occupy commodious business premises at 330 
and 332 Greenwich Street and 30 Jay Street, New York City. 

Personally, Mr. Gennerich holds an especially representative position in 
the trade, particularly in connection with the New York State Wholesale 
Grocers' Association, which is one of the foremost mercantile organizations 
of the United States. He was first vice president of the association, 1908- 
1909, and he was elected to the presidency of that organization for the term 
beginning in January, 1910. He is also a director and an executive officer in 
the National Wholesale Grocers' Association, a meml^er of the New \ ork 
Board of Trade, and a member of the Merchants Association. 

Mr. Gennerich, who was reared in the Lutheran Church, has always been 
deeply attached to that communion, and he has been an active member of St. 
Lucas Lutheran Church, in New York City, continuously since he came 
here, in 1868. Mr. Gennerich married, in New York City, September 28, 
1876, Emma R. Brown, who was also at that time, and has been since, a 
member of the same (St. Lucas Lutheran) church, in which church they 
were married. They have three children: a daughter, Annie R., born 
December 29, 1877; and two sons, William Brown, l)orn May 15, 1880, who 
married, March 28, 1910: and George, Jr., l)orn March 23, 1885, and 
married November 18, 190S. Mr. Gennerich formerly had a home in New 
York City, but sold it five years ago and purchased an old landmark in 
Passaic, N. J., which he changed into one of that city's fine residences. 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




c 



CHARLES WALTER McCUTCHEX ^--.o 

HARLES \\'ALTP:R AIcCUTCHEN, who enjoys well-earned dis- 
tinction as a merchant in New York City, was horn in Williams- 
burg, New York (as the Eastern District of Brooklyn was then called), Janu- 
ary 2. 1845, the son of William ]Moore and Eliza (St. John) ]\lcCutchen. 
His lines of ancestry, on both sides, are Scotch-Irish, his earliest American 
ancestor having come to America in the latter part of the Eighteenlh Century. 
]Mr. McCutchen's father was long a successful contractor in Brooklyn. 

Air. AlcCutchen was educated in the Polytechnic Institute of Brookl)-n, 
being graduated in the Class of 1862, and he thereafter entered upon a busi- 
ness career. In 1879 he entered as a partner the flour and grain firm of 
Holt & Company, with which he has ever since been continuously connected, 
and of which he has now for some years been the senior member. 

Although New York has been a l)usiness centre for nearly three cen- 
turies, the number of business houses that have been in continuous existence 
for more than one of these centuries does not probably exceed a dozen, Init 
among- them is that of Holt & Company, which has been carried on with a 
record of honorable success ever since it was established in this city in 1802. 
Its trade, which is principallv with foreign countries, has grown with the 
growth of New York, and the sound and conservative methods which have 
given it prestige and honor in the past have been steadily maintained under 
Mr. AlcCutchen's direction. His long experience and executive al)ility have 
well upheld the excellent repute of this old-established house. 

He is a director of the Corn Exchange Bank of New ^'ork, the I'lainheld 
Trust Company of Plainfield, New Jersey, and of the People's National Bank 
of W'estfield, New Jersey, and a director, secretary and treasurer of the Adi- 
rondack Company. He is a member of the New York Produce Exchange, 
and of the j\Iaritime Exchange of New York, and of the Chamber of Com- 
merce of the State of New York. 

He is a Republican in his political \'iews, but independent, and has never 
sought to enter public life; and his religious atifiliations are with the Baptist 
Church. He is fond of travel, and has gratified his tastes in that direction 
by several visits to Europe, and trips to Egypt, to the West Indies, the Pacific 
Coast, and elsewhere. Among his fav(irite recreations are sailing, golf, rid- 
ing and driving. His home is at Plainfield, New Jersey, and he has a coun- 
try place at Lake Placid, New York, 

He is a member of the Metropolitan :\Iuseum of Art, the New England 
Society in New York, the Union League Club, Atlantic Yacht Club, National 
Arts, Plainfield Country, Park, Park Golf, and Lake Placid ^'acht Clubs. 

Air. AlcCutchen married, at Annapolis, Maryland, April 28, 1880, Alary 
Isabella Simpson, and they have two children: Magaret Wilson McCutchen 
and Brunson Simpson McCutchen. 



HISrORY OF XFJV YORK 



l.ilUI 



'ifl 



% 



\\m\mm\,i) m 



mm 



, ' ' ii .1. iii( 




SAMUEL TATE MORGAN 



S.lMriiL TATR MORGAN Siil 

SAMUEL TATE MORGAN, president u\ the \'ir-inia-Cai-olin;i Chem- 
ical Compaii}-, was born in Wake County, Xorth Carolina, May 15, 
1857, son of Samuel Davidson and Talithia Adaline (Tate) Morgan. He is 
a descendant of the old Virginia Morgan family. His grandfather was Ste- 
vens Morgan, who married Mary, daughter of General Chambers, of Person 
County, North Carolina, and his father, Samuel Davidson Morgan, who was 
born in Virginia, moved to Wake County, North Carolina, in 1851. 

Samuel Tate Morgan was educated in Horner's Military School at Ox- 
ford, North Carolina, and Bingham's Military School, until he was seventeen 
years old, when he returned to the home plantation, farming and manufactur- 
ing tobacco, but afterward took up merchandising and the lumber business, 
until 1879, when he located at Durham, North Carolina, in the wholesale trade 
in grain and provisions, also doing a coiranission business in fertilizers. 

Conceiving the idea that fertilizers could be made in Durham as well as 
at other places, especially as tobacco stems, a waste product of the Durham fac- 
tories, were known to be rich in phosphates and especially valuable as a fer- 
tilizer for tobacco crops, he associated with himself Eugene Morehead, of the 
Morehead Banking Company, and his brother, William M. Morgan, who was 
cashier of the same company, forming a partnership untler the name of Dur- 
ham Fertilizer Company. Mr. Morehead died in 1889, and a stock company 
was formed with Mr. Samuel T. Morgan as president. Branches were later 
established at Richmond, Virginia, and Blacksburg, South Carolina. 

He organized the Norfolk and Carolina Chemical Com])any, with a large 
plant at Norfolk, Virginia, entirely controlled Ijy the Durham Fertilizer Com- 
pany. In 1895 he organized all the fertilizer companies of X'irginia and Xorth 
Carolina into the Virginia-North Carolina Chemical Company, with a capital 
stock of $5,400,400, the output then being 100,000 tons of fertilizers annually; 
bought large fields of phosphate deposits, and also, because of the value of 
cotton seed as a basis for fertilizers, secured control of many cotton seed 
mills ; and purchased large beds of mineral deposits in Etirope and Mexico. 
The company now has a capital of $46,000,000, and is the largest industrial 
organization of any kind in the South. Mr. Morgan is ]iresident of the com- 
pany and of its subsidiary companies, the Southern Oil Com])any and Charles- 
ton (South Carolina) Mining and Manufacturing Company. 

He is still a citizen of North Carolina, thotigh he spends most of his time 
in Richmond, Virginia, where he has a residence. He is a member of the 
Westmoreland, Commonwealth and Deeji Run Hunt Clubs of RichuK^nd, and 
the New York Yacht, Calumet and Manhattan Cluljs. of New York. 

He married, in Wake Cotinty, North Carolina, in 1875, Sally F., daugh- 
ter of Hon. George W. and Francis (Crenshaw) Thompson. They have three 
children: Alice Blanche, Maude Crenshaw, and Samuel Tate, Jr. 



HISTORY OF XliJr ]'ORK 




JOHN UllSLRY lUiKAY 863 



JOHN WESLEY DEKAY, capitalist, was born July 20, 1S7J, son of 
John and Elizabeth (Ellsworth) DeKay. He is a descendant of an 
ancient family of Picardy, France, whose central fortress was the famous 
Chateau de Coucy, built in tlie Tenth and greatly enlarged in the Thirteenth 
and Fourteenth Centuries, lie l)elongs to a Protestant branch, driven from 
Ghent by the Spanish Inquisition in the Sixteenth Century, seeking refuge first 
in London and later in Haarlem, Holland. The head of this branch, Guil- 
lurme DeKay, was one of the lord directors of the Dutch West India Com- 
pany, and his son Willem, l)orn in London, educated in Haarlem, was the 
first of the family to settle at New Amsterdam in New Netherland. He was 
the fiscal or treasurer of the colony in 1641. His descendants were large 
landowners and merchants, common councilmen, etc., in early New "S'ork. The 
name of one of his descendants. Tennis DeKay, appears in the list of original 
assistant aldermen of the City of New York in the Dongan Charter of 1683, 
and that of Jacob DeKay and his wife, Llildegond Theunis, appear in the list 
of members of the Reformed Dutch Church in New York, as living in Beurs 
Straat (Exchange Street) in 1683, as returned by the pastor, Domine Selyns. 

The immediate ancestor of John W. DeKay was Michael, fourth son of 
Colonel Thomas DeKay, of Wawayonda, who served as colonel of the Orange 
County Horse in the old French War. Michael DeKay had farms in Sulli- 
van County. John W^esley DeKay's grandfather, Richard DeKay, moved to 
W'hite Lake, New York, where, on March 5, 1832. his father, John DeKay, 
was born. He moved to Illinois, and westward, in the early sixties, to Iowa, 
settling on a farm near Newhampton, in Chickasaw County, where John 
Wesley DeKay was born, and in that wholesome atmosphere he was reared. 

He received a thorough eilucation in the public schools. At the age of 
sixteen he had learned the printer's trade, and at the age of nineteen he 
became owner of a newspaper, the Whitewood Plaindealer, in the P)lack Hills 
of South Dakota. He subsequently purchased other P.lack Hills news]iapers 
and conducted them with great success and a consideralile degree of business 
ability until he was twenty-five, at which age he purchased several daily and 
weekly newspapers near Chicago, and edited and published these papers for 
two years. During the same period he operated a large cattle ranch north of 
the Black Hills, of which he had also made a marked success. Thus, until 
twenty-seven years old, he had devoted his life to ranching and journalism. 

At the age of twenty-seven Mr. DeKay sold his ranches and newspapers 
and began his work with the Mexican Government, arranging with that gov- 
ernment the concessions which were to Ijecome the foundation of one of the 
most important food industries in the world. 

Before entering into his agreement with the government, Islr. DeKay 
made a thorough studv of the resources of Mexico. This work involved long 



^;G1 HISTORY (>!■ XEJl' YORK 

journeys on horseback over the mounlains and thrdugh vast sections of the 
countr_v not traversed by railroads, but it afforded him a practical knowledge 
of the agricultural and grazing situation in every part of the republic. This 
thoroughness of preparation has characterized all of his work from boyhood, 
and has been a leading factor in the success which has at all times attended 
his endeavors. 

Three years later, or in 1902, he organized the United States Packing 
Company, and under agreements made l)y him with the Mexican Government, 
his company was changed to the Mexican National Packing Company and 
given special and exclusive concessions for building and operating of modern 
packing houses, refrigerator car line, cold stores, and retail distributing 
branches in various parts of the Mexican Republic. The Cold Stores and 
modern methods of handling perishable food [lut into operation by this com- 
pany were the first to be constructed in ^lexico and are the only ones now 
existing in that republic. 

This system was installed by Mr. DeKay's company under his personal 
direction, and in the year 1909 in one of its plants in Mexico his company 
slaughtered and prepared for food under its modern methods, more than half 
a million head of cattle, pigs and sheep. The operations of the company have 
given Mexico an unexcelled meat supply and have in numerous ways been of 
national importance and benefit. The l^eneficial results which have attended 
its operations called forth special, favorable comment in President Diaz's 
annual message to the Congress of Mexico, in 190!^. 

Mr. DeKay is the founder and ])resident of the company. Its share 
capital is $22,500,000, and it has outstanding $10,000,000 bonds and deben- 
tures. Its plants, branches, delivery system, car line and shops are known to 
be the equal, if not superior, to anything of the kind in the world, embodying, 
as thev do, the advantage of all previous experience and progress in the ])ack- 
ing industry. The company is making regular shi])ments of its produce to 
the markets of Europe, where they have estal)lished an excellent reputation. 

Mr. DeKay has traveled extensively. He is a member of the Algonquin 
Club, Boston: Lawyers' Club, National Arts Club, and City Club, of New 
^'ork. 

Large and active as Mr. DeKay's business activities have been, he has 
still found time to give rein to his literary tastes, and he is the author of 
several books, the two latest being Longings (published 1)y Duckworth, Lon- 
don, in 190S), and The Weaver (published by Humphreys, London, in 1909). 

( )n July 15, 1.^97, he married Anna May Walton. They have three 
children: John Walton, Anna Walton and Elizabetli Walton DeKay. 

Mr. DeKay is widely and internationally known as a man of great execu- 
tive ability and capacity as an organizer and operator of large aft'airs. 



WILLIAM MADDOX TOMLIXS. JR. 



WILLIAM MADDOX TOMLIXS, Jr.. was Ixirn in Brooklyn, Xew 
York, July 27, 1878. the son of William ^I. and Sarah A. Toni- 
lins. He was graduated from the Brooklyn High School in 1884 and imme- 
diately secured a clerical position with the Lawyers' Surety Company of X^ew 
York. He successively acted as agent for the American Bonding Com|)anv, 
and the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, gaining valuable ex- 
perience. He was made 
assistant secretary of the 
Empire State Surety Com- 
pany in 1902. 

This company was 
young and struggling at 
this time, having a capital 
of about $125,000 and an- 
nual premium receipts of 
only $12,960. Mr. Tomlins 
was young and progressive, 
and his activity for the com- 
pany led to his rapid pro- 
motion, being made secre- 
tary in the second year of 
his service, vice president 
and secretary the following 
year and president in 1907, 
when but twenty-eight years 
of age and after only five 
years of service. 

These years, however, 
showed the result of ]Mr. 
Tomlins' labors, the com- 
pany now having a capital 
of $500,000, with assets of 
over $1,200,000, and an an- 
nually increasing business 
that places it at the head of 

similar corporations. Mr. Tomlins is a member of the Underwriters' and the 
Lawyers' Clubs of Xew York City, the Manufacturers' Association of Brook- 
lyn, Brooklyn Lodge, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Adytum Lodge 
of Masons, and of Aurora Grata Consistory of Brooklyn. 

He married, in 1899, Charlotte A. Gardner, of Brooklyn, and has two 




WILLIAM MADDOX TOMLIXS, JR. 



children : 



William M. Tomlins, 3d, 



and Mabel A. Tomlins. 



S6G 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 







11,)'" W \^ 



CLAUS AUGUST SPRECKELS 



CL.lfS .l[X;UST SFRECKFJ.S SG7 



C 



LAUS AUGUST SPRECKI^LS, president of the I'cdcral Suoar 
Refining Company, was born in San Francisco, California, in I)e- 
ceni1)er, 1858, the son of Claus and Anna (Mangels) Spreckels. His father, 
the late Claus Spreckels, was one of tlie l)and of the notal^le Germans who 
came to America after the revolutionary movement in Germanv in 184S, lie 
became one of the great figures in American industry, head of the Spreckels 
& Company sugar-refining interest, with practical control also of the produc- 
tion of raw sugar in the Hawaiian Islands. 

His son, Claus August Spreckels, was educated in ])ublic and i^rivate 
scho(-)ls in San Francisco, his education being directed with special reference 
to preparation for a commercial career. He entered the sugar business in 
1873 in connection with his father's enterprises, and has been actively engaged 
in that interest ever since, in every department, from the growing of sugar 
cane to refining. He passed thrcxigh various preparatory positions in connec- 
tion with his father's enterprises in San Francisco, and when, in the early 
days of the historic battle between his father and the Sugar Trust, the 
Spreckels Refinery, in Philadelphia, was established in order to combat the 
Trust on the Eastern Seaboard, he was placed in charge of that plant 
and for years maintained a sturdy fight against the persistent and strenuous 
eiTorts of the Trust to secure a monopoly of the trade. When his father 
finally admitted the Trust into a share in the Spreckels Refinery it was against 
the wish and protest of Mr. Claus A. Spreckels, who then and since main- 
tained and still adheres to a policy of absolute independence of Trust domi- 
nation. He started at once an enterprise of his own which developed into 
the organization, in 1902, of the Federal Sugar Refining" Company, which is 
the only independent sugar-refinery enterprise of any important proportions 
in this country. Its plant at Yonkers, New York, is one of the largest and 
is the most modern and improved in the country, with dock facilities and ten 
large warehouses ec|ual to every demand. The office is at 138 Front Street. 
Mr. Claus A. Spreckels is the president and the active head of the company, 
which has been successful from the first. He knows the sugar business in 
all its details, and possesses every qualification of ability and exiierience 
recjuisite for its successful prosecution, and the fearlessness and courage to 
maintain the independent ground to which he has firmly adhered, and the vic- 
torious stand which he has always held against monopoly of the industry. 

In politics he is a low-tariff Republican, l)Ut he has never held nor sought 
public office. He is a member of the German Club, The Lambs, and Down 
Town Association. He resides at the Plaza Hotel. 

]\Ir. Spreckels married, in San Francisco, in 1S83, Orville Dore, and they 
have a daughter, Lurline, born in 18S4, and married to Spencer Eddy, late 
United States minister to the Balkan States and to the Argentine Republic. 



868 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 




lUiXJ.IMIX TALBOT BABBITT 869 



BENJAMIN TALBOT BABBITT, inanufacliucr, capitalist and 
inventive genius, who gained great distinction in lousiness and other 
activities under the abbreviated name of "B. T. Babbitt," was born in West- 
moreland, Oneida County, New York, in 1809. He was a descendant of Ed- 
ward Bobbitt (i), one of the earHest settlers in Massachusetts, through his 
son Ellsanah (2) ; his son Benjamin (3) ; his son Jonathan (4), who was born 
at Berkeley, Massachusetts, in 1729, and settled in Connecticut about 1765; 
his son Nathaniel (5), being father of Benjamin Talbot Babbitt. 

Nathaniel Babbitt and William, his brother, settled about 1792 in what is 
now known as the town of Paris, Oneida County, New York. Nathaniel Bab- 
bitt married Betsy Holman, daughter of David Holman, who had come from 
Middlesex, Connecticut, and was one of the early settlers of Oneida County, 
operating a grist and sawmill at what is now Holman City. Nathaniel Bab- 
bitt and his wife later settled in Westmoreland, Oneida County, and had three 
sons, of whom B. T. Babbitt was the youngest, and three daughters. Nathan- 
iel Babbitt carried on farming and had a blacksmith shop in connection. 

In those pioneer days, the educational facilities of Oneida County were of 
the most meagre description, and Mr. Babbitt's youth was chiefly spent in 
hard work upon the home farm and at the forge until he was eighteen years 
old. He had an inquiring and ingenious mind. His first money was made 
by borrowing a piece of brass wire, which he fashioned into a noose, by means 
of which he snared fish in a stream. He sold the fish, bought powder and 
shot with the proceeds, and, with a borrowed muzzle-loader, would tramp the 
woods of Oneida County with a boy friend, shooting squirrels. The sale of 
these pelts added to the boys' income, and they increased their gains by the use 
of snares and traps. 

In the work on the paternal farm, ]\Ir. Babbitt ac(|uired an exceptional 
physical development, besides unusual dexterity and capacity in the more dififi- 
cult farming operations, and his services on the farm were so valuable that when 
he decided to leave it, at the age of eighteen, his father dennu'red. To over- 
come the paternal objections, the lad agreed to pay his father $500 annually 
for five vears. For two winters he worked in a lumber camp, and in sum- 
mer hired out to machinists, making an eager and effect ive workman, anxious 
for the procurement of the expert skill which should give full play to his con- 
structive genius and enable him to give form and expression to the inventive 
ideas that were constantly l)eing evolved from his creative mind. In about 
three years he had become a thoroughly competent wheelwright, machinist, 
steam-pipe fitter, file maker; and a blacksmith of such expert skill that he could 
perform the difficult feat of welding a steel edge on a drawing knife. 

Anxious for technical knowledge, Mr. Babbitt worked out a proposition 
by which he, promising to ring the bell for them, induced the boys in the shop 



8;() HISTORY OF NE]V YORK 

to rise and come to work an hi>ur earlier, so that they could quit an hour 
sooner on two days of the week, and induced the professor of chemistry in 
Clinton College to come to Utica on those days, to instruct these boys; and in 
this wav made himself master of a great store of knowledge of chemistry and 
plnsics which he afterward a])plied with telling effect. 

Once, visiting a mill where the water was forced into a tank by a crudely 
made ram, the pijies Iieing constructed bv hollow log's bound together, he was 
told that occasionally a log would burst near the ram. Mr. Babbitt showed 
the man in charge how, by placing on his pipe line an upright, hollow log 
with a closed top, he would secure a steady and unhindered flow of water into 
his reservoir, without further trouble from the splitting of pipes. 

By frugality and careful saving, Mr. Babbitt acquired sufficient funds at 
the age of twenty-two to establish a small machine shop at Little Falls, New 
York, where he engaged for twelve years in the manufacture of pumps and 
engines and various specialities. Among other things, he assembled a mow- 
ing machine, which was one of the first put together in the country. It had 
one merit above its predecessors, in the fact that it would mow. 

After the freshets at Little Falls destroyed his modest plant for the sec- 
ond time, Mr. Babbitt decided to start a more dependable business. He came 
to New ^'ork with $500 in cash, leaving notes due him aggregating over 
$5000 in the hands of a friend at Little Falls, for collection. He made the 
collections, but proved that he was a friend no longer, as i\Ir. Babbitt never 
received the money. 

Mr. Babbitt's first business in New York was the manufacture of bicar- 
bonate of soda, for which he developed an entirely original process which 
enal)led him to build up an immense trade in the product, for which he gained 
a national reputation. Mr. Babbitt also outstripped his competitors in selling 
methods and jnished his business by many ingenious expedients. He invented 
a Star Yeast Powder, which was one of the first baking powders made; and 
rai)idlv added many profitalilc specialties: soap powder; soap of several brands 
(including a bain' toilet soap), and other goods which became very popular. 

Mr. Babbitt displayed genius in the original methods which he employed 
to keej) his ])roduct before the public, inventing advertising plans then 
uni(|ue and unprecedented, but now made stale by hundreds of laggard imita- 
tors. Besides the advertising for which he paid regular rates, he secured 
free advertising by many ingenious ways. When he liought $68,000 worth of 
Normandy horses at a single purchase, nearly every ]ia])cr in the couiUry made 
mention of it, with more or less comment. 1 le Avas one of the earliest, i^er- 
ha])s the first, to introduce new goods by giving them away; and when a new 
brand of soap or other article was introduced, there could be found at every 
ferry one of his large four-horse trucks, from which a full-sized cake or pack- 



BF.XJ.LMIX TALBOT BABBITT 8T1 

age was handed to every person that crossed. By l)oId and striking- methods 
the name of "B. T. Bahhitt," and liis favorite slogan "For All Nations," he- 
came familiar to everyone in the United States. It appeared over the door 
of each Broadway stage, he being the first to use this method of advertising. 
He was also the first person who used pictorial advertising. His six kettles 
for boiling soap, with an aggregate capacity of 3,500,000 pounds, requiring 
$216,000 worth of material to fill them, became noted, nation-wide, as among 
the greatest curiosities of New York, and the consumer was never permitted 
to forget that he had the largest and most completely equipped factorv in the 
world. He established, in 1871, at W'hitesboro, N. Y., in his native countv, 
large machine shops, where he made man)^ experiments and worked out to a 
finish many original problems. There he spent his summers, and gave advice 
and suggestions to engineers or others who felt they could profit by telling 
their need to this resourceful man, who ne\er denied or begrudged help to 
anyone, and was always ready to lend his aid in soh'ing engineering prol)- 
lems and difficulties. 

The story of Mr. Babbitt's ability as an inventor can lie had by taking 
a cursory glance at his inventions recorded in the Patent Office from 1S42 
to 1889, aggregating 108 patents issued to him for his own inventions besides 
several patents assigned to him. His first patent was for a pump and fire 
engine, dated October 7, 1842, and followed bv a brush-trimming machine, 
1846: a car ventilator, 1855; an enema-giving apparatus, 1857. During- the 
Civil War period his thoughts turned toward the invention of ordnance, of 
armor plates for ships and other batteries, and of inqiroved construction of 
iron vessels. 

Six patents were granted lor the use of steam, which include heaters, 
and a particular evaporating apparatus to be used with exhaust steam. Eight 
patents were allowed him for new types of steam boilers ; and others for an 
automatic boiler feeder, apparatus for cleaning steam generators, a grate for 
steam generator and other furnaces, and a gas-generating apparatus. Of 
various types of engines and tlieir accessories are to be found gas engines, 
rotary engines, packing for stuffing boxes, balance valve, heater lor locomo- 
tive engine, steam condensing and feed water heating apparatus, a bucket 
wheel for rotary engine. 

Of special interest to Mr. Ba1)bitt was machinery for the use and con- 
trol of air. He invented an air pumj), air compressor, wind motors, rotary 
blowing apparatus, rotary pum])s, air gun, ])neumatic propulsion of vessels, hot 
air furnace attachment, and air blast for forges. 

Patents were also granted for the extraction of glycerine from soap lyes, 
boiling soap under pressure, bleaching of palm oil, etc. : soap-boiling appa- 
ratus, process for coating alkali, apparatus for manufacture of soap. Sev- 



873 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

eral patents were allowed for the steerint;' and propelling of vessels, ordnance 
and ordnance projector, fire-extinguishing apparatus, axle of railway cars and 
vehicle axle, breaking and grinding apparatus, mold for casting chilled tools 
and a mold for casting gun barrels; combination of elevated and canal rail- 
road : also various patents connected with the manufacture of bicarbonate of 
soda; packages for caustic soda; a process for preserving coffee (two pat- 
ents); a vessel for the formation of ice; a sadiron heater, and other articles. 

Of this varied and broad scope of inventions, several have a special in- 
terest. An armored fighting craft with steam controlled steering gear and 
the vitals protected by coal bunkers, carried a screw at the bow and stern so 
that the vessel might be propelled in either direction or turned almost on a 
centre. 

Mr. Babbitt built a canal boat, at his private dock on the Erie Canal, 
\\ith a doul)le l)ottom. This boat was propelled by drawing the water through 
the boat with an Archimedes screw. This boat traveled about as fast as a 
turtle, and made one trip from Whitesboro to Xew York and back. It is 
said, upon good authority, that boat builders are now using similar con- 
struction in their building of canal boats as used l)y Air. B. T. Babbitt thirty- 
five years ago, and which was severaly criticised at that time. 

It was in Mr. Babbitt's fertile brain that the idea was first conceived of 
harnessing Niagara Falls. He invented an air compressor, which he proposed 
to place below the falls opposite Goat Island, and planned to deliver com- 
pressed air all over the State. It was his ]ilan also to construct an elevated 
structure over the Erie Canal, on which engines could draw the canal boats. 

P. T. Barnum, the world's greatest showman, and Mr. Babbitt were great 
friends, and held for each other a mutual admiration. Mr. Barnum was the 
onlv contemporary of Mr. Babbitt who classed with him as an advertising 
genius, and they were a mutual inspiration to each other in the planning of 
new ideas in their campaign of publicity. 

Mr. Babbitt was a man of much personal magnetism. His wide infor- 
mation and original methods of thought made him an interesting companion. 
In business he thought in the large, leaving details to others, and sometimes 
trusted too much to subordinates, who proved unworthy, but he made one of 
the most successful business careers ever accomplished in the commercial his- 
torv of this country. When he died, October 20, 1S89, after fourscore years 
of an active and useful life, he left vast numbers of people in varied stations 
of life who mourned his loss. 

Mr. Babbitt married Rebecca McDuffy. His wife survived him five 
vears, dving in December, 1894. He had two daughters, who married broth- 
ers, Ida josei)hine being the wife of Dr. h^-ederick lu'astus Hyde, while the 
other daughter, l.ilia, was the wife of Clarence Melville Hyde (now deceased). 



/'/;A7J.1//.V TALBOT BABBITT IIVPT 



873 




BENJAMIN TALBOT BABBITT HYDE 



s:4 HISTORY or xrw vork 



B 



ENJAMIN TALBOT BABBITT HYDE, now president of the B. 
T. Bal)l)itt Corporation, was born in New York City, November 23, 
1S72, being the oldest son of Dr. Fredericl< Erastus and Ida Josephine (Bab- 
bitt) Hyde. 

On both sides he is of old New England lineage, being descendant in 
the eighth generation from William Hyde, who was one of the party led by 
Rev. Thomas Hooker in the ship Griftin, from England to Boston, in 1663, 
arriving in September and settling in Newtown (now Cambridge), Mass., and 
removing with ]\Ir. Hooker in his migration to Connecticut and the founding 
of the town of Hartford. William H\de went to Saybrook, Conn., when that 
place was first settled, and finally to Norwich, where he died in 1681. He 
was the ancestor of a large and prominent family which has contributed 
many men of mark in business and professional life, to the country in its 
various sections. A descendant in the fourth generation was Lieutenant James 
Hyde, of the Connecticut troops, who ser\-ed in the Revolutionary Army in 
the First and Fourth Regiments, and was with Washington at A^alley Forge 
and Yorktown. His son, Erastus Hyde, came from Connecticut to New York, 
and the latter's son, Edwin Hyde, representing the sixth generation, became 
a wholesale grocer in New York City, in association with Ralph Alead (of 
the old Mead family, which settled at Greenwich, Conn., about 1640), whose 
daughter, Elizabeth Alvina Mead, he married. Their son, Dr. Frederick 
Erastus Hyde, physician and philanthropist, married Ida Josephine, oldest 
daughter of B. T. Babbitt, and B. T. liabbitt Hyde is the second child and 
oldest son of that marriage. In the maternal line, Mr. Hyde is a descendant 
through his grandfather, B. T. Babbitt, of Edward Bol)bitt, who went to 
Massachusetts early in the Seventeenth Century. 

He earlv became interested in chemistry and engineering, his taste in that 
direction being ])rimarily inspired by the exam[)le and encouragement of his 
grandfather, B. T. Babbitt. He was taken to lectures at Cooper Institute, and 
allowed to visit machine shops in the lower part of the city. The summer 
months, until he became nineteen years of age, were spent in the machine 
shops of B. T. Babbitt, at Whitesboro, N. Y., where he received valua])le 
training and incentive to work, and was encouraged to take part in the many 
experiments which were constantly being conducted by IVIr. Babbitt, who was 
then in the prime of life, and was one of the most original inventive geniuses 
of his time. 

After leaving school, 'Sir. Hyde made a tri]) around the world with his 
father and lirother. His father, who was a man of extensive culture and wide 
travel, made this trip one of valuable instruction as well as great delight, 
and the world knowledge of men and affairs which he then gained has proved 
an asset of ])riccless value to ]Mr. Hyde in his subseqvient career. 



JlIiXIAMIX r.lLBOr BABBITT HYDE 



During- Air. Piyde's boyliood his grandfather, Mr. Babbitt, had indicated 
his wish that the lad might succeed him in 1>usiness, and from the earh' days 
when his grandfather had him cojjy his signature until perfect, until his tinal 
acceptance of the presidency of the corporation, all of Mr. Hyde's efforts and 
thoughts had been directed t(i that end, and by persistent and hard work he 
has been able to bring this desire of his grandfather to accomplishment. 
There was great sympathy of thought and feeling between the distinguished 
manufacturer and the grandson, who, through close and constant companion- 
ship, came to assimilate the older man's ideas and point of view in man}- fun- 
damental respects. 

When he reached the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Hyde became a stu- 
dent of chemistry, in a private school in New York City, and also took prac- 
tical mechanical courses in Teachers College. 

At the age of twenty-three he began work in the factory of the old 
firm, and coiUinued his research wurk in a lal)i>ratory specially constructed 
for him, with the aid of that distinguished chemist. Dr. Elwyn Waller, pro- 
fessor of analytical chemistry in Columbia University. After establishing a 
laboratory at the plant, the several departments of the business, in succession, 
were thoroughly exploited, new machinery and equipment being installed, until 
the entire establishment was absolutely up to date. He continued as factory 
superintendent until the death of the manager of the firm, and at the age of 
thirtv-four became president of the B. T. Babbitt Corporation. 

Until recently all the products have been manufactured near the lower 
end of Manhattan Island, within a stone's throw of the financial centre of the 
great metropolis. One of Mr. Hyde's first responsil)ilities as president was 
the completion of the new factory at Babbitt, New Jersey, which is one of the 
largest and finest of its kind in the world. 

The plant is composed of twelve large brick buildings, most of which are 
two hundred feet in length and range from one to four stories in height. The 
complete capacity of the works is from six thousand to eight thousand cases 
per day of soap goods of all varieties. Besides the manufacture of soap, soap 
powder, potash or lye, glycerine, etc., the comjiany is engaged in the refining 
of cottonseed oil. An imjiortant addition to the industry is a large and well- 
equipped printing department for printing soap wrappers, labels, etc., for the 
various brands of n-ianufacture. All the cases for packing manufactured 
goods are made in the box factory. The Babbitt works are conveniently loca- 
ted on the New York, Sus(|uehanna and Western Railroad, and have their 
own dock on the Hackensack River, which allows excellent shipping facilities. 

Mr. Hyde brings to the performance of iiis executive duties a preparation 
and a fitness, inherent and acquired, such as few men have brought to similar 
responsibilities. His early and sympathetic association with the distinguished 



.S7G HISTORV OF NEW YORK 

creator of the lousiness, his special and lifelong training and education, espe- 
cially planned to give him fitness for its direction, his knowledge of every 
working department, every chemical and mechanical process, every office 
method, and every trade relation controlled and used by the corporation, all 
this special kn<i\vledge vivified by an enthusiasm for the business built up by 
the family, and the broadening influences of world-wide travel and outside 
business experience, made a combination which is impressing itself in the most 
emphatic and valuable degree on the business of the corporation. Under his 
auspices the great enterprise is making new strides in progress, and adding 
to the prestige and success imparted to it by its founder. 

He has other interests besides those of his business, and has been a con- 
stant worker in good and uplifting causes, relating' to benevolence and edu- 
cation. During his years of active preparation for the business duties he now 
fulfills, Mr. Hyde found other paths of usefulness, which served to give him 
needed mental recreation without being any the less active. A boy's club at 
Fourteenth Street and University Place, known as the Boys' Free Reading 
Rooms, brought him into close touch with about thirty thousand boys during 
the eight years he had charge of the Sunday evening service. 

At the age of twenty-five he was elected a trustee of the Teachers Col- 
lege in New York City, in which capacity he spent several years of active 
work on the Executive Committee, which did such excellent service in the 
direction of the college to its constantly enlarging sphere of usefulness. 
About the same time he was made a patron of the American Museum of 
Natural Flistory, in recognition of the work which he and his brother had 
done in promoting exploration in the Southwest, of which the material 
obtained may be found in half of one of the halls of the American Museum of 
Natural History. 

Mr. Hyde devoted three fruitful years to the duties of manager of the 
House of Refuge on Randall's Island. In the autumn of iqoq he was elected 
a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cathedral Chapter of the Diocese 
of Long Island, in which capacity he is still acting; and in the spring of 1909 
he was elected a member of the Board of Managers of the University 
]\Iuscum of the Universitv of Pennsylvania, and he is at present very active 
in that connection, and especially interested in the problem of how to bring 
to the school children of Philadelphia a knowledge of the true worth and value 
of that most interesting and instructive museum. 

Mr. Hyde has various professional and social connections, and from 1908 
to 1 910 filled the position of secretary of the Society of Industrial and Chem- 
ical Engineers. 

He married, June i, 1910, Miss Edith Moore, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
James Moore, Jr., of New York. 



liBERIIARD FABllR 



877 



E 



BERHARD FABER is descended, in the fifth generation, from 
Casper Fabcr, who, in 1761, established at Stein, Bavaria, tlie 
manufacture of lead pencils. His father, Eberhard Faber, a native of Nurem- 
berg-, Germany, came to the United States in 1849. I'l 1861 he erected in 
New York City the first American pencil factory, and when that ])lant was 
burned, built a larger one in Greenpoint, in the Borough of Brooklyn. 
The present Eberhard 

Faber, son of Eberhard and ,,/!!' Jfii|,1, '"\ ''' ' '''"""" *■'! 

Jenny (Haag) Faber, was //^ 1 ' fli ' 1 , 
born in New York City, ' 'I 1 'j|||.|| 

March 14, 1S51). and after 1 ,//' " ".Jlii 'l|| ,'/"/' 



'"fill 



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his father's death, in 1879, 
succeeded to the entire con- 
trol of the business. He 
later admitted his younger 
brother, Lothar \\'. Faber, 
to an interest. In 1898 the 
factory w^as incorporated as 
the Eberhard Faber Pencil 
Company, of which the 
president, Lothar W. Faber, 
has supervision. Mr. Eber- 
hard Faber is vice president 
and treasurer, with man- 
agement of the sales depart- 
ment, which continues under 
the firm name of Eberhard 
Faber. He originated the 
rubber-tip attachment and 
the metal point protector. 
He greatly enlarged the 
manufacturing- resources, 
and developed the com- 
pany's extensive business in 
rubber bands, erasers and 
other rubber goods, produced in a separate plant at Newark, New Jersey. 

Mr. Faber is president of the United States Trade Mark Association, 
director of the Stationers' Board of Trade and the Northern Fire Insurance 
Company, and vice president of the C. Roberts Rul)ber Company. 

He married, December 22, 1886, Abbv P.. Adams, who died May 25, 
1898; and on April 20, 1904, he married Roberta A. Heim. 




EBERHARD FABER 



878 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 




JULIUS MJROUSUE 8:9 



JULIUS MARQUSEE, who is one of the most extensive leaf tobacco 
dealers and packers in the world, was born in Russian Poland, in 
1S64. His parents died there and at the age of ten he was an orphan, thrown 
upon his own resources. He came to America in 1883, arriving with just 
two roubles in his pockets, in a strange land where he did not know the lan- 
guage and had no friends. He secured a position and when he had saved 
enough to take him to Syracuse, New ^'ork. he went to that place. 

He began his mercantile life with a liasket and a stock of shoelaces, 
matches and other small wares, which he sold from house to house, and at 
the fair groimds. After a few months he had mducv enough to Iniv a horse 
and wagon, with which he continued peddling on a larger scale. He saved 
his money and bought a store at Richland, Oswego County, New York, which 
he put in charge of a clerk. He continued peddling and in less than a year 
sold out his business at a good profit and then purchased his first crop of 
York State tobacco, which he also sold at a profit ; and from this beginning 
has increased his business until he is now the largest individual cigar leaf 
packer and dealer in the country. He conducted business at Syracuse until 
1895, and while he was engaged in business there he handled the New York 
State product exclusively. 

Being desirous of finding a larger field for his energies, he removed to 
New York in 1895, and since coming here he has expanded his business so as 
to cover all kinds of domestic leaf tobacco, particularly the Connecticut, Penn- 
sylvania and \\'isconsin products, and \-arious types of tobacco grown in Ohio, 
such as the Zimmer Spanish and Gebhardt. 

AMien he came to New York he found the field full of competitors, in- 
cluding some very strong ones, but he applied to his business the enterpris- 
ing methods which have characterized all of his activities, and has rapidly 
advanced in the trade until he has now reached the front. In addition to his 
main establishment in New York City, he has warehouses at New Milford, 
Connecticut; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Dayton and Covington, Ohio; and 
Jamesville, Wisconsin. Among his customers are included many of the large 
cigar manufacturers and jobbers in this country, whose trade has been secured 
and held, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Marqusee employs no salesmen 
and has built up his trade solely upon the confidence which has been inspired 
bv his strict integrity. His transactions are upon the largest scale; one of 
his shipments to a Detroit, Michigan, firm having consisted of a complete 
trainload of tobacco comprising twenty-six cars and containing 1769 cases, this 
being a part of Mr. Marqusee's sales for the year i\)OC), which consisted of 
over 50.000 cases of tobacco of a total value of $3,750,000. His experienced 
judgment in selection and carefulness in packing have always been important 
factors of his success. 



880 



HisroR)' OF xr.ir i'ork 



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ROBERT MEADE PARKER 



R' 



Rt)BIiRT MJIADE PARKER 881 

OBERT MEADE PARKER, president of the Brooklyn Cooperage 
Company, was born in Newark, N. J., September 19, 1864, son of 
Hon. Cortlandt and Elizabeth Wolcott (Stites) Parker. His ancestor, Elisha 
Parker of Barnstable, Mass., came from England in 1640. moved to New 
Jersey, 1667, and was a first settler of W'oodbridge and later of Perth Amboy, 
N. J. His descendants for three generations were members of the King's 
Council in the Province of New Jersey, held commissions (one as colonel and 
two as captains) in the Provincial Troops, and took part in Indian wars. 

Mr. Parker's grandfather, James Parker of Perth Amboy, was a member 
of the State legislature, of Congress, and of the New Jersey Constitutional 
Convention of 1846; and his father, Hon. Cortlandt Parker, who died in 1907, 
was one of the best known and most distinguished lawyers of his time, and 
president of the American Bar Association. 

Mr. Parker is also related, through paternal descent, to the \'an 
Cortlandt, Schu3der, Johnstone and Skinner families of New York, and the 
Butler family of Philadelphia ; and on his mother's side to the Chauncey, 
Goodrich, Ely, Worthington and Cooke families of Connecticut, and the 
Wayne and Clififord families of Georgia. 

Mr. Parker was educated at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., 1878- 
1880, Phillips Exeter Academy, 1 880-1 881, and was graduated from 
Princeton University, A.B., 1885, fifteenth in a class of 105 graduating. He 
entered the employ of the Erie Railroad Company, September 15, 1885, was 
clerk for five years, including service in President King's oflice; division 
freight agent, 1890-1895; assistant general freight agent, 1896-1902; general 
freight agent, 1902-1905; and became trafiic manager of the American Sugar 
Refining Compan}^, in January, 1905. 

On June i, 1906, he became president of the Brooklyn Cooperage Company, 
also president of the Pennsylvania Stave Company and the Butler County Rail- 
road Company, Great Western Land Company and Oleona Railroad Company. 

He served as private in the Essex Troop (New Jersey Cavalry), June 
I, i8()o, to May, 1898; accepted a commission as first lieutenant and 
battalion adjutant in the Twelfth New York Volunteers (infantry), May 
13, 1898, and as captain and regimental quartermaster, June i. 1898. He 
had entire charge of equipping the regiment for the field, served with it at 
Peekskill, Chickamauga Park, Ga.. and Lexington. Ky.. resigning August 
23, 1898, after the peace protocol was signed. He joined the Twelfth Regi- 
ment, New Y'ork National Guard, November, 1899, was elected ca])tain of 
Company A in February, 1900, and resigned January i, 1908. 

Mr. Parker is a member of Holland Lodge, F. and A. M., of the Union, 
University, Brook, New York Yacht, and Midda}- Clubs, of New York, and 
the Essex Club of Newark, New Jersey. 

66 



88-2 



HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 



" li I I " I 'II ^ 'irilif , 



I' ' I 




WARREN LUOUEER GREEN 



irARRFi.y LU QUEER GREEX SS;5 

WARREN LUOUEER GREEN, president of the American Bank 
Note Company, was born in New York City, May 19, 1866, the 
son of Frank George and Antoinette Luqueer Macdonough Green. In pater- 
nal descent he is of EngHsh ancestry, transplanted in America in the early 
part of the Nineteenth Century; and on the mother's side his ancestry is 
Dutch and French, being descended from early Huguenot settlers who 
came to New Netherland and located on Long Island, in 1623. The 
family have been identified with the bank note business for nearly a cen- 
tury, the former chairman of the American Bank Note Company being 
James Macdonough, an uncle of Warren Luqueer Green. Mr. Mac- 
donough was connected with the company from his early boyhood. 

Warren Luqueer Green received his education in the Wilson and Kel- 
logg School, and afterward took up the study of art, becoming a pupil of 
Bouguereau, in Paris, and thus most effectivelv prepared for later duties in 
connection with the great artistic industrv of which he is now the head. 

Mr. Green entered the service of the American Bank Note Company 
as an apprentic-e, in October, 1882, graduating through various depart- 
ments and grades in the factory, obtaining there a thorough mechanical 
as well as artistic education in the hank note business. When he had mas- 
tered these he entered the sales force, in 1891, as a junior salesman, 
advancing in that department until, in 1896, he was appointed manager of 
the company's Canadian branch, with headquarters at Ottawa. He was 
recalled to New York to take higher responsibilities as second vice presi- 
dent of the company, in 1901, becoming first vice president of the com- 
pany, in 1903, and president in 1906. He brought the office the advantage 
of a lifelong preparation for its duties, a thorough and intimate acquaint- 
ance with all its departments and operations, and through his handling of 
their foreign interests a rare diplomatic training that specially fitted him 
for the command of this important corporate enterprise. 

Although not organized as the American Bank Note Company until 
1858, the business was founded over a century ago, and continued by indi- 
viduals until the first firm of Murray, Draper & Farman was established, 
which, with changes of partners was finally, in 1858, together with other 
then existing firms, organized into a corporation under the present title. 

From the graver of Paul Revere was issued the first specimens of bank 
note work done in this country. Until the formation of the Bureau of 
Engraving and Printing at Washington, all the State and National bank 
notes, as well as postage stamps, were printed by the American or its con- 
stituent companies. 

The executive offices and general sales departments are located in the 
company's building, at the corner of Broad and Beaver Streets, New 



884 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

York, llie main printing" house, at Lafayette Avenue, was erected in 
1910, and occupies over nine acres of i^oor space. The plant is, without 
doubt, the most modern and complete one of its kind in the world, and in 
it are prepared the securities which represent the greater part of the 
world's commerce. There is hardly anv civilized nation whose bank notes and 
securities have not, at some time or other, borne the American's imprint. 

Besides a large and important Western connection, the company 
maintains plants in Europe and Canada, in which latter plant are manu- 
factured all the postage and revenue stamps, as well as the bank notes 
used Ijy the Dominion of Canada. The industry is one which calls for abso- 
lute integrity of personnel, and the highest sense of responsibility, as well as 
the greatest amount of artistic and mechanical skill. 

Famih' traditions in the company are very strong, as generation after 
g-enerati(in of the same name are to be found on the company's rolls, and 
continued service of fifty years is by no means uncommon. This feeling 
is fostered, as it secures an esprit dc corps, and keeps alive the best traditions 
of the trade to a remarkable extent. When the responsibility involved in 
the guardianship of all the dies and plates from which securities are printed 
is considered, the reliability, strength and permanence of this institution 
becomes of the utmost importance. 

The stock of the American Bank Note Company is vested in a hold- 
ing company called the United Bank Note Corporation, the directorate of 
which is composed largely of the foremost bankers of the country, pre- 
sided over by E. C. Converse, president of the Bankers Trust Company. 
Theodore H. Freeland, now chairman of the Board of the American Com- 
pany, has been connected with the corporation since 1857. 

Mr. Green's administration of the duties of president has been in 
accord with the traditions and history of the company, and has been 
attended with noteworthy success, the business of the company having 
steadily grown under his execittive supervision, and the range of its pro- 
ductions having greatly expanded with the wonderful modern improve- 
ments in reproductive art which have been introduced during recent years. 

Mr. Cireen is a member of the ^Metropolitan Chil), Railroad Club and 
Lawyers' Club of New York City ; the Greenwich Country Club of Green- 
wich, Connecticut; Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Clove Valley Rod and Gun 
Club; the Rideau Club of Ottawa, Canada; the Garrison Club of Quebec, 
Canada, and the Triton Fish and Game Club of Quebec, Canada. Llis 
attractive home, "Grasshopper Farm," is at Greenwich, Connecticut. 

Mr. Green married, in Paris, France, February 4, 1891, Jeanne Mar- 
guerite Thierry, and he has a daughter. Marguerite Macdonough Green, 
born in New York City, September 25, 1896. 



IlliXRV CARLTOX HULBRRT 



883 



H 



ENRY CARLTON HULBERT, merchant and financier, was born 
in Lee, Massachusetts, December 19, 183 1, of old New England 
ancestry, son of Amos Gear and Cynthia (Bassett) Hulbert. After attending- 
district school and Lee Academy he worked in stores at Lee and Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts. At nineteen he came to New York, was employed by the 
wholesale paper house of \A'liite & Sheffield, was given an inkTcst in the 
profits the fourth year, and 
the fifth ^•ear became a part- 'jgllllllff^^^^^^^^ 
ner in J. B. Sheffield & 
Company until 1858, when 
he established H. C. & M. 
Hulbert, buying out part- 
ners' interests and admit- 
ting young men brought up 
in the business. The firm 
was H. C. Hulbert & Com- 
pany from 1872 to 1900, 
his partners continuing as 
Bassett and Sutphin. 

He is vice president 
of the Importers and 
Traders' Bank, the South 
Brooklyn Savings Bank 
and the Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to 
Children ; director of The 
Pullman Company (mem- 
lier Executive Committee), 
the Franklin Trust Com- 
pany, United States Life 
Insurance Company and 
Celluloid Company. 

He married, in 1854, 
Susan Robinson Cooley, of 
Lee, Massachusetts, who 

died in 1882, and in 1884 married Fanny Dwight Bigelow, of Brooklyn 
has two daughters: j\Irs. J. H. Sutphin and )ilrs. Charles F. Bassett. 

For further details see "Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating 
to Massachusetts Families," "Historic Families of America," "History of 
Kings County," "National Cyclopedia of American Biography," "History 
of Berkshire County, Massachusetts," "The Eagle and Brooklyn." 




HENRY CARLTON IIUIJU.RT 



He 



SS6 



HISTORY OF Mill' YORK 




HERMAN BEHR 



HERMAX BEHR SSr 



H 



ERMAN BEHR, head of the firm of Herman Behr & Company, is 
a native of Hamljuro-, Germany, \\here he was born Marcli 4, 
1847, the son of Edward and Juhe (Hoffmeister ) Behr. The family removed 
to New York in 1850, and Edward Behr, the father, was for years in busi- 
ness as a successful hardware merchant and manufacturer. 

Herman Behr received his education in a select German-American school, 
and after finishing his studies there he entered, as a voung man, his father's 
hardware factory, where he filled various positions which brought him in 
contact with technical matters, and he there laid the foundation for his own 
future success as a manufacturer. 

In 1872 he started the business of Herman Behr iS; Company, manufac- 
turers of flint, garnet, and emery cloths and papers, with oflices at 75 Beek- 
man Street, where the business has ever since been continued. Mr. Behr was 
the first manufacturer to utilize garnet as an abrasive, and the superior merit 
of this material for this purpose, especially in some of the finer grades of 
work, has been one of the leading factors in the notable success which has 
attended this business from its earliest development. As a business man, Mr. 
Behr is thoroughly practical and in the business which he established he pos- 
sesses every advantage of technical knowledge, and has maintained such a 
degree of merit and diversity in his product that the firm is prepared to meet 
all of the varied demands of users in the line of abrasive cloths and papers 
from the finest, for the most delicate work, to the coarser grades. 

Herman Behr has both the practical and the artistic temperament, and he 
is an enthusiast as to all matters appertaining to art and to the highest forms 
of literature. He has translated a selection of the choicest English lyrics into 
German and published them in a volume under the title of "Perlen englisher 
Dichtung in deutscher Fassung." 

Mr. Behr is a Republican in his political aftiliations, but not very active 
in politics. He is a member of the Deutscher A^erein, the Down Town Asso- 
ciation, and the National Arts Club of New York City and the Morristown 
Club, of Morristown, New Jersey. He has his country residence in Morris- 
town, and his city home at --7 Madison AA^enue, in New York City. 

Mr. Behr married, at Alden, New York. January 29, 1880, Grace Howell. 
Of this marriage there have been born six children: Herman H. Behr, born 
November 25, 1880; Frederic H. Behr, horn April 2, 1882 (married Alice Cra- 
mer Vernam); Max H. Behr, born January 19. 1884 (married Evelyn Baker 
Schley); Karl H. Behr, born May 30, 1885: Margaret H. Behr, born Decem- 
ber 31, 1887, and Gertrude H. Behr, born April 8, 1892. The two younger 
sons, Max H. and Karl H., both of whom are graduates of N'ale University, 
have gained for themselves national distinction in athletics. Max H. as a 
golfer and Karl H. as a tennis champion. 



888 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



D 



AMD SMITH COV/LES. was born in Northampton, Massachu- 
setts, December 25, 1857, son of Hon. Edward Pitkin Cowles, jus- 
tice of the New York Supreme Court, and of Sarah Ely (Boies) Cowles. 
He was educated in the Quaker School in Stuyvesant Scjuare, New York City, 
and the Park Institute of Rye, New York. After five years with the bank- 
ing house of Morton, P)liss & Company, he was fifteen years with the Stand- 
ard Oil Company, in which 
he is still a stockholder. He 
was William Rockefeller's 
confidential man, and later 
in the company's financial 
department, and served as 
director of several of its 
subsidiarv ci mipanies and as 
president of the Standard 
Oil Company of Minnesota. 
In 1002 he became a 
partner in and is now presi- 
dent of W. H. Parsons & 
Company; and he and Hon. 
Francis C. \Vhitehouse, are 
controlling owners of the 
Bowdoin Paper Manufac- 
turing Company, Lisbon 
Falls Fibre Company, Pe- 
jepscot Paper Company, 
r)av Shore Lumber Com- 
])anv, and .'^agadahoc Tow- 
ing Company. He is a 
trustee of the Bowery Sav- 
ings Bank, and was presi- 
dent of the American Paper 
and Pulp Association, 1907- 
1908. He is a member of 
the Chamber of Commerce, 
the L'nion League. City Mid(la\- and Down Town Clubs, New England Societv, 
and \arious scientific societies; Westchester Hunt, American Vacht and Apa- 
wamis Chi])s; St. George's Clul), nf Sherbrooke, Quebec; Laurentian Clul), 
of Montreal; and Cumberland Club, of Portland, ]\Iaine. 

Lie married. May 2f\ 18S7, Matilda Parsons, and has four children; Ed- 
wanl Boies, David S., |r., William H. P., and Elsie Parsons Cowles. 




DAVID SMITH fOWI.ES 



Ill-XKV F. COOK 



880 



H 



ENRY F. COOK was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1855, son of 
Dr. Henry and Eloise Augusta (Huntting) Cook. His paternal 
ancestry runs Ijack to Christopher Cook, an early Devonshire settler of Nor- 
man origin ; and his maternal descent is from Edward Howell, founder of 
Southampton, Long Island, in 1635, and from Rev. John Huntting, who was 
the founder of the village of Easthampton, Long Lsland, in 1639. 

On leaving school in 
1873, Mr. Cook became an 1 
associate of Joseph Fahvs, 
a manufacturer of watch 
cases in New York City, of 
whom he became a partner 
in 1880, and treasurer and 
secretary of Joseph Fahys 
& Company A\hen it was in- 
corporated in 1 88 1. After 
incorporation the companv 
absorbed the Brooklyn 
Watch Case Company, of 
Brooklyn, and The Alvin 
Manufacturing Compan\-, 
and are now the largest 
manufacturers of watch 
cases in the United States 
and one of the largest manu- 
facturers of silverware. 

Mr. Cook is president 
of the Sag Harbor Real 
Estate Company and the 
Sag Harbor Water Works 
Company, vice president of 
the Peconic Bank, secretary 
and treasurer of the Sag- 
Harbor Heating and Light- 
ing Company, trustee of the 

Sag Harbor Savings Bank, and the Sag Harbor P^-esl)yterian Church. He is 
interested in the improvement of North Haven, a beautiful one-thousand-acre 
suburb of Sag Harbor, facing Peconic Bay, where he has his summer home. 

He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution. Society of Colonial Wars, 
Pilgrims' Society, New York Chamber of Commerce, Union League Club, the 
Down Town Association, and the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. 




HEXRV F. LOOK 



890 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



/lfl 



)\ II II 



I 



" ' 'lP!i 



'i|V'', 




SETII EDWARD THOMAS 



SET 1 1 EDWARD THOMAS 891 

SETH EDWARD THOMAS, until his death treasurer of the Seth 
Thomas Clock Company, was born in Plymouth Hollow (now 
Thomaston), Connecticut, October g, 1841, the son of Seth ami Laura 
(Andrews) Thomas. His grandfather, Seth Thomas, was born in W'alcott, 
next town east of Plymouth, Connecticut, and in 1810 began the clock 
business with Silas Hoadley, in the eastern part of the town of Plymouth. 
They remained together two years, and Seth Thomas then located in the 
western part of Plymouth, then known as Plymouth Hollow, and this 
name continued on all Seth Thomas clocks until the early sixties, when 
the legislature divided the town into two parts and named the western 
portion, where his works were, Thomaston, in his honor. Seth Thomas 
died in 1859, having incorporated the company in 1854. 

His grandson, Seth Edward, was educated in local schools and in Wil- 
liston Seminary, at Easthampton, Massachusetts, and was prepared for Yale, 
but because of his uncle's death entered business when eighteen years old, and 
became treasurer of the Seth Thomas Clock Compan\', which office he held 
until his death, February 6, igio. 

He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce of New "^'ork, the 
Sons of the American Revolution, New England Society in New York, the 
Union League Club, and others; and he was also a member of the Ameri- 
can Museum of Art, the New York Zoological Society, and New- York Botan- 
ical Society controlling the Botanical Garden in Bronx Park. 

Seth Edward Thomas married, at Hartford, Connecticut, December 
13, 1865, Sarah A. Gross, and they had seven children: Sarah Elizabeth, 
Mary E., Grace L, Annie P., Seth Edward, Jr., Cornelia and Charlotte 
Thomas. Their son, Seth E., is the fourth Seth Thomas at the head of the 
business, which wnW have its centenary in 1913. It is now conducted by the 
grandsons and one great-grandson of the original Seth Thomas. 

In 1884 the company built a watch factory, putting watches on the 
market in 18S7. It now, in normal times, makes 450 watches and about 1000 
clocks per day. This should reassure some of Mr. Thomas' friends who at the 
time he started to make 500 clocks in one lot, thought that would be the end 
of it and no more would ever lie needed. 

The company now employs about one thousand people, and the pro- 
duction consists of many kinds of clocks, ranging from the cheap nickel 
clocks, which retail at $1, running up through various grades of lever and 
mantel clocks, wall clocks and regulators, to large tower clocks, ranging 
from $600 to $6000 each. Seth Thomas clocks are found all over the 
world, although the export business has diminished because of the coni- 
petition of Germans and Japanese. The production of the company is 
now about $1,250,000 per annum. 



892 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



MICHAEL JOHN DEGNON, prominent contractor, was born in 
Geneva, Ohio, September 29, 1857. He was educated in public 
schools, and for two years in Baldwin University, Ohio. 

He has been engaged in railroad contract work for thirty years, adding, 
during recent years, extensive operations in interborough and city improve- 
ment work in New York. In i8g7 he ])nilt the East River caissons of the 

New Williamsburg Bridge, 
on the Brooklvn side; and 
he constructed the Subway 
from Forty-seventh Street 
to the Battery (except the 
section from Great Jones 
Street to Forty-first Street), 
the sul)way loop, connecting 
Brooklyn and Manhattan 
bridges through Centre and 
Canal Streets ; the Belmont 
Tunnel from Grand Cen- 
tral Depot to Long Island 
City ; the McAdoo Tunnel 
from Twelfth Street to 
Thirtv-third Street through 
Sixth Avenue ; Pennsylvania 
Railroad Terminal ( Sunny- 
side) vards at Long Island 
Citv) ; and he is now (July, 
i()io) engaged in construct- 
ing the extension of the 
Hudson Terminal ' Tube 
from Twenty-third to Forty- 
second Street on Sixth Ave- 
nue; nine miles of aqueduct 
water tunnel at New Paltz, 
Ulster County, New York; 
and the Cape Cod Canal, 
connecting Buzzard's Bay and Barnstable Bav, Massachusetts. Among his 
railroad contracts outside of New York were the W'aliash Railroad, Gould 
System, terminals at Baltimore and the I'.altimore City docks. 

Mr. Degnon is a member of the Manhattan, Democratic and New York 
Athletic and other clubs. He married, first, in 1881, Mary Davis, who died 
in 1893; and second, in 1900, Gertrude Foxall, and has ten children. 




MICHAEL JOHN UEC.NON 



J.IMES THORXLllY ANYOK 



893 



JAMES THORNLEY ANYON, dean of the profession of accountancy 
in the United States, was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, 
October 31, 1851. The family, originally French, is of the historic house of 
Anjou, which afterward became modified to Anyou and latterly to Anyon. 
Mr. Anyon was educated at Bank Place College, Preston, and entered 
upon the study of accountancy, in which he l)ecamc thoroughly proficient, 
and ultimately, a chartered 






accountant. It is fr( 
England that the idea 
scientific accountancy fou I 
its way to the United 
States, the business in the 
mother country securing its 
professional standing by a 
charter granted b\' Queen 
Victoria: and it is interest- 
ing- to note that ]Mr. Anyon 
was the first chartered 
accountant to come to this 
country for permanent prac- 
tice. 

From May, 1881, to 
Octol)er, 1886, he was with 
the firm of Thomas Wade, i 
Guthrie & Company, char- 
tered accountants of Alan- 
chester, England, and since 
October, 1886, he has been 
with the firm of Barrow, 
Wade, Guthrie & Compau}-, 
of New York, Chicago, 
London and San Francisc(i, 
one of the foremost firms 
in the profession, of which 
Mr. Anyon is now the 
senior member. The firm's New York office is at 25 Broad Street. 

Besides being a chartered accountant he is also a certified public 
accountant under the laws of New York, and a member of the State Society 
of Certified Public Accountants. The American Association of Public 
Accountants was originated at a meeting called by him in October, 1886, and 
he suggested the name by which it has since been known. 




JAMES THOKNLKY AXVOX 



S94 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



ANDREW KIXNAIRD TOD, who enjoys prominence as a chartered 
accountant, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 8, 
1 87 1. He was educated at George Watson's College and Edinburgh Univer- 
sity. At ihc latter he attained athletic distinction, being on the 'Varsity crew 
for three consecutive years. After completing his university course, he 
entered the i)rofession of accountancy, in which he has since continued. 

J\Ir. Tod served in the 
W' Boer War, with the Scottish 
Tnnierial Yoemanrv, seeing 
active service at the front 
for over a year. He then 
came to the United States 
to take up the practice of 
his profession here and is 
now a partner in the firm 
of Marwick, Mitchell & 
Company, chartered ac- 
countants, whose head 
office is at 79 Wall Street, 
New York, and district 
offices in Chicago, Min- 
neapolis, New Orleans and 
other cities in the United 
States, as well as in ]Mon- 
treal, ^^'innipeg^ London 
and Glasgow. The firm's 
clients include many of the 
largest American, British 
and Colonial companies. 

^Ir. Tod is known as 
an accountant of the highest 
skill, who has been identi- 
lied with much important 
work in recent years. He 
is a chartered accountant of 
Edinburgh. Scotland; member of the American Association of Public 
Accountants, a certified ])ul)lic accountant uniler a certificate granted by the 
University of Illinois, and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants 
of Ontario, Canada. Mr. Tod is a member of the Racquet and Tennis Club, 
St. Andrew's Society and British Schools and Universities Club in New 
York, and the Scottish Conservative Club of Edinburgh, Scotland. 




ANDREW KIXNAIRD TOD 



ELIJAH ]VATT SELLS 



s;i.j 



E 



win, Kansas, from 



LIJAH WATT SELLS, born in Alnscatine, Iowa, ALarch i, 1S5S, 
is of Dutch Colonial and Revolutionary descent, and son of Elijah 
and Isabel (Watt) Sells. His father, a prominent lumberman, was legis- 
lator and secretary of state in Iowa and third auditor of the Treasury in 
Lincoln's administration. 

Mr. Sells wms educated in Baker University, P.ald 
which he has an honorary 
]\I.A. degree. He began 
business as a railway ac- 
countant, filling important 
official positions and special 
accounting engagements. 

In 1893, with Charles 
Waldo Haskins (now de- 
ceased) he organized the 
firm of Haskins & Sells, of 
which he is now the head, 
with Charles S. Ludluni, 
DeRoy S. Fero and Homer 
A. Dunn as partners. The 
firm carries on an interna- 
tional practice as certified 
public accountants, with 
offices in New^ York, Chi- 
cago, St. Louis, Cleveland, 
Pittsburgh and London. 
They have filled important 
commissions for the Gov- 
ernment and various muni- 
cipalities, corporations and 
firms. Mr. Sells went to 
Manila for the United 
States Government to report 
on a system of accounting 
for the Philippine Islands, 
and his firm revised the accounting system of the United States. 

Mr. Sells is a member and was president, 1906-1908, of the American 
Association of Public Accountants, and of many of the State societies, as 
well as many of the best clubs and societies in New- York and elsewhere. 

He married, at Dubuque, Iowa, April 24, 1884, Alabel E. Graves, and has 
two daughters. 




ELIJAH WATT SELLS 



896 



HISTORY OF XEJr YORK 




SIMON H. BROWN 



SIMOX' H. BROWX ,s;)7 



SniOX H. BROWN, president of tlie American Tie and Timber Com- 
pany, is a native of South Carolina, born at Blackville, in that State, 
April 24, 1878, the son of Michael and Jennie (Klein) Brown. On his 
mother's side Mr. Brown is a descendant of an old South Carolina family, 
descended from Charles Kline, who came to this country in 1749. His father, 
Michael Brown, was for many years a i)rominent railroad ])uilder of South 
Carolina. 

Simon H. Brown was educated in McCabe's University, at Petersl)urg, 
Virg-inia, and after completing the courses there, he went for a commercial 
education to Eastman College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, in preparation for 
his Inisiness career. 

At the age of seventeen Mr. Brown secured appointment as private sec- 
retary and telegraph operator to the general manager of the Carolina Mid- 
land Railroad Company, which was afterward merged in the Southern Rail- 
way Company, its line now forming a part of the main line of the Southern 
Railway System, now being operated between New York and Florida. After 
a little more than a year in that position he organized the Southern Telephone 
and Telegraph Compan}-, which built and operated exchanges and toll lines, 
and inaugurated a system of telephone service in Barnwell and T>anil)erg 
Counties, in South Carolina. This system was in active and successful oper- 
ation for several years before the Bell TeIe])hone Company entered that field. 
Mr. Brown also became vice president of the Southern Round Bale Cotton 
Company, one of the first of the organizations formed to establish cylindrical 
cotton compresses in the South, which established a successful business in that 
section. 

The greater part of the business life of ■Mr. Brown has been devoted to 
the timber industry in the South, and especially to the i)roduction of railroad 
cross ties, in whicli he has been for years one of the leaders. He is now 
president of the American Tie and Timber Company, which is the owner of 
large tracts of timbered land in the forest regions of the South, and which 
is one of the largest producers of railroad cross ties of this country, and is 
constantly executing large contracts for supplying ties for the leading rail- 
way systems of the South and other sections, the business having assumed 
national scope, and ]\Ir. Brown having his oflice in New York City at 11 
Broadway. 

Mr. Brown gives to the business the licnefit of long experience, has a 
wide acquaintance with the timber resources of the country and has so organ- 
ized the business of his company as to i)lace it upon a basis of the highest 
efficiency, and enable it most readily to resjMmd to the demands of trade which 
has steadily increased each year from its organization. Mr. Brown married, 

March 11, 1908, Ida J. Kohn. 
57 



S9S 



HISTORY OF XEJV YORK 




FRANCIS II. KIMBALL 



FK.IXCIS II. KIMBALL SU9 



FRANCIS H. KIMBALL is one of the most successful exponents of 
Gothic architecture in this country whose work throughout the 
LInited States, and more particularly in New York City, has placed him at 
the head of his profession. 

Mr. Kimball was born at Kennebunk, IMaine, September it,, 1845, ^^""J 
received his education in the public schools of his native town. When four- 
teen years of age he entered the employ of a relative, who was a builder, and 
his first valuable experience in plain draA\-ing was received while making the 
simple designs for such buildings as his employer erected. Five years later 
Mr. Kimball entered the office of Louis P. Rogers in Boston, who later formed 
a jiartership with Gridley J. F. Bryant, and after eighteen months of service 
with this tirm he was sent to Hartford, to prepare the working drawings for 
the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company's building, and during the ensuing 
two years also prepared plans for a business block for the Connecticut Mutual 
Life Insurance Company. 

Mr. Kimball was then employed upon the competition design for the ca]M- 
tal of Connecticut, and was later engaged as supervising architect of Trinity 
College. To familiarize himself wnth the work Mr. Kimball spent a year in 
London, and it was dtiring this period that he perfected his knowledge under 
the tutorage of William Burges, the London architect, who was a master of 
the French Gothic. 

LTpon locating in New York City Air. Kimball's initial work was in con- 
nection with Thomas ^^'isedell, since deceased, in the remodeling of the old 
Madison Square Theatre. The interior produced was one of the most artistic 
of that period. The Casino, one of the most notable pieces of Moorish archi- 
tecture in this countrv, was the work of this firm and the success in this line, 
led Air. Kimball to make a prominent specialty of theatrical architecture, the 
Garrick and Fifth Avenue Theatres being among his most notable creations 
in that line. 

While remodeling the Fifth Avenue Theatre Air. Kimball encountered an 
obstacle that led him to adopt a method which has revolutionized foundation 
construction. It was the application of the caisson system. Up to that period 
primitive methods were used in building foundations and these were totally 
inadequate in the work Air. Kimball was doing. After some thought he de- 
cided to try a s}-stem of cylinders filled with masonry. It was a very slow 
method, the cylinders being sunk by hand, but the value and practicaljility of 
the method was established and it was not long before Air. Kimball's innova- 
tion was adopted by everv leading engineer in the country antl the transition 
of the cylinders to the pneumatic caisson quickly followed, the first ])ractical 
test being in the foundation of the Alanhattan Life Building, of which Kim- 
ball & Thompson were the architects. 



90O HISTORY OF XHIl' ]'ORK 

]\Ir. Kimball's versatility^ is shown by the scope and character of his 
work. He has planned many lieautiful churches for as many dififerent denom- 
inations in various parts of the country, and has 1)een equally acti\-e in design- 
ing suburban homes, town residences and business warehouses. Probably the 
greatest of his works, at least those which will last the longest and serve as 
monuments to his ability, are many sky-scrapers in the citv. His first work 
along this line was the [Manhattan Life Building, the pioneer in steel con- 
struction here. Mr. Kimball had no precedents to govern him in this build- 
ing and he may be aptly termed the originator of that character of work in 
the East. 

Other notable specimens of Air. Kimball's achievement in commercial 
architecture are the Standard Oil, Seligman, Brunsw'ick. Trust Company of 
America, City Investing, Empire, Trinity, and United States Realty Buildings. 

In these days of high realty values it falls to the lot of few ai'chitects to 
have nearly a block of vacant land between two of his creations, and thus give 
him the opportunity to design two ornate structures that attract every visitor 
to New York. This chance came to 'Sir. Kimball when he was selected to pre- 
pare the drawings for the Empire and Trinitv Buildings. Old Trinity 
churchyard stands between the two and the beautiful exterior of the towering 
buildings will probably remain unobscured for a centurv to come. 

Possibly one of the best of ]\Ir. Kimball's creations is the Citv Investing 
Building. While the frontage on Broadway is small, one is impressed upon 
entering its doors with the magnitude and beauty of its interior. A rotunda 
with an unusually high ceiling extends the entire length of the building, and 
the impression prevails that you are in one of the 1)iggest of New "*^'ork's 
many mammoth structures. 

The entire building throughout shows character and the decorations are 
most ]:)leasing. There is probablv no other building in the country where mas- 
siveness, dignity and beauty are more artistically blended. 

'Sir. Kimball is of English ancestry and the American branch was founded 
in New England about 1660. Plis father was Samuel Kimball, who married 
Hannah H. Tasker, also descended from an old Maine family. 

During the Civil War Mr. Kimball, at the age of seventeen, enlisted in 
the United States Navy, and after a short service, resumed his interrupted 
career. Mr. Kimball married Miss Jennie G. \\"etherell, in Haverhill. His 
residence is at 250 West Eighty-eighth Street, and he has a handsome studio 
in the Empire Building, 71 Broadway. 

He is a Republican in politics but has never been active and has never 
sought public oflice. Pie is a member of tlie Players', Citv Lunch and Law- 
yers' Clubs, and also of the New ^'ork Chapter of the American Institute of 
Architects. 



///:.\7vl' I'RHXTISS 



901 



H 



ENRY PRENTISS, president and treasurer of the Prentiss Tool 
and Supph- Company, was born in Hiil^bardston, Mass., Septem- 
ber 25, 1848, the son of Henry and Adahne ( \\'ri.i,dit ) Prentiss and a direct 
descendant of Valentine Prentiss, who came to America with John Elliott, the 
apostle, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1631. 

Mr. Prentiss was educated in public and high schools of Hubbardston 
and Worcester and began 

lull 1 Mill 'I I ,. 



)'' 






business life with William 
Dwight, Boston. He re- 
moved to Cincinnati in 1861. 
and became secretary and 
treasurer of the White 
Water Railroad, now part 
of the "Big Four" system. 

In 1875 he removed to 
this city and started the 
manufacture of taps, dies 
and machinists' small tools, 
and ten years later the Pren- 
tiss Tool and Supply Com- 
pany was incorporated. 

From this beginning, 
the company, under the per- 
sonal guidance of IMr. Pren- 
tiss, has developed a busi- 
ness in the sale of metal- 
working machinery which is 
one of the largest in the 
United States, the annual 
sales running into millions 
of dollars, necessitating 
branches in Boston, Mass. ; 
BuiYalo and Syracuse, N. 
Y. ; and Scranton, Pa. 

He is a member of the 
Executive Committee of the National Supply and Machinery Dealers' Asso- 
ciation. He belongs to several clubs in New York and elsewhere. 

He married, June 9, 1870, Anna E., daughter of Rev. Reuben Jeffery, 
of Brooklyn, N. Y., and has four children living: Julia H., Ella J., \^alerie 
and Marshall Prentiss. He resides at Rutherford, N. J., and his business 
address is 1 1 S Liberty Street. 




HEXKV PRENTISS 



:)()■.' 



inSTOR]' OF .\7iir ]-()RK 




GEORC.E CARSON SMITH 



GI'.ORai'. C.lh'SOX SMITH 003 



G 



EORGE CARSON SMITH, no\v vice president of Westinghouse 
corporations, and largely identified with the transportation interests 
of the country, is a native of Granville, X. ^'., where he was Ijorn March 4, 
1855, son of Harvey J. Smith, a merchant, and Oliva Cordelia (White) Smith. 
He is of English ancestry, descendant from Isaac Smith, who came to New 
England between 1750 and 1760: and is grandson of Rev. George Smith, a 
prominent clergyman of New York, whose uncle. Judge Hollister Smith, was a 
distinguished jurist of Connecticut. 

Mr. Smith attended North Hebron Institute in Washington County, New 
York, until 1872; then was at Castleton Seminary in A'ermont for two years, 
and after that in Adrian College, Michigan, from which he was graduated 
A. B., 1877. Following his graduation he was appointed private secretary to 
the governor of ^Michigan, and after four years' service in that capacity he 
entered railroad service, in 1881, as secretary to the general manager of the 
Texas and Pacific and International and Great Northern Railways. In 1887 
he was appointed assistant to the vice president of the Missouri-Pacific Svstem, 
and from 1S90 to 1894 he was assistant general manager of the Missouri-Pacific 
System, and general manager of the Kansas City, Wyandotte and Northwesterii 
Railroad. From 1894 to 1900 he was [jresident and general manager of the 
Atlanta and West Point Railroad and of The Western Railway of Alabama, then 
general manager of the St. Louis-Louisville Lines of the Southern Railway 
until 1901, when he became actively identified with the Westinghouse interests. 

Mr. Smith is now president of The Lackawanna and \\''yoming Valley 
Rapid Transit Company, the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Muskegon 
Railway Company, and the Westinghouse Inter-Works Railway Company; is 
vice president of the Manila Electric Railroad and Lighting Corporation, 
Electric Power Securities Company of Niagara Falls, Niagara, Lockport & 
Ontario Power Company and The East Pittsburgh Improvement Com- 
pany; and a director in The Westinghouse Air Brake Company, Westing- 
house, Church, Kerr & Company, Union Switch and Signal Company, 
Electric Properties Company, Atlanta Water and Electric Power Com- 
pany. Westinghouse Lamp Company, and other Westinghouse companies. 

In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, but his career has not been active 
along political lines. He is a member of the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh, and 
of the Engineers' and Railroad Clubs of New York. 

He married, in Pittsburgh, Pa., May 15, 1878, Jennie Prosser, and they 
have four children. The eldest, a daughter, Olivia, was married in 1901 to 
Harry Allen Cornelius, of Pittsburgh. The others are sons, including Somers 
H., born September i, 1884, now practising law^ in Seattle, Wash.; George 
C, Jr., born September 10, 1888, undergraduate at Cornell University, and 
Charles Warren, born August 16, 1890, undergraduate at Dartmouth College. 



904 



HISTORY OF -V£fr YORK 




KUWARD R. STETTINIUS 



lUmWRD R. SrilTTlXIUS 0(15 



£■ 



'D\\'ARD R. STETTINIUS, now president and treasurer of tlie 
Diamond Alateli Coniiiany, was Ijorn in Saint Louis, Missouri, Feb- 
ruary 15, 1865, the son of Joseph Stettinius, who settled in Saint Louis, Mis- 
souri, about 1830, and was identified until his death, in 1868, with the whole- 
sale grocery trade and the shipping and insurance interests of Saint Louis. 

His son, Edward R. Stettinius, was brought ui) in Saint Louis, attending- 
schools there and completing his education at the Saint Louis University. He 
entered active business in 1883, and after spending about nine years in Saint 
Louis, the last five years of which was spent in the stock brokerage business, 
he removed to Chicago. 

In 1892 Mr. Stettinius was elected to the office of treasurer of The Stir- 
ling Company, manufacturers of machinery, water-tube boilers and various 
other devices, connected with the generation of steam, and he continued his 
connection with that company until it was consolidated, in Kpf), with the 
Babcock & Wilcox Company, of which he is a director and vice president. 

Mr. Stettinius was elected, in 1904, a director of the Diamond Match 
Company, which is the leading corporation engaged in the manufacture of 
matches in this country, and in 1906 he was elected vice i^resident of that 
company, so continuing until May, 1909, when he was elected to the head of 
the company with the offices of president and treasurer. 

Mr. Stettinius has gained an excellent reputation for his financial and 
organizing ability and in the executive management of the large corporations 
with which he has been identified, he has displayed abilities which have earned 
him a place among the most able and enterprising men connected with the 
creation and management of large industrial corporations. Roth in Chicago 
and New York he has been recognized as an important member of the group 
of men who have in recent years demonstrated the advantages of the modern 
methods of consolidation of industries in place of the expensive and destructive 
methods of the former era, when small concerns with restricted resources were 
engaged in destructive competition. He has done much constructive work in 
placing the enterprises under his direction upon the basis of perfect industrial 
and financial organization, conducive alike to economy and efficiency of admin- 
istration. 

Mr. Stettinius is a member of several of the leading clubs in New York 
and Chicago, including the Chicago Club, Chicago Athletic Club and Midday 
Club, of Chicago; the Engineers', Lotos, Railroad, and Lawyers' Clubs, of 
New York Citv: the Automobile Club of America, and the Richmond County 
Countrv Club. He has his ofike in the Trinity P.nilding, at 11 1 P.roadway, 
and his residence at Dongan Hills, Staten Island. 

He married, in Richmond, Mrginia, October 18. 1894, Judith Carring- 
ton, and has four children: William, Isabel, Edward, Jr., and Betty. 



906 



HISTORY OF XI-ll' YORK 



WILLIAM H. TAYLOR, was born in Paterson, N. J.. September 
30, 1859, the son of William H. and Catharine G. (Deeths) 
Taylor. His paternal ancestry was English and of great antiquity, the name 
in its original form being Taillcrfer and brought to England by one of the 
Norman liarons who accompanied William, the Conqueror. It was immortal- 
ized Ijv Sir b^dwin Bulwer-Lytton in The Last of the Saxon Kings, who 

tells of Taillerfer, a warrior 
,^^i,.,.., 'ljI^|8iiffi|ffliiiBIIH of gigantic stature, who led 




his followers in the battle of 
Hastings and who slew 
many of the foe before he 
fell at the hands of Leofi- 
A'ine, a brother of the Saxon 
king. 

The Heralds' College 
attests the right of the Tay- 
lor family to bear arms by 
the registry of its crest — a 
dexter arm embossed in 
armor, the hand in a gaunt- 
let, grasping a javelin, w'ith 
the motto Coiiscquitor Ouo- 
douiiquc petit — "He accom- 
plishes what he undertakes." 
Large landed estates in 
Kent, England, were re- 
ceived from the Conqueror 
and these descended in 1256 
to Hanger Taylerfer, from 
whom the American Tavlors 
claim descent. The foun- 
dation of the family in 
America was in 1692, when 
Edward Taylor "of Briggs 
House, County of York, 
England, residing in Lundnn" came ;md settled in this country. 

The family has cnntribiUed many eminent men in all walks of life and 
never, so far as known, in its history has the name been smirched by an un- 
worthy act. Major Richard Cox, whose mother w^as a Taylor, was a soldier 
in the Revolutionary War, while Elisha Taylor was an officer in the War of 
18 1 2. John Taylor, of New York, was a member of Congress uninterrupt- 



WII.I.I.V.M It. TAYLOR 



WILLIAM IL TAYLOR 007 



edly from 1S13 to 1S33 and was twice speaker of the House. Other mem- 
bers of the family were: President Zachary Taylor, Bayard Tavlor, author 
and poet; Brook Taylor, the ""water poet," and Tom Taylor, once editor of 
the unique "London Punch." Its ecclesiastical history includes Rev. Jeremy 
Taylor and the late Bishop Frederick W. Taylor, of Illinois. 

In the American family was William H. Taylor, orand father of him of 
the same name to whom this narrative principally relates. He was a native 
of Birmingham, England, the son of a silversmith, and came to the United 
States and located in Paterson, New Jersey. He brought Avith him consid- 
erable means and lived in pleasant retirement. Pie married y\:\Y\ White, and 
to them were born children: William H., James, John, George, Charles, 
Joseph, Emma, Sarah and Mary. 

\\'illiam H. Taylor, eldest son of William H. and Alary (White) Taylor, 
was born in Birmingham, England, in 1826, and was six years old when his 
parents came to the United States. In 185 1 he married Catherine G. Deeths, 
daughter of Nicholas and Ann Deeths, and to them were horn three chil- 
dren: Emma G., Cassie G., and William H. 

The present William H. Taylor was educated in Paterson, New Jersey, 
and Allentown, Pennsylvania, and pursued advanced studies in Dickinson 
Seminary, but left that institution to assist in the management of his father's 
machinery and supply business, William H. Taylor & Company, Allentown, 
Pennsylvania. He gained a complete knowledge of the business and upon the 
death of his father, in 1880, he assumed control. In 1884 he established a 
branch at Scranton, Pa., the Scranton Supplv and Alachinery Company, and 
in 1889 another branch, the Hazleton (Pa.) ]\Iachinery & Supply Company. 

Becoming interested in coal mining, Mr. Taylor has become one of the 
largest individual anthracite coal operators in Pennsylvania. He was coun- 
sellor for The St. Clair Coal Company, of which he is president, in the Anthra- 
cite Strike Commission, and is president of the Franklin Coal Company ; also 
the Goodwin Car Company. He is also a director of The Coal and Iron Na- 
tional Bank and a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New 
York, besides being actively interested in numerous other financial and c(^m- 
mercial enterprises. Mr. Taylor is a member of the Scranton Club of Scran- 
ton, Pa., the National Geographic Society, the American Academy of Political 
and Social Science, American Institute of Mining Engineers; he is a thirty- 
second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of First Church of Christ, 
Scientist, New York City. 

In 1886 he married Miss Nellie Grace Barker, daughter of Samuel Gunn 
and Susan Kidder Barker, of Scranton, Pa., and to them have been born four 
children: Nellie Grace (deceased), Alice Marion, \\'illiam H., and John D. 
Higgins Taylor. 



90S 



HISTORY OF XJ:!!' TOAVv 






^'//ir, 



mm 



I 







JOHN ROBERT STANTON 



./()//.V ROBliR'r ST.IXTOX W)9 



JOHN ROBERT STANTON, capitalist and niinin- en-inecr, was horn 
in New York City, Septeinljcr 25, 185S, Ix-ins- the son of Jolin and 
Elizabeth Romaine (McMillan) Stanton. His father, who was a native of 
Bristol, England, was a mining engineer of marked ability and distinction. 

Mr. Stanton began his education in the public schools of New York City, 
and took a partial course in the School of Mines of Co]uni])ia Cni\-ersitv. 

In 1879 he began his successful career as a mining engineer in connec- 
tion with the Atlantic Mining Company and the Central Mining Company, 
both of Michigan, and since then has continued to be interested in mining cor- 
porations in that State, becoming secretary, treasurer and a director, in 1890, 
of the Wolverine Copper Mining Company, and in i8()8 treasurer of the Mo- 
hawk Mining Company. He is also president and director of the Phcenix 
Consolidated Copper Company of Michigan; secretary, treasurer and a director 
of the Central Mining Company of Michigan; treasurer and director of the 
Atlantic Mining Company, and a director of the Trimountain Mining Com- 
pany, the Michigan Smelting Company, and the Pneumatic Wheel Company. 

He is an engineer of marked ability and a business man of executive and 
administrative skill, and is a member of the leading professional and scientific 
societies, including the American Institute of Mining Engineers, American 
Society of Civil Engineers, Lake Superior Mining Institute, the Franklin In- 
stitute of Philadelphia, American Association for the x-\dvancement of Science, 
National Geographic Society, American Eorestry Association, New York Bo- 
tanical Gardens, New York Zoological Society, New York Horticultural So- 
ciety, and the Metropolitan ]\Iuseum of Art; also of the Sons of the Revo- 
lution, St. George's Society, St. Andrew's Society, Robert Burns Society, 
Huguenot Society, Municipal Art Society, the Thomas Hunter Association, 
and the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and Animals. 

Mr. Stanton joined the historic Seventh Regiment of the National Guard 
of the State of New^ York in September, 1876, and served ten years, receiving 
his honorable discharge in November, 1886, and has since served six years 
as lieutenant and four years as captain and is life member of Company A, 
Seventh Regiment Veteran Association ; member of Seventh Regiment Veteran 
and Active League, Active and Veteran Comrades of Company A, the Old 
Boys of Company A, and the Washington Continental Guards. 

He is fond of yachting and of aquatic sports in general, and is a member 
of the New York Yacht Club, Columbia Yacht Club of New York, and Oni- 
gaming Yacht Club of Michigan; also of the L^nion League, Lotos, Engineers', 
Republican, Twilight and Dunwoody Country Clubs of New York; Chicago 
Athletic Club, and the Miscowabik and Onigaming Clul)s of Michigan. 

Mr. Stanton married, September 4, 1899, Helen Maud, daughter of Ira 
Kilmer, of Galesville, Wisconsin. 



; I ] 1 1 



HISTORV OF XEjr YORK 



D 



A XI EL GUGGENHEDI. president and chairman of the Board of 
Directors of the American Smelting and Refining Company, was 
born in if>^(^: and is one of seven brothers who have become prominent in the 
industrial and financial world. His father, jMeyer Guggenheim, came to this 
countr}' from Langnau. Switzerland, in 1848. 

In 188 1 Meyer Guggenheim organized the manufacturing firm of ]\I. Gug- 
genheim & Sons; and in a 
few years acquired large 
mining and smelting inter- 
ests. In January, igoi. ]\I. 
Guggenheim iS: Sons ob- 
tained control of the Amer- 
ican Smelting and Refining 
Companv by a merger. At 
this time the Smelting and 
Refining Company was in 
liad financial straits, but by 
careful and progressive 
management Daniel Gug- 
genheim and his l>rothers 
have made it the most suc- 
cessful organization of its 
kind in the world. 

Mr. Guggenheim is also 
president and director of the 
American Smelters' Securi- 
ties Company: president and 
director of the Guggenheim 
Exploration Company: vice 
president and director of the 
Federal Lead Compau}- : and 
a director in the following 
companies: American Smel- 
ters' Steamship Company, 
Continental Rubber Com- 
pany of America, Esperanza ^Mining Company, Gimbel Brothers, Incorporated, 
Morton Trust Company, National Bank of Commerce, National Lead Com- 
pany, and the Nevada Xnrtliern Railway Com])any. He is a trustee of the 
Temple Emanu-T"d and has been active in many charities. 

Daniel Guggenheim was married to ]\liss I'lorence Schloss. July 22. 1884. 
Thev have two sons and one dauo'hter. 




DANIEL GUGGENHEIM 



WILLIAM lU'TLF.R 1 lORXBLOUllR 



!)11 



WILLIAM BUTLER HORNBLOWER was ]i(.rn in Paterson, New 
Jersey. May 13, 1851, son of I\e\-. William Henry llornblower, 
D.D., a distinguished Presbyterian divine and theolos^ian, and of ALatilda 
(Butler) Hornblower. His great-grandfather, josiah Llornblower, who came 
from England to New Jersey in 1753, was an engineer who buih the first 
steam engine in America, a member of the C'ontinentrd Congress, and a judge 
in New Jersey. His grand- 
father, Joseph C o e r t e n 
Hornblower, was chief jus- 
tice of that State. 

Mr. Hornblower was 
graduated from Princeton \ 
in 1 87 1, and from Colum- 
bia LaAv School in 1875, <'"'' 
received his A.M. in 1874, 
and LL.D. in 1895, from 
Princeton. He was admit- 
ted to the bar in 1875, soon 
taking a prominent place in 
the profession, and is now- 
head of the law firm of 
Hornblower, ]\Iiller & Pot- 
ter. 

He served on the 
Legislative Commission ap- 
pointed in i8go, to propose 
amendments to the Judi- 
ciary Article of the State 
Constitution, and was aji- 
pointed by President Cleve- 
land a justice of the United 
States Supreme Court in 
1893, Init was not confirmed 
because of the political op- 
position of Senators Hill 

and Murphy. He is a mem])er of the American. Xew ^'ork State and L ity 
Bar Associations, Sons of the RevolutiDU. and the University, Century. Metro- 
politan, :\Ianhatlan, City, Reform, Riding, and Princclon Clubs, of Xew York. 

Lie married, in 1882, Susan C. Sanford, wlio died in 1886. and, second, 
in 1894, Emily S. (Sanford) Nelson. He has two sons, Lewis W. and 
George S. Hornblow'er. 




WILLIAM BUTLER HORNBLOWER 



91-2 



IIISrORY OF XFAV YORK 



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I ' , IN I 



III I 



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J 'I I 



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wn hf it It' 

fH 




M(-)KriMl-:K F. ELLIOTT 



MORTIMER F. I'.LIJOTT 913 



MORTIMER F. ELLIOTT, oeneral solicitor of tlie Standard Oil 
Company, is a native of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where 
his father was engaged in farming, and in his boyhood he divided his time 
between work on the paternal farm and the studies of the neighboring 
district school, and afterward attended Alfred University, in Allegany 
County, New York. He left before graduation and took up the study of 
law in the offices of Hon. James Lown-y and Hon. Steven S. Wilson, at 
Wellsboro, the county seat of Tioga County, his preceptors being among 
the leading members of the Tioga County bar at that time. He supported 
himself at various kinds of work, while engaged in his legal studies, until he 
was sufficiently proficient to secure admission to the bar and engage in the 
practice of law. 

He soon built up a good practice, studied his cases thoroughly and was 
successful, and after a few years was nominated by his party as Demo- 
cratic candidate for the ofiice of president judge of Tioga County, and 
though defeated ran far ahead of his ticket. A year later he was elected 
a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania and bore a 
prominent and influential part in the deliberations of that body and in the 
reformulation of the organic law of his native State. He was elected to 
the Forty-eighth Congress, but after serving that term returned to the 
practice of law. Meanwhile the oil business had become the principal 
interest in his section of Pennsylvania, and he became known throughout 
that region as an expert in all law questions pertaining to oil wells and all 
kinds of oil matters, and finally his learning and success led to an offer of 
the Standard Oil Company to Mr. Elliott to become a member of its legal 
force. 

Since then Mr. Elliott has been an attorney for the Standard Oil Com- 
pany, and since nearly two years before the death of Samuel C. T. Dodd, 
the former general solicitor of the Standard Oil Company, he has filled 
that position and has been at the head of the legal department of the 
greatest corporation in the world. In conserving the vast resources, and 
defending the complex interests, of that great corporation, the services of 
the highest legal ability are constantly required, and Mr. Elliott has fully 
justified the wisdom of placing him at the head of the company's legal 
department. 

Mr. Elliott is an authority upon all that relates to the law as it attects 
the oil business, has great ability as an advocate as well as a counselor, 
and is a thoroughly equipped lawyer in every respect. Besides deep 
learning, he has a keen sense of humor, is a judge of men as well as of 
legal questions, and has a place with those at the head of the American 
bar. 

58 



914 



HISTORY OF XHir YORK 




GIIMIRAL EDWARD P. MEAXV 915 

GENERAL EDWARD P. MEAXV. counselor at law and < me of the 
most distinguished of American lawyers, was born in Louisville, 
Kentucky, May 13, 1854, the son of Edward A. and Maria Lavinia (Shan- 
non) Meany. and he is of luiglish and Irish ancestry. His father was for a 
number of years conspicuously identified with the jurisprudence of the South, 
not only occupying an honored place upon the l^ench, but also having a career 
of exceptional brilliancy at the bar as well. Commodore Barry and Captain 
John Meany, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were members of his father's 
family. His maternal grandfather was Henry Gould Shannon, who settled, 
in iSio, at Louisville, of which he was a i)rominent and respected citizen. 

General Meany was educated in the schools of hjs native State of Ken- 
tucky and at Saint Louis, Missouri, and he was prepared for the practice of 
his profession in the most careful and thorough manner by his father, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1878. Being a close student and possessed of a judi- 
cial mind and much forensic abilitv, he soon attained prominence at the bar. 

He was for many }ears counsel for the American Telephone and Tele- 
graph Company, and held several positions of prominence and confidence in 
that corporation and in many of its associate companies. Besides a thorough 
knowledge of the law and of legal practice and procedure. General Meany 
developed marked ability along executive and administrative lines, and he has 
been called to duty as officer and director of several important railway, finan- 
cial and other corporations. He was elected, in 1884, to the office of vice 
president of the New Mexico Central and Southern Railway Company, and 
represented that company in Mexico and Europe, rendering to that corporation 
especially valuable service by obtaining from the Mexican government the 
concession under which it operated in the Republic of iMexico. He is vice 
president and a director of The Trust Company of New Jersey, and a director 
of The Colonial Life Insurance Company of America, The National Iron Bank 
of Morristown, New Jersey, and several business corporations. 

Since i8c)3 he has been judge advocate general of New Jersey with the 
rank of brigadier general. In 1894 he was one of the Palisades commissioners 
of the State of New Jersey, and he has been a trustee and treasurer of the 
Newark Free Public Library. General Meany is a Democrat in politics. He 
was a delegate from New Jersey to the National Democratic Conventions of 
1896 and 1900, and at both conventions he earnestly supported the principles 
advocated by the Old Line Democracy, and vigorously protested against the 
al)andonment bv the jiartv of these principles. 

He is a member of the Lawyers' Club, the :\Iorris County Golf Club, Mor- 
ris County Country Club. The Whippany River and Morristown Clubs. 

General :\Ieany married Rosalie, daughter of Peter Behr, of Saint Louis, 
Missouri, and has one son. Shannon Lord Meany. 



916 



HISTORY OF Xllir YORK 




rniWINAXD SULZBERGllR 917 

FERDINAND SULZBERGER, president of the Sulzberger & Sons 
Company ( formerly Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Comjiany), was born 
in Baden, Germany, and represents the oldest of the four American branches 
of the distinguished Sulzberger family, which derived its origin from the town 
of Sulzberg, in Bavaria. The other American branches of the family also in- 
clude men of distinction, among whom is lion. Mayer Sulzberger, president 
judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia. 

Mr. Sulzberger was a farmer's son, spending his early life upon the farm. 
He attended the German High School, came to the United States when twenty 
years old, and entered the slaughtering business in New York City. Later, 
with a partner, he established the firm of Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Company. 
That company, the oldest of the packing concerns of the United States, was 
among the pioneers in the business of shipping refrigerator beef from the 
West, having its own equipment of refrigerator cars. 

The Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Company was merged in the Sulzberger 
& Sons Company when the latter corporation acquired the whole of the out- 
standing capital stock of Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Company, and Mr. Fer- 
dinand Sulzberger continues at the head of the business as president of the 
Sulzberger & Sons Company. No man has done more to bring to its present 
high state of development the dressed-beef industry, or to bring about the mod- 
ern methods of handling the product. The Sulzberger & Sons Company has 
enormous plants in New York City, Chicago and Kansas City, and has another, 
now in course of construction, at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Chicago 
plant of this company is said to be the most modern in equipment of any in the 
world devoted to the packing industry, having the very latest improved ma- 
chinery and facilities for the slaughtering of cattle and handling of the prod- 
ucts, from the time of killing to the manufacture of the vast quantities of by- 
products derived from cattle. 

So extended are their operations that there is scarcely a town that is not 
reached by the branch houses, distributing points and sales agencies of Sulz- 
berger & Sons Company throughout the United States and at man_\- European 
points. To create the great and eflfective industrial and commercial enterprise 
represented by the plants, transportation facilities and system of distribution of 
the Sulzberger & Sons Company has required a remarkable genius for organ- 
ization. 

Mr. Sulzberger, in addition to his position at the head of this company, is 
also president of the Cold Blast Transportation Company, the Lackawanna 
Live Stock Transportation Company, John Reardon & Sons Company of Bos- 
ton, and several other large enterprises. He has given much time and numer- 
ous liberal donations to various charitable institutions in New York City and 
elsewhere, and has for years served as a director of the Montefiore Home. 



91S 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 






I'j i" ,1'''." ,. ' '. j.}^ 

1,1 1 1 r ,' 




GEORC.E DEVEREUX MACKAY 



GRORGll Pnj'RRRUX M.ICKAV 919 



G 



EORGE DEVEREUX ^lACKAY, banker and railway official, is 
a native of Brooklyn, New York, and son of John Sntherland and 
Mary (Devereux) Alackay. He is of English and Scotch descent, but on 
both sides, of old American families, from John Devereux, who came to 
America in 1640, and John Mackay, who also came to America in 1760, the 
Devereux family having been especially prominent and its interesting story 
has been put into book form under the title. From Kingdom to Colony, by 
Mary Devereux. Mr. Mackay 's father was a banker and Mr. Mackay him- 
self was educated in the Brooklyn public schools and the [jrooklyn Polytechnic 
Institute until 1870, when he became a clerk in the banking house of \'ermilye 
& Company, and in 1875 became a member of the New York Stock Exchange. 
In 1880 he became partner of the late firm of X'ermilye & Company, with which 
he continued for twenty-five years, and he was afterward with the firm of 
Mackay & Co. until 1908, when, having accumulated extensive interests in 
various corporations, he retired from active l)anking business in order to de- 
vote his attention to the care of his investments and his duties in connection 
with the companies in which he is an officer or director. He is a director 
of the Kanawha and Michigan Railway Company; vice president of the Tri- 
City Railway and Light Company; treasurer of the Georgia Coast and Pied- 
mont Railroad Company; president and director of the Acme Ball Bearing 
Company; director of the Alabama Marble Company, the Barnes Real Estate 
Association, and the Mount \'ernon Trust Company. 

He has always supported Republican candidates except when the candidacy 
of Grover Cleveland for President was endorsed by the Independent Republicans 
in 1884. He was appointed by Governor Odell on the \"isiting Board of State 
Hospital for the Insane for New York district, serving from 1905 to 1907. 
He is the manager of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum of New ^'ork. 

Mr. Mackay went to Europe, the Holy Land, and Egypt, in 1892, ac- 
companying Mr. Dwight L. Moody on his trip to the Holy Land, and the 
notes which were made by Mr. Mackay on that memorable journe}'. being the 
only record of Mr. Moody's daily life in the Holy Land, were extensively used 
in the various biographies of Mr. Moody which were i)ublished after his 
death. Mr. Mackay is a member of the Metropolitan, Republican, and the 
Railway Clubs of New York City, and of the Knights of Columbus. 

Mr. Mackay married, in Brooklyn, New York, February 5, 1880, Annie 
R. Barnes, daughter of A. S. Barnes, the well-known publisher of school books, 
and they have six children: Madeline, who married Avent Childress, and has 
three daughters; Donald Mackav, H. Hugh I. Mackav, Alfred B. Mackay, 
Lois Mackay, who married Roland F. Elliman, and has one son ; and George 
D. Mackay, Jr. Hugh J. Mackay married Gertrude Bovee, daughter of C. N. 
Bovee, a prominent lawyer and partner of General Stewart L. Woodford. 



920 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 




CHALMERS DALE 031 



c 



HALMERS DALE is one of tlie younger members of the New 
York Stock Exchange who has, during the past few years, made 
for himself a record of financial and organizing ability and attained a notable 
measure of success. He is a native of the City of New York, where he was 
born February 2, 1882, being the son of Chalmers and Carrie Reed (Lyon) 
Dale. His parents on both sides are members of families which have been 
long established upon American soil, ])ut which were originally of English 
origin and ancestry. 

Mr. Dale enjoyed the best educational advantages, receiving his earlv 
training in Drisler's School in New York City, and his preparation for col- 
lege at the famous Hill School, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he re- 
mained for six years, and he completed his scholastic training in the Sheffield 
Scientific School of Yale L^niversity, being a member of the Class of 1904. 

His father had been for years an extensive investor in securities, and Mr. 
Dale had early determined upon a financial career. Therefore, upon leaving 
the university he sought to perfect himself in the study of market conditions 
and investment values, and he dealt in stocks and securities as an investor 
for several years until he had attained a practical knowledge of the stock 
market. In igo8 he bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and 
engaged in a regular brokerage business in stocks and bonds, and since then 
has been identified with many important stock-market operations. 

Mr. Dale has accpired numerous important interests, but is especially 
well known in the financial world as an organizer, in 1905, of The Precious 
Metals Corporation, the stocks of which have attained a place of prnminence 
among the active securities in the New York market, attracting the attention 
of investors all over the country. Mr. Dale is the treasurer of the corpora- 
tion, and has devoted his personal attention to its financial welfare, making a 
market for its securities, and the success and vitality of the cori)oration is in 
a very large measure due to his organizing ability and his watchful care. Be- 
sides his connection with this company, ^Ir. Dale is identified to an inlluential 
degree with other enterprises, and has met with continuous success in his 
operations. 

Mr. Dale has traveled extensively in Europe and in the eastern part of 
the United States. He is a Republican in political views, though not espe- 
cially active in partisan afTairs. He is a director of the Riding and Driving 
Club of Brooklyn, and a member of the Crescent Athletic Club of that bor- 
ough. His other club affiliations include The Lambs, of New York City, and 
the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club. 

Mr. Dale married, in Brooklyn, :\Larch 31, 1905, Miss Sadie Peters, and 
they have a town house at 992 Park Place, Brooklyn, and a delightful country 
residence, "Bonnie Braes," at Cold Spring on the Hudson, New York. 



95. 



'USTORV Of XEir york 




WIIJJ.IM XELSOX CROMWELL 923 



WILLIA.M NELSON CROMWELL, an American lawyer of re- 
markable achievements and international fame, was born in New 
York in 1854. When the war began, in 1861, his father went to the front as 
colonel of the Forty-seventh Regiment of Illinois A'olunteers under General 
Sherman, and was killed at the Ijattle of Jackson, in 1S63. After Colonel 
Cromwell's death, his widow returned to the East and made her home in 
Brooklyn. 

His earl}- education was under a private tutor. Later he was graduated 
from Columbia Law School and then entered the office of Sullivan, Kobbe & 
Fowler, which was one of the leading law firms of the metropolis, headed by 
Algernon Sidney Sullivan, who was one of the greatest lawyers of his time, 
and whose exami)le \\as an inspiration to young Cromwell. A hard worker, 
and a careful student, of tireless energy and an undeviating determination to 
achieve mastery of the profession of the law, he was admitted to the bar in 
1877, continuing with Air. Sullivan and, advancing in his favor, was almost 
immediately admitted to partnership in the firm, which then took its present 
name of Sullivan & Cromwell, which name has since been continued, althousfh 
]\Ir. Sullivan died in 1888; since then [Nlr. Cromwell has been at the head of 
the firm. 

Throughout his practice ]Mr. Cromwell has shown especial talent for the 
larger tasks of corporation law, the forming of great industrial enterprises on 
a legal basis, the rehabilitation of firms involved in financial tangles, on a 
large scale, the carrying out and closing of difficult negotiations, and the 
orderly organization of gigantic enterprises into legal working order. When 
only at the l)ar a vear or two, he won his first legal spurs by becoming the 
aggressive and leading counsel in the foreclosure of the Houston and Texas 
Central Railway Company against ]\Ir. Huntington, practically managing the 
receivership as counsel until the mortgage debt he represented was paid in 
full. The first case in which his great abilities found scope for ample dem- 
onstration was that of Decker, Howell & Company, a brokerage firm which 
had failed for sixteen million dollars. Their affairs were placed in Mr. 
Cromwell's hands and he took hold of them with such energy and insight 
that in two months he had straightened out the firm's affairs and the creditors 
were paid in full, a consummation which no one had been sufficiently optimis- 
tic to expect. For his marvelous success in that case the court allowed a fee 
of $400,000, though Mr. Cromwell refused to take more than $250,000. Then 
the affairs of voung Ives, "the Napoleon of Finance,'' involving administra- 
tion of railroads and banks, were placed in his hands and successfully adjusted 
with expedition. A similar result attended his efforts in the cases of Price, 
McCormick & Company, who failed for ten million dollars, and the Produce 
Exchange Trust Company, which he soon put in reorganized condition and 



934 HISTORY OF XEJl' YORK 

reestablished successfully vinder another name: the reorganization of the 
United States Ship Building Company, the Seventh Xational Bank, and the 
JNletropolitan Fire Engine Company followed. He unraveled the complica- 
tions of the Penfield Companies, and has been the most successful adjuster of 
many A\"all Street failures. He was general counsel for the receivers of the 
Northern Pacific and general counsel in the rehabilitation and reorganization 
of that company from 1893 to 1896, when it was pttt firmly on its feet. He 
was also chief cotinsel for the New York Life Insurance Company in the con- 
test for the control of that company against an opposition ticket, resulting in a 
complete victory for the interests represented by ]\Ir. Cromwell. 

During the panic of 1907, the large jewelry importing houses of Joseph 
Frankel & Sons and Joseph Frankt-l's Sons Company. E. ]M. Gattle & Com- 
panv and Gattle. Ettinger & Hammel, found themselves seriously embarrassed 
with enormous liabilities contracted chiefly for their stock on hand, with the 
price of preciotts stones greatly depreciated and sales absolutely at a standstill. 
In this situation these companies were at the mercy of any creditor who might 
desire bankruptcy or receivership, which would entail enormous expense and 
almost inevitable ruin to the business. Mr. Cromwell devised a wholly novel 
plan, whereby three well-known bankers were induced to act as "liquidating 
trustees." The companies placed the liqtiidating trustees in control of their 
business, and the creditors assigned to the trustees all of their claims, notes, 
judgments and accounts. These companies, after having been in liquidation 
for a little over a year, under ^Nlr. Cromwell's directions, received back their 
property and are to-day prosperous, going concerns, while the creditors re- 
ceived their claims in full, with interest. This method of avoiding the enor- 
mous cost and waste of assets involved in bankruptcy, receiverships or assign- 
ments for benefit of creditors has since been widely used. No man in the 
countrv has to his credit more eflicient work in the arresting or preventing 
of commercial disaster to firms or corporations. He approaches problems of 
that kind with a degree of analytic insight and skill in diagnosis which is so 
exact as to deserve to be called truly scientific, and which has. in actual prac- 
tice, certainly produced results of unique efficiency in the rehabilitation of 
crippled enterprises. 

Mr. Cromwell has been a leading figure in the organization of many of 
the greatest corporations of the age. He was the originator of the reorgan- 
ization of the trusts into corporations, including the American Cotton Oil 
Company. He organized the $80,000,000 National Tube Company, and was 
one of the chief counsel and influences in organizing the United States Steel 
Corporation, and many other of the largest corporations. 

His genius along the lines indicated attracted the attention of E. H. Har- 
riman, first by his success in fighting that gentleman. That astute financier 



IVILLIAM KELSON CROMWELL '.m 

realized that Mr. Cromwell might be as valuable an ally as he was dangerous 
as an opponent, and Mr. Cromwell made and won for him the fight for control 
of the Wells-Fargo Express Company. He also represented the Harriman 
interests in the Illinois Central fight for control and won the contest which 
resulted in the ousting of Stuyvesant Fish from the presidency of that com- 
pany, and jilacing the Harriman interests in dominancy. 

The most notable and best known of his achievements were those which 
culminated in the adoption, purchase and luiilding by the United States of the 
Panama Canal. The French Company placed its afifairs, without reserve, in 
the hands of ]\Ir. Cromwell. At that time the probability that the Panama 
Canal route would ever be chosen for the canal was practically hopeless. The 
engineers' reports, the Congressional Committees, and a strong Xicaraguan 
organization had brought the Nicaragua route so prominently in favor that it 
had been virtually decided upon by Congress. To inaugurate and organize a 
campaign of education in favor of the Panama route ; to present arguments 
against men who had for years been strenuously advocating the Nicaragua 
route and who had a large part of the press committed to and strongly fight- 
ing for their theories; and against international powers that were combating 
his efforts through diplomatic channels — this was the task that he took up 
simultaneously in Washington, Paris, Panama and Colombia. He succeeded 
in it, and finally was the chief instrument in adoption of the Panama Canal 
Ijill, and afterwards negotiated and completed the transfer of the French 
Panama Canal to the United States for forty million dollars. It has been 
given to few men to accomplish so important an international undertaking. 

While his achievements have l)een so markedly individual, Mr. Cromwell's 
chief ambition has been to organize his law firm upon the highest plane of 
professional ethics and with such skilled and able assistants that the firm 
would become a permanent legal organization and survive his own activities. 
He thus has surrounded himself with a partnership organization comprising 
over a score in number, and an office force of twice that numl^er, thus giving 
assurance of perpetuity next only to that of the corporate form which would 
be inapplicable to the legal profession. 

INIr. Cromwell is a tireless worker and student, a master genius of nego- 
tiation and organization. Next to his work he loves music and art. His 
home on West Forty-ninth Street is adorned by many paintings of the best 
artists, notably canvasses by Bouguereau and other great artists of the mod- 
ern French school, and he has a large pipe organ installed in his home, and 
he finds his chief diversion in playing on that instrument. 

He is a member of the Union League, New York and Metropolitan Clubs, 
the :\Ietropolitan Museum of Art, and Lawyers' Club. He married Mrs. 
Jennie Osgood. 



93G 



HISTORY OF XIIW YORK 




J.IMBS ROIUIRT KF.nXE 027 

JAMES ROBERT KEENE has been, since 1877, one of the most 
prominent and masterful jiarticipants in the gigantic operations that 
centre in Wall Street, where he has sustained the position of a leader through 
man}- a hard-fought financial campaign. Before he came here he had estab- 
lished his reputation as by far the boldest and most successful financier of the 
Pacific Coast. 

Mr. Keene was liorn in 1838 in London, England, where his father was 
a successful merchant, and his education was acquired in a private school in 
Lincolnshire, and afterward in Dublin, under the instruction of a friend of his 
father, an old master of Trinity College, continuing until his father, having 
determined to come to America, brought him, with his family, to this country. 

James R. Keei:ie was little more than fifteen years of age when his ambi- 
tious and adventurous spirit impelled him to seek a career for himself. The 
Golden West was then the goal of those who sought for Fortune's favors ; so 
he made his way by the overland route to California, .settling in one of the 
northern counties. There he followed various pursuits, prospected in the 
mountains and became interested in mining ventures. He edited a newspaper 
for two years, and during that period studied and practised law. 

At that time the developments on the Comstock lode in Nevada had 
assumed such importance that the Washoe Country became the centre of in- 
terest in the mining world. From all parts of the country adventurers rushed 
in a continuous stream to the new Eldorado. Thither went Mr. Keene. than 
whom there was none more alert and enthusiastic in all that eager and ambi- 
tious throng. His genius for speculation soon asserted itself, and he ac(|uired 
interests in many mining properties and made some advantageous deals in the 
local mining stocks of that region. After a time he had not only gained a 
moderate fortune, but with it had made the more valualile acquisition of a fund 
of knowledge of the mines of that region which proved a most useful asset 
in his later and larger operations. 

Having definitely disco^'ered his own genius for speculation he went to 
San Francisco and there was soon engaged in o])erations in Nevada mmmg 
stocks, which were the active feature of that market. He did well for a while, 
l)Ut the failure of one of the Comstock mines at the lower levels shattered con- 
fidence, sent prices down to the bottom, depressed business, and brought dis- 
aster to nearly all who dealt in stocks in that market. 

Among others :\Ir. Keene found his fortune reduced to a deficit, and it 
was about 'two vears before he and the market had so far recovered that he 
was able to actiVelv resume his operations. He soon made a reimtation as a 
sagacious speculator, and buving a seat in the San Francisco Stock Exchange, 
of\vhich he became, in a remarkably short time, beyond all comparison the 
most skillful, successful and masterful memlier, and was elected it^ iiresident. 



928 HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

When the famous "lionanza" discovery was made in the ConsoHdated 
Virginia mine, Mr. Keene was one of the first to appreciate its importance, 
and hought heavily of the securities of that and other properties of that dis- 
trict, which he continued to hold until the following- year, when, the stock 
having reached the sensational prices which marked the culmination of the 
rise, he realized on his investments with an immense profit. 

With the terrible fall of values which shook the market many business dis- 
asters came, chief among which was the closing of the doors of the Bank of 
California, upon the soundness and solvency of which the stability of many of 
the leading enterprises of the State was founded. Its rehabilitation was an 
imperative necessity of the situation, and in the measures to that end Mr. 
Keene took a leading part. 

He was one of the four leading California financiers who headed, with 
$1,000,000 each, the guaranty fund of $8,000,000 found necessary to secure 
depositors against loss and enable the bank to continue business* He also 
secured the passage of a resolution by which the Stock Exchange subscribed 
$250,000, and through his influence individual members of that institution 
also subscribed $500,000 more toward the amount, which proved sufficient to 
permit the bank to resume and start anew on a career which has been emi- 
nently successful ever since: and to avert the almost incalculable disaster 
which would have resulted had the institution failed. 

Though the bank was saved, the stock market never recovered from the 
blow. Mr. Keene, in 1877, left with the intention of visiting Europe, but 
when he reached New York the Wall Street situation was so full of in- 
terest that he postponed his European trip and became active in the stock 
market. Railroad strikes and other disturbing influences had reduced prices 
of the entire list of stocks to the lowest level which had been reached for years. 
Mr. Keene, with large cash resources and a conviction that there would be a 
quick revival of values and a ])eriod of great prosperity, bought heavily of all 
the principal stocks in the market. The soundness of his judgment was fully 
justified when, as he had foreseen, prices steadily mounted, and by 1879 he 
found himself in possession of a fortune estimated at $15,000,000. 

Mr. Keene, after a somewhat extended visit to Europe, returned to New 
York, and again engaged in tiie activities of the stock market, in which he 
has since continued to be one of the most successful and boldest operators, for 
his own account and as the manager of campaigns for others. No man who 
has ever ai)peared in this market has demonstrated a greater mastery of its 
tactics, a keener insight, a broader outlook or a sounder judgment than Mr. 
Keene. In the financial battles of Wall Street there has appeared no abler 
general. Many of the greatest movements in the financial history of New 
York have been entrusted to him. 



J.IMHS ROBERT KEEXE \)->'j 



When, in a campaign which extended from 1895 to 1897, Mr. Keene 
made the market for the sugar stocks, it was regarded as a masterful jiiece of 
work; and a task which even more strongly demonstrated his great ability 
was when, in 1901, he made the initial market for United States Steel with 
an efficiency of management which has never been surpassed. With like good 
generalship he managed, in its early stages, the upward movement in Amal- 
gamated Copper in 1905. Still more noteworthy was the later campaign 
which under his charge resulted in securing the control of the Northern 
Pacific Railway by a brilliant coup, the celerity, noiselessness and complete- 
ness of which evinced genius of a high order. 

Mr. Keene has attained international distinction on the turf, antl from 
his breeding farm have come many of the most distinguished thoroughbreds 
of the American turf: among them Sysnnby, Voter, Ballot, Celt, Colin, Peter 
Pan, Conroy, Maskette, Sweep, and manv others which have won him many 
triumphs. He has also taken a i)rominent part in the famous classic races of 
England and France, notably with his horse Foxhall, which, in 1881, carried 
off the Grand Prix at Paris, and the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire Stakes 
at Newmarket; his filly Cap and Bells, which won the English Oaks in 1901, 
and others. His stable represents the best l)lood of two continents, and its 
excellence is the result of an almost lifelong study by Mr. Keene of the thor- 
oughbred horse. He is one of the best informed of the world's horse owners, 
steadfast in his devotion to the best traditions of the turf, and possessing a 
thorough knowledge of turf rules and racing practices in America and lui- 
rope. He has been a steward and vice chairman of the Jockey Club since its 
first organization. He is a member of The Brook and the Rockaway llunt 
Clubs. 

Mr. Keene has a beautifullv situated home at Cedarhurst, l.i mg Island. 
He married, in California, Sara Jay Daingerfield, of a most distinguished 
Virginia family, being the daughter of Colonel LeRoy and Juliet Octavia 
(Parker) Daingerfield, and a sister of Judge Daingerfield, of the United 
States Court in California, and of Major Foxhall A. Daingerfield. of Ken- 
tucky. Mrs. Keene's mother was a sister of Commodore Foxhall A. Parker, 
of the United States Navy, and of Senator Parker, of X'irginia, whose .son, 
Judge Richard Parker, presided at the trial of John Brown in connection w ith 
the Harper's Ferry raid; and was aunt of Commodore Foxhall A. Parker, 2d, 
who commanded the Potomac flotilla in the Civil War and was afterward 
superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. 

Mr. Keene has a son, Foxhall Parker Keene, and a daughter, Jessie Har- 
war Keene. Foxhall P. Keene is prominent in the best society of this country 
and England; is famous as a horseman and a polo player, and has long been 
associated with his father in turf matters. 

69 



DoO 



niSToRV OF XRir YORK 



f"i /' 'ifV 




EDWARD WESTON 



EDJJ-.IRD IfESTON i):5i 



E 



DWARD WESTON, SC.D., LL.D., one of the world's most dis- 
ting-uished electrical engineers and inventors, was born at P.rinn Cas- 
tle, near Oswestry, Shropshire. England, May 9, 1850, the son of Edward and 
Margaret (Jones) Weston, but in early life removed with his parents to Wol- 
verhampton, a manufacturing city of Staffordshire. 

He attended the National Schools and St. Peter's Collegiate institute, 
and was an especially eager student along the lines of pliysical science and 
experiment. His father was a landed proprietor Init was also a mechanical 
genius, and young Weston, inheriting like talents, delighted to experiment with 
tools, and to study the uses and construction of machines. He was only nme 
\\hcn he secured a copy of Smee's Elements of Electro-Metallurgy, of winch 
he made a close and eager study. He fitted up a room in his parents' home, 
studied and experimented in chemistry and electro-metallurgy, and built in- 
duction coils, electric motors and galvanic batteries of various types, using 
great ingenuity and spending nuich labor in prejjaring and adapting the crude 
materials which were available. His first battery consisted of two cells, the 
copper plates of which were two old scale pans and the zinc plates such thin 
sheets of zinc as were readily obtainable in those days. The smallness of the 
spark obtained from these cells disappointed him : he wanted something more 
startling, and desired to obtain the most powerful combination of elements 
used in the Grove or Bunsen cell. Platinum he could not obtain, Init he pro- 
cured rough blocks of carbon from the local gas works which he vainly tried 
to saw into shape, but could not because of the hardness and density of the 
material ; so he s])ent davs of persistent toil in the work of chipping out mate- 
rial (if the rcfjuired shape and size. Procuring ]:)orous cells from a nearby 
telegra]ih office and zinc plates from local zinc works he constructed a battery 
of much greater power than any he had before, and constructed electric bells 
and similar instruments, and even a small Init ])erfectly workable lelegra])h 
line, the insulation of which was accom])lished by use of the necks of glass 
vials. He made the acquaintance of several prominent engineers with whom 
he discussed various mechanical and electrical problems. One of his sugges- 
tions of that early period concerned the subject of steam propulsion upon ordi- 
narv roads, using rubber tires to avoid cutting U]) the roadway. He ac(|uired 
such a knowledge of electrical science that at the age of sixteen he delivered a 
public lecture, which attracted nnich attention, ujion the subject of electricity, 
illustrated by apparatus made by himself. 

His parents, while tolerant of his devotion to these experiments, had no 
sympathy with his amliition to become a mechanical engineer, and endeavored 
with some anxiety to select a profession for him. On the suggestion of a 
prominent dentist named Owen, his parents induced him to try dental sur- 
gerv, but he soon developed a repugnance to that i)ursuit which made them 



!»;!■.' HISTORV OF Mill' )'(>RK 

seek niiother for him, and tliey decided that he should take up the stuch' of 
niecHcine. In En^-Land the candidate for a mechcal (Hi)l()nia must not only 
attend lectures, but must also spend at least three years in association with 
some duly c|ualified ])ractitioner in regular practice. Young Weston was, 
therefore, placed 1)v his jiarents under the care of Doctors Edward H. and 
J. M. Coleman, distinguished physicians, and men of scientific tastes, and with 
them he i)ursued medical studies for three years, but wdiile he found much 
scientific incentive in connection with his studies, he earl)- decided that he 
would never follow medicine as a profession, and continued to devote the time 
that was not taken up by his medical studies to his mechanical and electrical 
in\'cstigati(ins. 

His [larents complained of his lack of staliility, and, as he found himself 
out of s\'mpathy with his surroundings, he concluded to leave England. He 
arrived in New li'ork City in May, 1870, bringing with him his apparatus, a 
few books, a small amount of monev and some letters of recommendation. 
After several months he secured employment with a small firm of manufac- 
turing chemists, where he remained a year and then became chemist and elec- 
trician to the American Nickel-Plating Companv. 

In that emplov he invented processes in connection with nickel ])lating" 
\\hich are now in universal use and would, if he had i)rotected himself by pat- 
ents, have brought him great returns. He studied dynamo-electric machines 
with the object of using them for electro-metallurgical purposes, and from 
December, 1S7J, engaged in the nickel-plating business on his own account 
until i''^75. During that period he constructed and put into use a variety of 
d\namo-electric machines. Tn 1873 he prepared the first of the copper-coated 
carbons now in world-wide use in the arc form of electric lighting, and the 
same year invented the disc armature, which greatly simplified the problems 
of efficiency and economy in dvnamo-electric machines. In 1875 he took out 
his first patent, which was for an improvement in nickel-])lating processes, and 
the same year gave u|) the electroplating business wbicli his inventions had 
so greatly im])roved both in processes and results. 

He moved to Newark, New Jei'sev, becoming a partner with Messrs. 
Stevens, Roberts & Havell, in the manufacture of dvnamo-electric machines 
for electnipialing, eleclrotyijing, electric lighting and fur other ])urposes. By 
invention of an ingenious automatic cut-off, which ])revented a reversal of 
polarity and consecjuent change in direction of the current, he produced the 
first true dynamo-electric machine which would serve for electro-metallurgical 
work. It greatly excelled the old galvanic batterv svstem in simplicity, relia- 
bility and economy in zinc, acids and mercurv, and is now used in practi- 
cally every important electrotvi)ing and electroplating establishment. The 
business was incorporated in 1877 ^^ the Weston Company, which was in 



F.nir.IRD WESTON 933 



i88i consolidated with the United States Electric Light Company, of wliich 
he was electrician until i,SS8. In 1S78 Mr. Weston invented several inii)rove- 
nients in nickel plating. ui)nn tlie basis of which the \\'eston lAlallcahle Nickel 
Company was organized. 

From 1875 Mr. Weston gave much attention to the problems of tlic pro- 
duction of light and the transmission of power by electricity, constructed vari- 
ous types of incandescent lamjjs in 1876, and invented the hydrocarlxni treat- 
ment, which eciualizes and standardizes the brilliancy and degree of resistance 
of all carbons on a circuit, overcoming defects in structure. Though at first 
Mr. Maxim obtained the credit and Mr. Sawyer the patent for this invention, 
the fact that Mr. Weston invented it was finally established and his right in it 
secured after a long contest in the Patent Ofifice. He also contrived valuable 
devices for securing imiform luminosity of arc lamps in series. He also con- 
structed several motors for propulsion of electric torpedo l)oats in 1S78; and 
in\-enled tamadine, a material derived from gun cotton ])y a series of chemical 
processes and transformed into a gelatine-like mass, from which carl)ons can 
be prepared which are of high specific resistance, elasticity and touglmess, and 
perfectly homogeneous. By their use the number of lights obtainable per 
horse power is greatly increased, while their high resistance greatly reduced 
the size and cost of conductors re(|uire(l for incandescent lighting, the inven- 
tion thus being of great value both as to efficiency and economy. 

For the past twenty-two years Dr. Weston's time has been almost exclu- 
sively de\'Oted to original investigation, research and invention in connection 
with the art of electrical measurement. He made three important discoveries, 
which are at the base of his electrometric inventions, namely: i, A method of 
producing ]iermanent magnets; 2, Negligible temperature coefficient alloys; 3, 
A nonmagnetic spring alloy, and a method of treating this alloy during the 
course of manufacture to produce springs of the requisite electrical and 
mechanical properties. 

On the liasis of these fundamentals Dr. Weston has created a line of 
measuring instruments equipped with ])ermanent magnets and free from all 
variations of efficiency due to changes in temperature. The first of these 
were the Weston Standard Portable \'oltmeters and Ammeters for Direct 
Current, patented in 1887, when the Weston Electrical Instrument Company 
was organized ;■ followed by the Weston Standard Portable Direct-reading 
Voltmeters (for both alternating and direct currents^, patented i8go; the 
Weston Standard Portable Watt-meters, for alternating and direct currents, 
patented 1892; and later the \\'eston Illuminated-dial Statinn .\nimeters, 
which was the first solution of the prol)lem of measuring the direct current 
from stations, and also Station Voltmeters, now made in all types and sizes 
adapted for the needs of the smallest isolated, to the largest city stations. Dr. 



9;-! I HISTORY OF NEW YORK 

Weston lias also invented dn])lex instruments combining- voltmeter and amme- 
ter in one case for convenience of simultaneous reading of current and 
potential, and he is constantly adding- to the number of types of measuring 
machines and switchboard instruments, and in his private laboratory he is 
constantly evolving new ideas and applications of great practical value in 
electrical service. 

Dr. Weston's contributions to electrical science and invention have been 
of incalculable value. They have given system, accuracy and scientific form 
to commercial electrical engineering*. The degrees of Doctor of Science con- 
ferred b\' the Stevens Institute of Technology and Princeton University, and 
the LL.D degree from Magill University, Montreal, were well-deserved recog- 
nitions of his scientific achievements. 

Dr. Weston has not only built up a great scientific institution Init also 
one of the most successful manufacturing enterj^rises of the country in the 
works of the Weston Electrical Instrument Company. The works, at Wav- 
erly Park, Newark, New Jersey, have a floor space of six and one-half acres, 
and the factory is the best ecjuipped in the world for electrical work, with 
every device and machine that can be used to advantage, many of these being 
Dr. W^eston's own invention. The private laboratory of Dr. W'eston and the 
section of the plant set aside for experimental work are especially complete 
and are constantly busy, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are annually 
expended in experiment at the works. 

Dr. Weston makes the comfort of employees a first consideration, and 
prominent features at the plant are the perfect arrangements, dining rooms, 
recreation rooms, shower liaths, and other appointments for the use of the five 
hundred men and women employed at the plant. There are also factories of 
the com])any in London and Berlin, for the inventions of Dr. Weston arc in 
use in all civilized countries. 

Dr. Weston was one of the "captains of industry" invited by J. f^ierpont 
Morgan to meet Prince Henry of Prussia on his visit to the United States. 
He is a member and former ])resident of the American Society of Electrical 
Engineers; member of the American Society of Chemical Engineers, Ameri- 
can Electro-Chemical Society, American Physical Society, Society of Mechan- 
ical l-'ngineers. Royal Society of Arts, of London, England ; American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, and National Electric Light Associa- 
tion. He is also a member of the New York Yacht, Atlantic Yacht, New 
^'ork Athletic, and Chemists' Clubs of New York; Essex and Essex County 
Country Clubs, of Newark, and the Canoe Brook, Baltusrol, and Deal Coun- 
try Clubs. 

He married, in New York City, Minnie Sitlell, and has two sons: \\'alter 
Coleman Weston and Edward F. Weston. 



ABR.IM I. ELKCS 



A 



BRAAI I. I'XKL'S is forty-three years old. He was educated in the 
New York puhhc schools, gradtiated from the Citv College and Co- 
lumbia Law School, and was admitted to the bar in i88S. He formed, in 
1896, the tirm of James, Schell lS: Elkus, of which, on the deaths of Colonel 
James and Mr. Schell, he became and now is the senior memlier. 

Among his celebrated cases are the Anderson will case, lames t-. Work 
(arising out of the failure 
of Grant & Ward ) ; Gracie 
"c'. Stevens and Ward z\ St. 
Vincent's Hospital. As 
special United States attor- 
ney he successfully prose- 
cuted fraudulent bankru]its 
He established a prccedcn' 
that perjury in l)ankru])tc\ 
proceedings is inmishabk 
summarily as content] )t. ir 
the United States Su])renu 
Court he arguetl a case fix- 
ing rights of persons deal- 
ing with insolvent stock 
brokers. As counsel for 
the Merchants' Association 
he is active in promoting 
legislation for commercial 
welfare through uniformity 
of law relating to sales and 
warehousing of merchan- 
dise, etc. As counsel for 
the Merchants' Protective 
Association and American 
Association of Woolen and 
Worsted Manufacturers he 
is constantly engaged in 
important commercial liti- 
gation. He is co-author of a treatise on Secret Liens; member of the Amer- 
ican, State and City Bar Associations: director of the Xew \'ork County 
Lawyers' Association; president of the Hebrew Technical School for Girls; 
trustee of the Baron de Hirsch Fund, and member of a kirge r.un:ber of clubs. 
He is an independent Democrat. In 1S96 he married Gertrude Rosalie Hess. 
The\ have four children. 




ABRAM I. ELKUS 



<»3() 



HISTORY OF Mill' YORK 




CH.IRLES LEROY lUlXDRICKSOX 937 



CHARLES LE ROY HENDRICKSON, stock broker, and member 
of the New York Stock Exchange, was born at Floral Park, New 
York, May 29, 1883, being son of George S. Hendrickson and Elizabeth Frost 
Hendrickson. His father was well and favorably known in the financial cir- 
cles of New York City, having been a member of the New York Stock Ex- 
change for twenty-five years. 

Mr. Hendrickson received a classical education, being graduated from 
the Brooklyn Polytechnic Preparatory School with the Class of i8<)0. and 
then entered Columbia University, from which he was graduated with the 
degree of A.B., in 1903. He then took up graduate studies in the same 
university, leading to the degree of A.M., which was conferred upon him in 
1905. After his graduation, in 1903, he entered upon the study of law, and he 
was admitted to the Bar of the State of New York, upon examination, in 
October, 1905. 

Instead of engaging in the practice of law, Mr. Hendrickson decided to 
enter upon a financial career, and became a clerk in the office of the brokerage 
firm of Shearson, Hammill & Company. He was elected to membership in 
the New York Stock Exchange on August 16, 1906, and has since been regu- 
larly engaged as a broker in stocks and bonds. 

He had his office with Shearson, Hammill & Company until August 31, 
1907, when he joined in the organization of the present firm of Hendrickson, 
Hall & Company, stock brokers, his partners in that business being J. Willet 
Hall and Edward Tworger, with Frederick M. Hoyt as special partner. The 
partnership has continued since that time, and they have built up favorable 
connections and an extensive business, covering all the usual departments of 
a Stock Exchange house. The firm enjoys an excellent reputation and takes 
rank with the more successful of the younger brokerage houses actively oper- 
ating on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Mr. Hendrickson is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity and of 
the Columbia University Club. He has his residence at Garden City, Long 
Island. In 1906 he married Marie Merritt, daughter of Israel J. Merritt, Jr., 
at Whitestone, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson have one daughter. 



ixnnx 



939 



INDEX 



Abercrombie, General, 265 

Abolitionists mobbed. 340 

Achter Col, Dutch name for New- 
ark Bay, 56 

Acheson, Edward Goodrich, 726 

Acton, Thomas. 375, 376 

Acts of First Assembly, first ses- 
sion, 126; of second session, 127; 
of Second Assembly, 127 

Adams, John, 271. 296, 297, 303 

Adams, John Quincy, 303, 307, 308, 
338 

Adams. Samuel, 253 

'"Additional Observations" of the 
Nine Men against Stuyvesant, 76, 
77 

"Address to the Betrayed Inhabi- 
tants," Revolutionary pamphlet, 
244 

Adee, D. N., 465 

Admiralty Court, established by Sir 
Edmund Andres, 1 17 

Adriaensen, Maryn. 58, 61, 62 

Adriance, Adrian Dexter, 704 

African slave trade, 173, 179 

Ahasimus, colony on site of Tersey 
City, 43 

Albania, name of part of New York 
I'rovince west of Hudson River, 
98 ; granted to Sir George Car- 
teret and Lord Berkeley of Strat- 
ton. 100 

Albany, see also *"Fort Orange" 

Albany, named by Governor Nicolls, 
formerly Fort Orange, 98 

"Albany Regency." 332, 334 

Alexander. James, 174, 177, 183, 
190, 192. 196, 197, 198, 200, 207, 
212. 293 

Alexander, \\ illiam (Earl of Stir- 
ling), 174, 275, 276 

Algonquins, Indians, 31. 33 

AUefonsce. Jean (explorer), 21 

Allen, Colonel. 2S1 

Allen, Stephen, 331, 335 

Allerton, Isaac, 60, 63 

Allicocke, 233 

Alsop, John, 259, 260, 261, 262, 293 

American prisoners mistreated, 281, 
282 

American ships searched by English 
commanders, 320 

America's Cup, 360, 400 

Amerman, William Henry Hough- 
ton, 658 

Amherst, Lord (Major General), 
217. 218 

Amory, John James, 71Q 

Amsterdam Chamber, of Dutch East 
India Company. 22 

Amsterdam Chamber, of Dutch West 
India Company, 37 

Anderson, Tames ( Rev.). 175 

Andre, Major, 283, 2S8 

Andros. Major Sir Edmund, English 
governor, arrives. loS; and re- 
ceives surrender of New York, re- 
storing old name to P'ort James, 
and gift of couch and horses from 
Governor Colve, log; his family 
and career, in; appoints Council 
and officers. 112; requires that 
Dutch take oath of allegiance, 
113; appoints Xicolaus van Rens- 
selaer to Dutch Reformed Church 
and raises ecclesiastical contro- 
versy, and orders Leisler and Mil- 
borne under arrest. 115; later de- 
poses Van Rensselaer, 115; offers 
to aid New England in King 
Philip's \\'ar, and makes pact with 
Iroquois, recommends Duke of 
York to grant an Assembly, goes 
to England and returns. 116; 
appointed vice admiral and estab- 
lishes Admiralty Court. 117; 



claims jurisdiction over East and 
West Jersey, but is overruled on 
appeal to England, 1 17; recalled 
to England on charges from which 
he is exonerated, and is appointed 
"Gentleman of the King's Privy 
Chamber." does not return to 
New York until appointed gover- 
nor general of Dominion of New 
England ( 1686). 1 18; complaints 
against Iiim dismissed, 1 2 r ; ap- 
pointed captain general and gov- 
ernor in chief of New England, 
129; joins Connecticut to New 
England, 13 1 ; jurisdiction is ex- 
tended over New York. 132; 
comes to New York, but soon 
goes to Albany, leaving Lieuten- 
ant-Governor Nicholson in charge, 
135 ; deposed and imprisoned in 
Boston, and later sent to Eng- 
land, his subsequent career, 136; 
report on trade, 439 
Anne. Queen, 136; see Queen Anne 
Anneke Jans case, 51, 148, 167, 

214 
Anthony. Allard. 83, 99 
Anthony, John. 262 
Anthony, Theopbilus, 262 
Anti-Leislerian pamphlets. 153 
Anti-Leislerians object to disinter- 
ment of Leisler and Milborne, 

Anti-Stamp mob hang Bute, the 
Devil and Colden in efligy, 228 

Anyon. Tames TJiornley, 893 

Apartment houses built, 382 

Appearance of the city just after 
the war, 382 

Appelbaum. I^Iisha E., 702 

Archives, scarcity of early, 40; sold 
for waste-paper, 40 

Arctic expeditions, 357 

Arctic passage, search for, 21 

Argall, Samuel (Captain), 27, 28. 
36 

Arnold, General Benedict, 284, 286, 
288 

Arnoux, Henry, 357 

Arthur, Chester A. (General), 395. 
397 

Articles of Capitulation of the Sur- 
render of New Netherland. and 
its signers. 95 

Articles of Surrender, 99 

Arundel. (H. M. S.). 209 

Ashfield, R.. 147 

Ashford. \\'illiam. member of First 
Assembly. 125 

Assembly at variance with Cornburv, 
165 

Assembly, General, called by Gov- 
ernor Dorgan, membership of 
First Assembly, 125; its second 
session, dissolved by death of 
Charles II, Second Assembly and 
its laws. 127; dissolved, 130; 
called by Leisler. 141 

Assembly meets in New York City. 
302 

Assize, Court of. established in New 
York. 99 

Assmann. Frederick Marten. 720 

Astor, John Jacob. 333* 355. 365. 
500 

Astor, John Jacob (2d). 372 

Astor, John Jacob (Colonel). 504 

Astor, William. $03 

Astor, William B.. 365. 369, 502 

Astor Free Public Library estab- 
blished. 355; enlarged, 365 

Atlantic cable completed, but breaks, 
365; final completion celebrated, 
384 

Atlee, Colonel, 28 1 



Atwood. William, chief justice, 161, 

162, 163 
Auger, Charles Louis, 780 
Axtell, William, 291 

Babh, George W.. 640 

Babbitt, Benjamin Talbot. 868 

Bache, Jules Semon, 519 

Bache. Theophylact, 259, 438 

Backer, Jacobus, 95 

Backerus, Johannes Cornelioz, pas- 
tor of Dutch church, his de- 
scription of his congregation. 71; 
goes to Holland and testifies 
against Stuyvesant, 77 

Baker, Edward D. (Colonel). 371 

Baker, George F., 459 

Bakewell, Allan Campbell, 721 

Bainbridge, William (Commodore), 
32S 

Baldwin, \\ illiam Delavan, 665 

Ball, Joseph, 259. 262 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 448 

Bancroft, George. 249, 358, 360, 380 

Bank of Xew York established, 295 

Banker, Evert. 1 57 

Banker, Evert, 262 

Bannard. Otto H., 421 

Baptist Church, 296 

Barberie. Jolin, 169. 171, 177 

P.arbour, William, 812 

Barclay. Henry (Rev.), 202, 2(4 

Barclay, Thomas. 291 

Barlow. Joel, 316, 317. 318 

Barnard, George G.. 388. 390 

Barnes. Alfred S.. 357 

Barney, Charles T., 41S 

Barnum. Phineas T., 357 

Barnum's Museum destroyed by 
fire. 384 

Barre, Isaac (Colonel), 223 

Eartholdi's Statue of "Liberty En- 
lightening the World" proffered, 
393; corner stone laid. 400 

Bartlett, Captain, 432 

Baxter, George, 70, 79, 80, 84, 85, 
88, 90 

Baxter. Thotnas, 84 

Bayard, Anna, 69 

Bayard, Balthazar. 69, 173 

Bayard, James Addison, 309 

Bayard, Nicholas, 69, 113, 128, 129, 
131. 137, 139, 140, 143. 144, 145. 
149, 154, 156, 161, 162, 163 

Bayard. Peter, 60 

Bayard. Samuel, Stuyvesant's broth- 
er-in-law, 69. 

Bayard. Stephen. 207 

Bayard, William. 226. 235, 251, 291. 
310 

Beaver skins as currency, 433 

Bedell, Gregory T. (Rev.), 357 

Bedlow, William, 296 

Beeckman, Gerardus (Dr.). 140. 
163, 169. 170. 171. 177 

Beekman, I^avid, 262 

Beekman, Gerardus W., 259 

Beekman, Henry. 125 

Beekman. Tames, 262, 294 

Beekman. James. W., 369 

Beekman, Tohn K.. 333 

Beekman Street opened. 207 

Beekman (or Beeckman), William. 
69. 83. 108, 113, 119. 1-7. '29. 
145. 146 

Behr. Herman. 886 

Bell. Alexander Graham, 463 

Bell, Isaac. 372 

Bell. John, 197 

Bellamy. Joseph (Rev. Dr.). 308 

Bellomont, Earl of (Richard Coote), 
governor of New York, Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire, 
151; biograph y, 152; took Lcis- 
Icrian side in Parliament, 152 ; 
his connection with Robert Liv- 



940 



HISTORY OF XEIF YORK 



ingston and Captain Kidd, 153- 
154; specially selected to suppress 
piracy and enforce navigation 
laws. 154; his efforts against illicit 
trade, 155; restores the Leisler 
estates, reorganizes the Provincial 
Council, and calls an Assembly 
which passes bills to reimburse 
Leisler expenditures and vacate 
illegal land grants of Fletcher. 
156; gains several enemies, but 
goes to Boston where he is very 
popular. 1^7; captures and arrests 
Captain Kidd and sends liim to 
England. 15S; returns to New 
York and wages successful fight 
against piracy and illegal trading, 
holds Indian Conference at Al- 
bany, hut soon after dies in New 
York, 1 59 ; trade instructions to. 
441 

Bellomont. Lord and Lady, bodies 
moved to St. Paul's Churchyard, 
209 

Pellows, Henry \V. (Rev. Dr.). 373 

15ellevue Hospital site sold. 88 

Belmont, August, 414 

Benckes. Jacob, and Cornells Evert- 
sen command Dutch fleet, and 
compel surrender of New York, 
107 

Benedict, James (Major General). 
334 

Benedict, Jesse A\ .. 46-? 

Benedict. Lemuel Coleman, 572 

Benjamin, Mr., 255 

Bennett. (Colonel), 371 

Bennett, J. A.. 458 

Bennett. James Cordon, 361 

I*ennett. James Gordon, Jr., 399 

Benson, Egbert, 292 

Benson, Robert. 262, 292 

Bentyn, Jacques, 47, 58 

Berkeley of Stratton. Lord, 100 

Bernard, Sir Francis, 242, 253 

Berrien. John. 262 

P.everwyck. Si 

Bible permitted in schools. 349 

i^icker. \*ictor, 262 

Billeting of troops, 235. 238 

Biographies: — 

Acheson. Edward Goodrich, 726 
Adriance, Adrian Dexter, 704 
Amerman, William Henry Hough- 
ton, 658 
Amory, John James, 719 
Anyon, James Thornley, S93 
Applebaum, Misha E.. 702 
Assmann. Frederick Marten, 720 
Astor. John Jacob, 500 
Astor, Colonel John Jacob, 504 
Astor, William. 303 
Astor, William B., 502 
Auger, Charles Louis, 780 

Babb. George W.. 640 

Babbitt. Benjamin Talbot. 868 

Bache, Jules Semun. 519 

Bake well, Allan Campbell, 721 

Baldwin, William Delavan, 665 

Barbour. William. 812 

Behr, Herman, 886 

Benedict, Lemuel Coleman, 572 

IJlair, John Insley, 570 

Bliss. Cornelius Newton, 772 

Boas. Emil Leopold, 642 

Boker, Carl F., 716 

Borden, Matthew Chaloner Dur- 

fee. 760 
Borg, Sidney Cecil, 546 
Bradley, William Hooker, 621 
Braker, Henry Jones, 851 
Brixey, Richard' 1 )e Wolfe, 728 
Brown, Gerald Rud<lerow. S30 
Brown, Simon H.. 896 
Bryan, P.enjamin H utters, 580 

Cannon, James Graham, 538 

Carnegie, Andrew. 476 

Carty, John J., 682 

Chapman. Henry .Stanton, 794 

Clafiin. John, 744 

Clapp, Edward Everett, 323 

Clark, John Mitchell, 701 



Clift. Edward Henry, 790 
Comstock, Louis K., 710 
Cone, Ceasar. 763 
Connor, W^ashington Everett, 564 
Conover. Samuel, S., =i=;9 
Cook. Henry F.. 88g 
Copeland. Charles C., 802 
Corbett, Marshall Toseph. 654 
Corbin, Floyd Stewart, 826 
Corey, William Ellis, 666 
Cortelvou. George Bruce. 618 
Cowles, David Smith. 888 
Cozzens. Stanley Thayer. 784 
Cromwell. William Nelson, 922 
Cruikshank. Warren. S14 

Dale, Chalmers, 920 
Day, Arthur I'ranceway. 833 
Degnon, Michael John. 892 
De Kav, John Wesley, 862 
De Leon," Edwin Warren. 625 
De Lima, Elias S. A.. 596 
Dinkel, George, 811 
Doherty, Henry Latham, 600 
Dommerich. Louis F., 74? 
Douglas, William Harris, 645 
Dowling. Riibert E.. 820 
Drewry. William Powell. 771 
Driggs," Marshall Sylvanns. 632 
Du Bois, Cornelius, 509 
Duval, George L-. 649 

Eaton, Frederick Heber. 674 
Elkus. Abram I., 935 
Elliott, Mortimer F., 912 
Emanuel. John Henderson, Jr., 

592 
Emery, Joseph H., 789 

Faber, Eberhard, 877 
Fairchild. Samuel William. S41 
Fearey. Frederick Tvsoe, 696 
Feustnian. Leon Philip, 713 
Flagler, Henry Morrison, 492 
Fleischer, Nathan . 7 1 2 
Fleitmann, Frederick Theodore, 

768 
Fleitmann. William Medlicott, 769 
Flint. Charles Ranlett. 6^7 
Forstman. C. Julius. 796 

Gaillard. William Evre Gibson, 

81S 
Gary. Elbert Henry, 496 
Gennerich. George, 856 
(jibb. Arthur, 77s 
Gibb, Henry Elmer, 751 
Gildersleeve. Oliver. 650 
Goodrich. Edward Ismon, 791 
Gray, \\'illiam Steele, 840 
Green, Warren Lnqueer. 882 
Grosjean, Florian, 731 
Guggenheim, 1 )aniel. 9 1 o 

Haggin. Tames lien Ali. 548 
Hasslacher, Jacob Pius Maria. 

842 
Hathaway, Charles, 552 
Hay. George Taber, 652 
Hayden. Charles, 574 
Hegeman, Benjamin Arrowsmith, 

Jr.. 692 
Hendrickson, Charles Le Roy, 936 
Higgins. Andrew Foster, 626 
Ilill. James Jerome, 608 
HilliaVd. John Gerald, 634 
Hornblower, \yilliam Butler, 911 
Horowitz. Louis J.. 6ti 
Horton. Harrv Lawrence, =;34 
Hulbert, Henry Carlton. 885 
llungerford, iVi T.. 7^7 
Hunt, Beekman. 629 
Hyde, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt. 

873 

Jackson, Frank W., 732 
Jacobus, Davifl Schenck, 690 
Jennings, Robert E., 670 
Tones, Thomas Nathaniel, 660 
Josephthal. Louis Maurice, 527 
Juhring. John C, 853 

Keene, James Robert. 926 
Krllv. T"hn .\.. 638 
Kepner, John B., 806 
Kieckhcfer, I"erdinand A. W.. 680 



Kimball. I-'rancis H.. 8g8 
King, Willard Vinton. 542 
Kingsley, Darwin Pearl, 622 
Klipstein, August, 837 
Kunhardt, Henry Rudolph, 656 

Leach, Arthur Burtis, 5S4 
L'EcIuse, Milton Albert. 832 
Lisman, Frederick J., 537 
Lounsbery, Richard Purdy, 586 
Liittgen, Walther, 568 

Maben, John Campbell, 669 
McAlpin, General Edwin Augus- 
tus. 616 
McCarty, Anthony J.. 659 
McCurdv Robert Henrv, 5=16 
McCutchen. Charles W*altef, 858 
Mackay. George Deverenx, 918 
McKenzie. \\'illiam. 808 
Mc Kinney. Colonel Robert Coch- 
ran. 6-6 
Mann, Samuel Vernon, Jr., 599 
Marqusee. Tulius, 878 
Marshall, Waldo Hall. 722 
Meany, General Edward P.. 914 
Milliken, Seth Mellen. 782 
Montgomery, Richard Malcolm, 

82s 
Moore. Charles Arthur, 662 
Moore, William Henry. 604 
Morgan, John Pierpont, 470 
Morgan. Samuel Tate. 860 
Morgenthau. Maximilian. 831 
Morton, T.evi Parsons, 482 

Noyes, Charles F., 821 

Oakman. ^^'nlte^ G.. 544 
Olcott. Eben Frskine, 603 
Oppenheim. Ansel. 582 

Paris. John W'., 828 
I^arker, Robert Meade, 880 
Passavant, Oscar von, 756 
Peters, Ralph, 614 
Phillips. David T-ewis. S24 
Poor, Edward E.. 758 
Poor. James Harper, 752 
I'oor. Ruel Whitcomb, 594 
Pope, Tames Edward, 718 
Potter," Orlando TUonson. 491 
Poulson, Niels, 698 
Prentiss. Henry, 901 
Pyne, Percy Rivington, 2d. 560 

Raven. Anton Adolph, 630 
Rea, Samuel. 612 
Read, George Rowland, 816 
Ream, Norman Bruce. 5S9 
Reichhelm. Edward I^aul, 70S 
Riker, Tohn Tackson. 838 
Rockefeller. John Davison, 486 
Rogers, Robert. 714 
Rowland. William. 646 
Rowley. Henry, 8;o 
Ryle, William. 770 

Salomon, William, 528 
Sanderson. Henry. 578 
Schiff. Tacob Henrv, 516 
Schniewind. Heinrich Ernst. Jr., 

798 
Schuyler. Charles Edward, 822 
Seligman. Tsaac Newton, 524 
Sells, Elijah Watt, 895 
Sherman, Tohn Taylor, 766 
Siegbert. Tenuis. 804 
Simmons. Charles Herbert. 709 
Simon. Herman. 776 
Sjfistroni. r*. Robert G., 786 
Smith. Francis Marion, 846 
Smith. George Carson, 902 
Smith. George Theodore, '^go 
Smith. Lenox. 694 
Snow, Elbridge Gerry, 495 
Soov^mith. Charles. 743 
Speiden, Clement Coote, Jr., 844 
Speyer, James, 520 
Spiegelberg. William L. 801; 
Spreckels, Claus August, 866 
Stanton, Tohn Robert, 90S 
Steinway," Charles Herman, 74^ 
Steinway, Henry Engelhard, 734 
St-^inwav. \\'illiam. 738 
Stilson, Arthur Theodore. 716 



JXDHX 



941 



Stettinius. Edward R.. 904 
Stoehr. P. R. Ediiard. 778 
Stone, Isaac l-Vank, 843 
Stnrhahn. Carl F., 637 
Sulzberger. Ferdinand. 865 

Tate, Joseph. 577 

Taylor, William H., 906 

Tener, Hampden Evans, 563 

Tesla. Nikola. 7-34 

Thalmann. Ernst. 530. 

Thomas, Seth Edward. 8go 

Tilford, Frank. Ss^ 

Tod, Andrew Kinnaird. S94 

Tnmlins, William Maddox, Jr., 

865 
Topping. John Alexander, 672 
Towne, Henry R.. 686 
Turner, Thomas Morgan, 764 

\'ail. Theodore Xewtun. 510 
\'an Cortlandt. Robert B., 532 
\'ander]ip, Frank Arthur, 540 
^'eit, Richard Charles, 607 
Victor, George Frederick, 754 

Wassermann, Edward, 567 
Weidmann, Jacob. 800 
Wells, Edward Hubbard, 688 
W^eston. Edward, 930 
Whitman, Clarence. 748 
Willcox. William Goodenow, 515 
\\'ing. John D., 834 
\\'riglit, Joseph H., 792 

Young, George Washington, 585 

Bird, Major. 281 

Birney, James G.. 330 

Black, Jeremiali S., 36S 

Black, Frank S., 408 

Black well's Island, origin of name, 
113 

Blagge, Benjamin, 292 

Blagge, John, 293 

Blaine, James G., 395, 397 

Blair, John Insley. 570 

Blatchford, Richard M., 37-^ 

Bleecker, Leonard, 313, 314 

Elenker (Colonel). 371 

Bliss, Cornelius Xewton. 772 

Bliss, W. P.. 459 

Block, Adriaen. early voyager, 27; 
builds the first ship in Manhattan. 
28: discovers Long Island Sound. 
New Haven I niet, Connecticut 
river and Block Island. 29; re- 
turns to Holland, claims before 
States-General, demonstrates insu- 
larity of Long Island, 29 

Bloemart (or Blommaert), Samuel, 
4^. 54 

Boas. Emil Leopold. 642 

Boerum, Simon, 261 

Bogardus, Anneke (see also Jans, 
Anneke). 50. 51 

Bogardus, Everardus (Oomine), 47. 
50, 51. 53. 61, 67. 68, 71, 72 

Bogert. John, Jr., 229 

Bogert, Nicholas, 262. 

Boker. Carl F., 716 

Bolano=, Pio (.Scnor Don), 429 

Bolting and baking monopoly aliol- 
ished, 146 

Books, first published in New York. 
149 

Boorman. James. 372 

Booth, Benjamin. 2';9 

Borden, Matthew Chaloner Durfee. 
760 

Borg. Sidney Cecil, $4^ 

Boston Committee, message from. 
260 

Boston Post Road, T03 

Boston Tea Party. 258 

Botetourt. Lord. 251 

Boundary between New Netherlaud 
and New England. 80 

Boundary between New York and 
Connecticut. 395 

Boundary dispute with Sweden, 81 

Bout, Tan Evertsen, S";, 6;^, 66, 72, 
77. 78 

Bowers, James. 362 

Bownc, George, 259 



P.nwne, Walter, 338 

ISrace. Charles Loring, 356 

Bradford, William (Royal Printer), 
149. 153. 182 

Bradley, attorney-general, 194, 196. 
197. 207 

Bradley. John J., 389 

Bradley. Willia'm Hooker, 450. 621 

Bradstreet. Simon, of Massachu- 
setts. 80 

Brady, Anthony N., 459 

Brady, James T., 372 

Bragster. Abraham, ^62 

Braker, Henry Jones, 851 

Brant, Joseph. 284 

Brasher, Abraham, 259, 260, 261, 
262 

Bread riots. 342 

Bread, weight and price of loaf 
regulated, 292 

Brencoten. George. 229 

Breshwood (Captain), 369 

Breda, Treaty of, roi 

"Breeden Raedt," 78 

Breukelen ferry, 169. 179 

Brick Presbyterian Church built, 
243 

Bridgewater, Duke of, 315 

Bright, John, 385 

Brinckerhoff. Abraham. 262 

BrinckerhotT, Dirck, 229 

Brinckerhoff (Lieutenant Colonel). 
35 5 

British Army evacuates New York. 
289 

Britisli fleet in the harbor. 271, 273 

British military and naval headtiuar- 
ters in New York. 286, 287 

British "Orders in (Jouncil," 321 

British plan of attack for Battle of 
Long Island. 275 

British prisons and prison-ships, 281 

British troojis move to Governor's 
Island. 264-265. 

Brixey, Richard De Wolfe, 728 

Broad advice to the United New 
Netherland Provinces (see "Bree- 
den Raedt"), 78 

Broadway, name given by Governor 
Nicolls, 105 

Broadway stages. 44S 

BrockhoUs. ( Lieutenant) Anthony, 
first councilor of New York, iii; 
first Catholic to be appointed to 
important office in New York, 
112; governs New York in ab- 
sence of Andros, 1 16; again in 
charge with title of commander 
general of province, for two years. 
118; his trouble on customs mat- 
ters, 1 1 8-1 19 ; commissioned as 
receiver general of Duke's reve- 
nues, 120 ; rules in disorder until 
appointment of Doiigan as gov- 
ernor, 121; reappointed chief 
councilor, 124 

Brodhead (historian), documents col- 
lated and discovered by, 40 

Bronck, Jonas, and his grant nortli 
of the Harlem (now called 
Bronx), 56; peace treaty signed 
at his house, 56, 59 

Bronson. Green C, 372 

Bronx, The. early settlers in, 59 

Bronx annexed to city, 383 

Brooke, Chidley. 144. 145. 155. 156 

Brooklyn and tlie New Jersey sub- 
urbs grow. 381 

Brooklyn Bridge. 398 

Broome, John. 259, 260, 262, 292, 
-'93 

Broome, Samuel, 244, 262, 293 

Brouwer. John Jansen. 40 

Brouwer, Peter Clementsen, 31 

Brown, Andrew. 1 29 

Brown, Gerald Rudderow, 830 

Brown, Harvey (General), 368, 377 

Brown, James W., 383 

Brown, Lewis B.. 450 

Brown. Martin H.. 383 

Brown. Simon H., 896 

Brurh, Charles F., 461 

Brush. Eliphalet. 294 

Bryan. Benjamin Butters, 580 



Bryan, William Jennings, 408, 412, 
418 

Bryant, William CuUen, 361. 380 

Buchanan. James (President). 365. 
368. 369. 370 

Buchanan. Thomas, 262 

Bucktails vs. Clintonians, 330, 331 

Buffer, l-Yancis, 262 

Bunting (Captain), 371 

Burgher Government requested. 77; 
ordered but revoked, 78; ordered 
by Amsterdam Cliambcr, 82; es- 
tablished in modified form by 
Stuyvesant, 83; see also "Magis- 
trates" 

Burgher Guard, 74 

Burgher-right, great and small, es- 
tablished. 89; qualifications for. 90 

Burgoyne. General. 284. j86 

Burke. Edmund, 240 

Burling. Lancaster, 262 

Burnet, William. Governor of New 
York, exchanges offices with Gov- 
ernor Hunter, r-6; his antece- 
dents, continues old Assembly, or- 
ganizes Council and soon marries, 
177; secures hill to prohibit sale 
of goods to the French, and en- 
courages trade with the Indians, 
and establishes nost at Oswego, 
178; arouses antagonism, makes 
powerful enemies, and the Assem- 
bly becomes hostile, also dissolves 
a new one, 180: calls new Assem- 
bly on accession of George II. his 
wife and youngest child die. he is 
transferred to Massachusetts as 
Governor and dies soon after, 181 

Burr, v\aron (Rev.). 307 

Burr. Aaron. 277, 302, 303, 307, 
308, 309. 310 

Burr, Theodosia. 308, 310 

Burton, Mary. 202 

Bute. Martjuis of, 220 

Butler. Nicholas Murray (Profes- 
sor). 413 

Butterfield. Daniel (Colonel), 371 

Bylvelt. Peter, 40 

Byvanck, Petrus, 262 

Cabo de Arenas, early Spanish name 
of Sandy Hook, 20 

Cabot. John, his voyage basis of 
English claim to Manhattan. 27 

Cabots. the, 17, 21 

Ca;sar, a negro, 202 

Caldwell, Jacob (Lieutenant), 362, 
. 369 

Cameron ( Colonel ) . ^71 

Campbell (Rt-v.), 188 

Canada ceded to Great Britain hv 
h'rance, 220 

Canada in control of British, 217 

Canada, troops and fleet organized 
to attack. 172 

Canal to drain lower Manhattan, 322 

Canda. Cliark-s J., 450 

Cannon, James Graham, 538 

Capital removed to Philadelphia. 301 

C-'arbo, Esteban ( Don). 429 

Cardozo. Albert, 388 

Carleton, Sir Dudley. 37 

Carleton, (Jeneral Sir Guy, 284, 288 

Carlisle. John Griffin, 405 

Carnegie, Andrew. 412. 426, 476 

Carnegie branch libraries, 412 

Carpenter, Daniel (.Sergeant), 377 

(-'arr. Dabney, 254 

Carter, R. .\., 4^ 

Carteret. Sir (icorge. proprietor of 
East Jersey, 100. 117 

Carteret, Philip, appointed deputy 
governor of New Jersey, 100; 
disobeys order of Andros to cease 
exercising authority, is arrested, 
acquitted and on appeal his au- 
thority is upheld, 1 17 

Carty. John J., 466, 683 

Cass. Lewis. 368 

Cathay, quest of, 17 

Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 
corner stone laid, 404 

Catholic congregation. 295 

Catskill water supply system, 4 1 7, 
454 



!)4-i 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



Cattle brought to Manhattan, 38 
Cavu^as. Indians, 31 
Census of New York in 1731, 186 
Centennial of Washington's Inaugu- 
ration, 402 
Centennial of Surreme Court of the 

United States, 402 
Central Park created. 360 
Central Railroad of New Jersey, 447 
Cervera (Admirall, 410 
Chamber of Commerce established, 
242; chartered, 24g; incorporated 
bv Legislature, 293 
Chambers (Captain), 258 
Chambers. John, 196, 207 
Champlain leads French and Hu- 

rons against Five Nations, 34 
Chapman. Henry Stanton. 794 
Charles II becomes King, 89; re- 
ceives request to ratify Hartford 
Treaty, 92; gives charter to Duke 
of York for land from the Con- 
necticut River to Delaware Ray, 
92; favorites of receive New Jer- 
sey, declares war against Flolland, 
100. confirms title of Duke of 
York to his province, loS; dies, 
127 
Charter amendments. 337, 362, 392 
Charter of Creater New York. 407 
"Charter of Liberties and Privi- 
leges." most important act of First 
.\ssembly, its provisions, 125-126; 
vetoed bv King James, 129 
Charter fo'r New Netherland from 

Dutch West India Company, 5,i 
Charter Revision P.ill, 413 
Chatham Karl of. 237; see Pitt. 

William 
Cheever. Charles A.. 463 
Chesapeake. frigate, attacked by 

British man-of-war Leopard, i20 
Children's .\id Society, 3.S6 
Childs, William A., 462 
Chinnock. Charles E.. 465 
Choate. loseph H.. 390, 426 
Cholera epidemic (1832, 1834). 3=9; 
(1849) y-.s: (1866), 385; (1867), 
3S6 
Christiaensen, Hendrick, 27. 28, 29 
Christin (ColoneD, 372 
Church of England. Fletcher tries to 

establish it. 147 
Cisco. John J., 372 
Citizens Genet and Gompard get an 

ovation, 304, 305 
City accounts kept in Dutch until 

1672. 112 
City finances <i7i7-i7-7)- I'S 
City government, form of. estab- 
lished by Governor Nicolls, 99 
City Hall in Wall Street, 159. 160 
City Hall at Wall and Nassaii 
Streets becomes New Federal 
Hall, 2q5 
City Hall built, 313 
City Records first kept in English 

in 1674, 112 
Claessen, Hans, 29 
Claflin, John, 744 
Clapp, Edward Everett, 523 
Clarence, Duke of, 287 
Clarendon, Third Earl, Lord Corn- 
bury becomes, 168 
Clark, .\aron. 346 
Clark (Colonel). 371 
Clark. John .Mitchell. 701 
Clarke, .\nne Hyde, 201 
Clarke, George, secretary of prov- 
ince, 177; owned a spinet, i;o; 
acted as president of Council. 19S; 
selected by Cosby as his succes- 
sor, and receives commission as 
lieutenant governor, 198: biogra- 
phy. 199; incensed at .\ssembly 
he dissolves it, and its successor, 
200; orders seamen impressed in 
city, but Mayor Richard will not 
permit it, 200-201; wife dies, 201; 
declares in speech that the Colo- 
nies are becoming disloyal, 202: 
sui)crseded by arrival of Governor 
Clinton, goes to England to live. 



203; his report on e.xiiorts and 
trade, 442, 443 
Clarke, Thomas, 145, 147 
(Tlarkson, David, 262 
Clarkson, Matthew, 313 
(Jlavear, i\drian (Captain), 165 
Clay, Henry, 338, 339, 3 50 
Cleveland, Grover, ,197, 399. 400, 

403, 405, 406 
Clift, Edward Henry, 790 
Clinton, De Witt, first student to 
enter Columbia College, of which 
was honor graduate, 295; ap- 
pointed mayor (1803), and biog- 
raphy, 312; took active part in 
planting public school system of 
New York, 313-314: originator 
of Council of ,\ppointment, 314: 
several terms as mayor, 315; also 
elected lieutenant governor while 
still mavor, 325 ; nominated by 
Federal Party for President, 326 : 
his preparation of city for War 
of 1812, 328; removed from 
mavoraltv, but elected governor, 
328: recommends law which past, 
freeing slaves, 3^9-330; Vice 
President for eight years, 330 ; 
is toasted by General Jackson, 
330-331; great promoter of Erie 
Canal, and again governor, 332; 
".Mbanv Regency" removes him 
from Canal Commission, .33S. 
and popular indignation makes 
him governor again until his 
death, 3^6; chief figure of Canal 
Celebration in New York, 336- 
^37; dies suddenly in .\lbany, 
3 3S 
Clinton, George (Commodore"), 
royal governor of New York, 
his career, 203; chooses Chief- 
Justice De Lancey as adviser, dis- 
'solves ,\ssembly and calls new 
one, gives De Lancey new com- 
mission as chief justice, 204; 
vigorous policy with Indians, and 
war preparations. 20^-206; break- 
ing with De Lancev he leans on 
Colden, appoints William Johnson 
at head of Indian affairs, 206; 
antagonized by .Xssemblv on sub- 
ject of specific appropriations, 206- 
207 ; makes changes in Council, 
succeeded in governorship by Sir 
Danvers Oshorn, 207; an unsuc- 
cessful administration, 208; later 
career and death. 207 
Clinton, Admiral George, 26S 
Clinton, George, first governor of 
State of New York; elected to 
Continental C o n g r e s s , 261 ; 
elected governor, 283 ; recipient, 
with General Washington of joint 
reception. 289; head of Council 
for Southern District of New 
York. 292 ; President W ashing- 
ton dines with him on day of 
inauguration, 297 : again, with 
help of Tammany, elected gov- 
ernor, 303: daughter marries 
Citizen Genet, 304; nominated 
for Vice President, 309; again 
elected governor, 312; elected 
Vice President, 315; "ody 
brought from Washington to 
Kingston, N. Y., 418 
Clinton, Sir Henry, 268, 278. 288 
Clinton. Tames. 274 
Clinton-Jay. election, 303 
"Clinton's Folly," 332 
Clipper ships, 332 
Clipper ship building in New \ ork, 

3.=i9 
Clopper, Cornelius, 262 
Cobb, Howell, 368 
Cod banks discovered near Sandy 

Flook. 105 
Coddington, David S., 371 
Coddington, Jonathan I., 347 
Coins current in New Netherland 
and Colonial New York, 436, 43. , 
438, 439 



Colli winters I1S17I, m: I 1806- 

1867). 382 
Colden. Cadwallader (Dr.), appoint- 
ed to Council, 177; writer on 
Zenger's Journal, 191: Cosby's 
wrath against him, 192; confidant 
of Governor Clinton, 206; who 
asks, unsuccessfully, that he be 
appointed lieutenant governor, 207; 
as president of Council becomes 
acting governor, receives commis- 
sion as lieutenant, governor, 216; 
and acts until arrival of General 
Robert Monckton, governor gen- 
eral, 217; again acts as governor 
during Monckton's service at Mar- 
tiniipie, 219; and a year later is 
once more left in charge, 220; 
calls the .\ssembly, which pre- 
sents an address with strong ex- 
pressions with reference to Eng- 
lish liberty, 221; the Stamp Act 
having roused resentment among 
the people and riots having oc- 
curred in Pioston. he asks Gen- 
eral Gage to furnish a force to 
protect public property, 224; ar- 
ranges protection for stamp-ship 
and, finding Sir Henry Moore is 
expected, postpones action on 
stamp matter. 227; agrees that 
stamps, lodged in the fort, be 
taken to the citv hall, 230; super- 
seded bv arrival of Governor Sir 
Henry Moore, 233; again acting 
governor after his death and calls 
new ,\ssembly, 244: administers 
government for tliirteen months 
until arrival of the Earl of Dun- 
more as governor. 249: grants 
charter to Chamber of Commerce, 
249, 293; successfuUv resists 
claim of Earl to half his salary, 
returns to governorship when 
Tryon sails for England, 258; 
governs passively until Tryon's 
return and retires to his home 
in 1-Tushing until his death, his 
characteristics and his literary 
work. 263; report on coins, 437 
Colden, Cadwallader D., 331 
Cole, Lenaert, 41 
Coleman, sailor of Half-Moon, 23 
Collect Pond, massacre near, 57 
College of the City of New York, 

Colored Orphan .\sylum burned by 
mob, 376 

Columbia College, formerly King s 
College, opens. 295; receives grant 
of Governor's Island and other 
lands and cash from State Assem- 

^^V' 299,, . 

Columbia University, 413 

Columbus. Christopher, discovers 
America, 17; four-hundredth an- 
niversary, 402, 403 

Colve, Anthony, lands six hundred 
men, secures surrender of Fort 
Tames, and is made governor, 
serving until Treaty of West- 
minster, restores the Colony to 
the English, 108: his creditable 
administration, 109 

Commerce falls off after English 
occupation, 102 

Commission lays out the city from 
Houston Street to Harlem, 323 

Committee of Correspondence of 
Fifty-one, 259; withdrawals from, 
260 . , 

Committee of Grievances appointed 
by .\sseinbly formulates charges 
against Cornbury, 167 

Committee of Observation, 260-261 

Committee of One Hundred (Revo- 
lutionary) elected, 260; list 01 
members, 261 . , o 

Committee of Safety selected, 138: 
its members, 139; supports Leisler 
and requests him to act as lieu- 
tenant governor, 140 

Common Council, first under state, 
292 



INDEX 



Comparative exchanges of United 
States cities, 44^ 

Comstock. Louis K., 710 

Cone, Ceasar, 763 

Confederate States organized, 370 

Conkling, Roscoe (Senator), 395, 
397. 401 

Connecticut, about half of it in- 
cluded in commission of Governor 
NicoUs, boundary fixed by Nicolls, 
98 

Connecticut Assembly has delegates 
from Long Island, 89 

Connecticut claims Long Island, 90 

Connecticut River called Fresh 
Water River, 29 

Connecticut Valley settled by Eng- 
lish, 54 

Connolly, Richard D., 387. 3SS, 389. 
390, 391 

Connor, Washington Everett, 564 

Conover, Daniel D., 363 

Conover, Samuel S., 559 

Conservative opinion against war, 
368 

Constant, Joseph, 313 

Constitution (frigate) captures Brit- 
ish frigate Guerriere, 326 

"Constitutional Courant," revolu- 
tionary publication, 225 

Contagious diseases, retreat for pa- 
tients established, 307 

Continental Army, The American, 
266 

Continental Congress delegates 
chosen, 260 

Continental Congress plan endorsed 
by Committee of Fifty-one, 259- 
260 

Continental forces in New York, 

^ ^^-^ - 

Convention of Representatives of 

the State of New York, 272 
Cook, Frederick A. (Ur.), 420 
Cook, Henry F., 889 
Cooper, Edward, 369, 397 
Cooper, Peter, 365 
Coote, Richard, see Bellomont, Earl 

Cbpeland. Charles C.. 802 

Copeland. William S., 390 

Corbett, Marshall Joseph, 6=;4 

Corbin, Floyd Stewart, S26 

Corbit, Abraham, assistant alderman, 
129 

Corcoran, Michael (Colonel), 371 

Corey. William Ellis, 666 

Corlaer's Hook (see also \'an Cor- 
laer), 51 

Cornbury Charter concerning ferry 
privileges, 183 

Cornbury, Lady Katherine, 166 

Cornbury. Lord, governor of New 
York, biography, 161 ; aligns him- 
self with anti-Leislerian party, 
161-162; reverses sentence of Nich- 
olas Bayard and dismisses Leis- 
lerians from the Council, 163; 
commission confirmed by Queen 
Anne, borrows a house from a 
Presbyterian clergyman and soon 
after turns it over to an Episco- 
palian, 163; diverts defense funds 
to his own use, 164; Assembly 
tliereupon insists on having its 
own treasurer and is sustained bv 
the home government, 165 ; ^'if^ 
dies in New York, he is of dissi- 
pated habits, but a regular attend- 
ant at church and persecutes 
pastors who are not of the Angli- 
can communion, 166; secures 
Queen's Farm in fee simple for 
Trinity Church. 167; New York 
Assembly and many citizens peti- 
tion for his recall, with charges, 
and he is deposed, 167, 168; jailed 
for debt, his bad character, 168; 
recei ves Lord Lovelace, his suc- 
cessor, 169; action on coins, 436 

Cornell. Alonzo E.. 395 

Cornell, Thomas. 59 

CornwalHs, Lord. 279, 282, 288 

Cortelyou, George Bruce, 459, 618 

Cortelyou, Jacques, 86 



Cosby, William (Colonel), governor 
of New York, arrives with his 
wife. Lady Cosby, and two chil- 
dren, 187; his daughter's romance 
and marriage to Lord Augustus 
Fitzroy, 188; social splendors and 
white slavery during his admin- 
istration, i8S-i89; demands that 
\'an Dam divide his salary with 
htm, but \'an Dam refuses. i8g; 
sues him for it, but fails, and in 
rage at the result dismisses Chief- 
Justice Lewis Morris and appoints 
James De Lancey, 190; quarrels 
with the Assembly, sells offices 
and special privileges. 191; is criti- 
cised by the New York Journal, 
and he prosecutes Peter Zenger. 
its proprietor, who, after long im- 
prisonment, is tried and acquitted, 
191-197; his peculations and op- 
pressions, is taken ill and dies, 
198 

Cosby. William, Jr., 187, i88 

Council of New Netherland, ordi- 
nances, 54 

Council for Southern District of 
New York, 292 

Council of Appointment, The, 314 

Counties, or shires, created by First 
Assembly, 126 

Coventry (H. M.S.), 23-^ 

Courcelles, Sieur de. governor of 
Canada, loi 

Court at Fort Orange, 81 

Court of Assize, 99 

Court of Chancery established, 174; 
denounced by Assembly, 181, 183 

Court of Common Pleas estab- 
lished, 129 

Court-martial in Revolutionary camp, 
-7 1 

Cowles, David Smith, 888 

Cozzens. Stanley Thayer, 784 

Crane, James (Dr.), 385 

Crary. Lieutenant-Colonel, 277 

Crawford, William H., 33S 

Creeden (Police Captain), 406 

Creek Indians and Tammany Soci- 
ety, 300 

Cregier, Martin, 83. 85, 95 

Cremer, J, T.. 429 

Crime centers of ante bclhnn days 
in New York. 362 

Crol, Bastiaen Janszen. officiates as 
visitor of the sick and lay-reader, 
director of the post at Fort Or- 
ange. 45; second director general 
of New Netherland, 45; pursues 
the ship, The William, and brings 
it back. 48-49 ; records carried to 
Amsterdam. 54 

Cromwell, Oliver, 85. 89 

Cromwell. William Nelson, 922 

Cross (Police Captain), 406 

Croton project authorized by vote, 

341 

Crosby. Howard (Dr.), 357 

Croton Celebration, 347. 348 

Crown Point captured. 217 

Cruger, John. 181, 201 

(ilruger, John, 218, 226, 229, 230, 
^3r-^ 237. 240. 242, 244, 257 

Cruger, John Harris, 235 

Cruikshank. Warren, 814 

Crystal Palace. The. 358. 359: de- 
stroyed by fire. 367 

Cunningham, Captain, 281, 282 

Currie, Archibald, 294 

Currie. David, 294 

Curtenius, Peter T., 259, 262 

Curtiss. Glenn, 432 

Custom House ( State) established. 

-94 
Customs revenue violations, 155 
Cutler, Charles Frederick, 465 

Daille. Pierre (Domine), 125 

Dale, Chalmers, 920 

Dallas, George M.. 3^0 

Damen (or Dam). Jan Jansen, 58, 

61, 62, 63, 70, 72 
Darboux, Jean Gaston, 429 
Darkins. Robert, 145 
Dartmouth, Lord, 263 



Darwin, Charles, 418 

Davenport, Captain, 281 

Davies (Colonel), 372 

Davis, Jefferson, 369, 370 

Davis, Richard (Captain), 165 

Day, Arthur Franceway, 833 

Deane, Silas, 284 

Decatur (Captain), 327 

Declaration of Independence read 
to troops in New York, 272 

Declaration of Rights and Griev- 
ances, 226 

De Courcey, Major, 281 

De Brown, John, assistant alderman, 
129 

De Forest, Henry, 51 

De Forest, Isaac, 51 

Degnon, Michael John, 892 

De Haven, Edwin J. (Lieutenant), 
357 

De Heister, General, 275, 276, 278 

Dehon, Theodore, 372 

De Kalb, Baron, 284 

De Kay, John Wesley, 862 

De Kay, Teunis, 129 

De La Fayette, see La Fayette, Mar. 
quis de 

Delamater, Cornelius H., 450 

De La Montagne's Tavern. 245, 247, 
252 

De Lancey, James, appointed judge 
and later chief justice by Cosby, 
190; takes part in W'estcliester 
election, rules against Quaker 
vote, 193; presides in Zenger trial 
and expels Alexander and Smith 
from the bar, 194-196; is tlie con- 
fidant of Governor Clinton until 
his own commission is renewed, 
then becomes indifferent and later 
hostile to the governor, 204; his 
brother-in-law. Sir Peter Warren, 
secures him commission as lieuten- 
ant governor, 205 ; allies hmiself 
with popular narty, 206; receives 
his commission, 207; becomes ac- 
tive lieutenant governor, 210; his 
early career, 211; adroitness in 
dealing with the Assembly, 212; 
presides over Intercolonial Con- 
vention at Albany. 212-213; is 
superseded by appointment of Sir 
Charles Hardy as governor, but 
retains chief-justiceship. 215; on 
Sir Charles Hardy's retirement 
from governorship he resumes its 
duties, for more than a year, until 
his death, 216; his efforts secure 
for New York its choice by Brit- 
ish Government as supply point 
for army in French and Indian 
\Var, 217 

De Lancey, James, 235, 240, 291 

De Lancey, John, 259. 262 

De Lancey, Colonel Oliver, 253, 282. 
283. 291 

De Lancey, Peter. 331 

De Lancey, .Stephen, 143, iSo, 181 

De Lanoy, Peter, 129, 139, 140 

Delavall. Tohn. 129 

Delavall, Thomas (Captain), 98, 99. 
104, 1 10 

Delaware. Lackawanna and Western 
Railroad, 448 

Delaware (South) River, visited by 
t7orneIis Hendrickscn and later 
Dutch voyagers, 37 

De Leon, Edwin Warren. 625 

De Lesseps. Count Ferdinand, 400 

De Lima, Elias S. A., 596 

Dellius, Godfreidus (Domine), 157. 
I 59 

De Long, George W., (Commander), 

399 
De Meyer. Nicholas, 95, 129. I44 
I)eMilt. Anthony. 108, 113 
I)cmi]t Dispensary, 356 
Denning. \Villiam, 262 
I )enton. Richard, 139 
Depew, Chauncey M., 400. 410 
De I'eyster, Abraham, 129, 145. i.sfi. 

163, 171. 173. 177. 178 
De Peyster, Johannes. 87, 108, 113. 

114. 155 
De Peyster (Lieutenant), 379 



944 



HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



IJe Peyster, J. Watts (General), 1S7 

Deputies to First Provincial Con- 
gress. 262 

De Rasieres, Isaac, 40, 41, 45 

])e Reiner, Mayor, 162 

De Ruvter, Dutch admiral, destroys 
English ships and shipyards, 101 

Dervall, William, iii, 112, 119, 120 

l)esbrosses, Elias, 240, 259 

Desbrosses, James, 262 

De Sille, Nicasius, 85, 88, 94 

Development of the commerce of 
New York, 439-443 

Devery, William (Police Chief), 
406 

De Vries, David Pieterz, 47, 48, 49, 
51, 5S, 56, ';8, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 

6s . , 

De Witt, Jan (Captain), 27, 29 

De Witt, Simeon, 322 

Dey Street opened, 207 

Dickinson, Daniel S., 371 

Dickinson, John, 226 

Dieskau, Baron, captured at Lake 
(3eorge, 217 

Dighv, Admiral, 287, 291 

Dink'el, George, 811 

Dircksen, Darent, 63 

Dircksen, Gerrit, 58 

Directors-General of New Nether- 
land; 

Peter Minuit, 38 
Bastiaen Janszen Crol, 45 
Wouter van Twiller, 47 
Wilhelm Kieft, 52 
Pieter Stuyvesant, 67 

Discovery of America, tercentennial 
celebration of, 303 

Discussion before Civil War, 367 

Dix, John Adams, 368, 369, 37°. 

Dix's American flag message, 369 
I)obbs, Governor Arthur, 251 
Documents sold as waste paper, 40, 

54 
Dodd, Amzi S., 463, 465 
Dodge, William Earle, 357. 3/2 
Doherty, Henry Latham, 600 
Dommerich, Louis F., 747 
Dongan Charter, its provisions, 128 
Dongan, John, 133 
Dongan, Thomas (Colonel), fourth 
English governor, 121; biography, 
is a Catholic, 123; comes to P.os- 
ton and thence overland, his re- 
ception and appointments, 124; 
calls for election of General 
Assembly, 125; dissolves it on 
death of Charles II, calls another 
Assembly, 127; grants city its 
first cliarter, 128; title changed 
to captain general and governor 
in chief, 120; his report to the 
Plantations Committee in London, 
his advice on annexation of Con- 
necticut and the Jerseys, 130; 
takes up Indian problem, makes 
pact with Iroiiuois, and spends the 
winter in Albany, I3"; New 
York and New Jersey are added 
to New England under Andros, 
and Dongan resigns his authority, 
remains in New York as large 
landed proprietor, is charged with 
being in Papist plot and conspir- 
acy, but escapes to England, 132; 
his later history, 133 

Dongan, Thomas, 133 

Dongan, Walter, 133, 199 

Donnelly (Colonel). 372 

Dougherty (Captain). 406 

Doughty, Francis (Rev.), 59, 60. 63. 
66 

Douglas, Colonel, 277 

Douglas, William Harris, 645 

Dow, Garrett, 145 

Dowjing, Robert E., 820 

Downtown property refused as gift. 

■5-3 
Draft Kiots, 375-378 
Draper, Simeon, 362, 372 
Draper, Sir William, 253 
Drewry, William Powell. 771 
Driggs. Marshall Sylvanus, 632 
Drisius, Samuel (liomine), 82, 105 



Duane, James, 259, 260, 261, 262, 

283, 292, 293, 298 
DuBois Cornelius, 509 
Due de Joinville visits New York, 

366 
Dudley, Joseph, chief justice, 144, 

145, 146 
Duer, William, 283, 295 
Duke of York (see also James II) 
Instructions to Nicolls, 98-99 : 
grants New Jersey to court fav- 
orites, tries to modify grant, 100; 
title to province confirmed by 
Charles II, jo8 
Duke's Laws, the, 99, 106, 113 
Dunmore, Earl of, governor of New 
York, 249; claims half of Colden's 
salary, but is defeated, ob- 
tains liberal grants, and volun- 
teers for expected war between 
Great Britain and Spain, 250: 
promoted to governorship of Vir- 
ginia, 251; his satisfactory ser- 
vice in New York, and unpopular 
one in \'irginia, 2S2: dissolves 
Virginia House of Burgesses for 
disloyalty, 254 
Dunraven, Lord, 400 
Dunscomb, Daniel, 262 
Duryee, Abraham, 259, 262, 294 
Duryee (Colonel), 354, 355 
D'Utassy, (Colonel), 371 \ 
Dutch Church supported by general 

taxation, 106 
Dutch East India Company con- 
tracts with Hudson, 22; Hudson 
reports to, 26; mentioned, 35 
Dutch fleet makes raid up James 

River, 102 
Dutch inhabitants required to re- 
new titles and to take modified 
oath of allegiance, 99; required 
to take unconditional oath of al- 
legiance, 113; which they do after 
hesitation and litigation. 114 
Dutch mate of Half-Moon heads 

second voyage, 2"; 
Dutch Navy, ^ defeated at Lowes- 
toft, too; victorious in the Med- 
way and does damage in the 
Thames, 101 
Dutch \Vest India Company char- 
tered. 35 
Dutch West India Company plans 
for colonization in New Nether- 
land. 5,s 
Duval. Cleorge L., 649 
Duyckinck. (k-rardus. 259. 262 
Duyckinck. Gerardus. 294 
Dwigllt. Theodore. 3S7 
Dyre. Captain William, in. 112. 

119. 121 
Eagle, Dutch emigrant ship, 38 
East Riding of Yorkshire, division 

of Long Island, 98 
East India Company's tea charter. 

255 
East Jersey, granted to Sir George 
Carteret by Duke of York, who 
afterwards tries but fails to get 
it back; Philip Carteret becomes 
governor: Andros under his com- 
mission claims jurisdiction and in- 
structs Carteret to use no author- 
ity; he disobeys, is arrested, tried 
and acquitted and on appeal to 
England New Jersey is declared 
entirely separate from New York. 
1 17 
East River bridge bills pass at Al- 
bany, 382 
Eaton, Frederick Heber, 674 
Eaton, Governor, his correspondence 

with Stuyvesant, 73 
Kbbingli, Jeronimtis, 108 
Eddy. Thomas. 313 
Edgar. William, 313 
Edison, Thomas -A., 461 
Edsall, Samuel, 139, 140 
Edward, stamp-ship, 227 
Edwards, Tonathan, 307 
Edwards, Timothy (Rev.), 308 
Edson. Franklin, 397 
Edwards, Captain, 281 
Eelkens, Henry, 35 



Eelkens, Jacob, 28, 38, 48. 49 

Eendracht ship, carrying Minuit and 
party, detained by Englisli, 43; re- 
leased after diplomatic corre- 
spondence, 44 

Egyptian Obelisk brought to New 
York. 395 

Eight Men. elected by Common- 
wealth, 62 

Elbensen, Elbert, 74 

Election of Mr. Lincoln to Presi- 
dency, 366 

Election riots, 340 

Electoral Commission, 394 

Electric service in New York. 459, 
461, 462 

Elevated railways, 449, 450, 451 

Elizabethtown, seat of government 
of East Jersey, 1 1 7 

Elkus, Abram I.. 935 

Eliot, Hon. Andrew. 291 

Elliott. Mortimer F.. 912 

Ellsworth, Ephraira Elmer(Colonel), 
371. 372 

Ely, Smith, 393, 397 

Emanuel, John Henderson, Jr., 592 

Embargo Act cripples commerce, 
321. 443 

Embell. Lawrence, 262 

Embree, George, 294 

Embree, Lawrence, 294 

Emery, Joseph H., 789 

Emott, James, 147, 158 

Emperor and Empress of Brazil visit 
New York, 393 

English claim to New Netherland, 
27, 28, 36, 37; based on John 
Cabot's voyage, 27 
English claims to New Netherland, 

36, 37, 43. 44 
English fleet reaches Boston Har- 
bor and recruits, 93; sails to New 
York Bay, 94 
English language to be used in civic 

afi'airs, 99 
English settlers support Stuyvesant, 

79 
Engs. Philip W., 383 
Enrollment .\ct passed, 374 
Enrollment for the Draft begins, 

375 
Episcopalians drive out Presbyterian 

worshipers, 164 
Eric, the Red, 17 
Erie Canal celebration. 336, 337 
Erie Canal Commission, 332 
Erie Railroad completed from Lukes 

to New York. 358. 446 
Erskine, (British minister), 321 
Esopus surrenders to English, 98 
Eulalia, Princess (Spanish). 405 
Evarts. William M.. 372, 400 
Evertsen. Cornells. 107 
Evetts. Tames. 147 
Exchange established by Governor 

Lovelace, 105 
Execution of Nathan Hale. 281 
Exemption clause of Enrollment 

.Act denounced. 374 
Explorations, of American Coast, 

17. 21 
Faber. Eberhard, 877 
Fairchild, Samuel William. 841 
F'aneuil Hall Meeting in Boston, 

Fanning, Colonel Edmund, 291 

Farrington, Thomas. 66 

Fearey, Frederick Tysoe, 696 

Fellows, General, 274 

Fcndall. governor of Maryland, 
makes claim to land on Dela- 
ware, 8S 

Ferguson, John, 329 

Ferris, Isaac (Rev. Dr.), 357 

Ferry privilege to Breukelen, 179 

Feustman, Leon Philip, 713 

Field, Cyrus W., 365. 384. 385. 4-" 

Filkin. Francis. 229 

Fillmore. Millard, 369 

Fire destroys much of the City, in- 
cluding Trinity Church, (1776), 
281 

Fire destroys fifty houses (i777). 
287 

Fire, largest in history of city, 341 



INDEX 



945 



Fire of 1845. 350 

Fire Department, first established. 

73 

Fire Department (paid) established. 

Fire-water introduction of, 25 
First American post office in i\ew 

York opened, 296 
First Congress meets in New 

York, 29S 
First horse railroad, 339 
First houses on Manhattan Island. 

First white child born in Manhat- 
tan, s8 

Fish, Hamilton, .172 

Fish, Nicholas (Colonel). 335 

Fish, James T., -^qS 

Fitzroy, Lord Augustus, 188 

Five Nations. Indians, 31; overawe 
the coast tribes, ;i^ 

Five Points House of Industry, 
356. 

Five Points Mission, 356 

Flagler, Henry Morrison, 492 

Flatlands (see also New Amers- 
foot), 50 

Fleischer, Nathan. 712 

Fleitmann, Frederick Theodore, 768 

Fleitmann, William Medlicott, 769 

Fleming, Edwin, 262 

Fletcher, Eenjamin (Colonel), gov- 
ernor of New York, 144; swears 
in Council,^ aligns himself with 
Anti-Leislerians, though he par- 
dons Leisler's condemned com- 
panions on the command of the 
King, 145 : controversy with Gover- 
nor Sir William I'hinps, abolishes 
bolting and bakinc: monopoly, calls 
an Assembly, and takes action. 
a French-Indian invasion. 146 ; 
endeavors to establish Church of 
England in province and issues 
charter for Trinity Church, 147: 
commission gives him authoritv 
over militia of Connecticut, and 
the Jerseys, and full iurisdiction 
over Pennsvlvania and I^elaware. 
148-49 ; appoints deputy gover- 
nor for Pennsylvania, induces 
William Bradford to establish first 
press in New York, 1*19; charged 
with aiding pirates, financial ir- 
regularities, receiving bribes, ex- 
cessive land grants, i!;o; he is re- 
called, 151; his leases, 156-157: 
friend of pirates, 441 

Flint, Charles Ranlett, 657 

Floridas ceded to Great Britain by 
Spain, 220 

Flower, Roswell Pettibone, 403, 405 

Floyd, John P., 36S 

Flovd. William. 261 

Folliot, George, 262 

"Folly of England and Ruin of Am- 
erica. The," 224 

Forbes, W. H. (Colonel), 46s 

Foreman. Tosttua, 336 

Forrest, Captain, 281 

Forrest. Edwin. 351, 352, 353. 

Forrester, claims governorship of 
Long Island. 73 

Forster. William, iqi 

Forstman. C. Julius, 796 

Fort Amsterdam built. 40: town 
changed to Fort William Henry, 
53 

Fort Anne becomes Fort George. 
175 

Fort Casimir erected on Delaware 
River by Stuyvesant, 81; captured 
by Swedes, 86; recaptured by 
Stuyvesant, 87 

Fort Christina built by Swedes. 
54; taken by Stuyvesant. 87 

Fort Frontenac captured. 217 

Fort George, 175, 177, 227. 229; de- 
molished, 298 

Fort James, declaration of war read 
at its gates, 106; its surrender de- 
manded by the Dutch, 107; it is 
delivered to them and name 
changed to Fort William Henry, 
108 
60 



Fort Knyphausen, 279 

Fort Lee, capture of, 279 

Fort Nassau on North River founded 
by Christaensen. 28; pulled down 
by Stuyvesant. 81 

Fort Nassau on SouthRiver founded 
by Cornells May. settled by Wal- 
loons, 38 ; families removed to 
Manhattan and fort abandoned, 

Fort Niagara built by French, 180; 
captured by British. 217 

Fort Orange built on present site of 
Albany. 37 ; families of removt 
to Manhattan, because of Indian 
trouble, 41 ; court established at, 
81: surrenders to English and 
named Albany, 98 

Fort Oswego built, 178 

Fort Washington, capture of, 279 

Fort ^\'illiam. name of the fort in 
New York after accession of Wil- 
liam and Marv. 145 

Fort ^^'illiam Henry name given lo 
Fort Tames by Governor Colve, 

inS 

Fortune, The (Christiaensen's ship), 

voyage of, 27; goes up the Hud- 
son, 28; Adriaen Block returns in. 

29 
Fortune (ship) evades navigation 

laws, IS?; 
"Forty-five." popular rally-cry of 
Sons of Liberty, 247 
Fox, (.^leorge, the Quaker, preaches 

at Flushing. 106 
Franklin. Benjamin, 225- 284 
Franklin, Sir lohn. 357. 358, 366 
Franklin (Lady), 357, 366 
Franklin, Thomas, Jr., 245 
Franklin, Walter. 262, 438 
Fraunces. Samuel, 266 
Fraunces' Tavern, mect'ng at, 259; 

hole shot in roof, 266: Washine- 

ton's residence in 17S3, 290 
Frederick. Prince of Wales. 249 
Fredericke. Kryn, engineer, builds 

Fort Amsterdam. 40 
Free City, proposal that New York 

shoula become. 360 
Frelinghuysen. T.. 3^0 
French and Indian War, 217 
French Church, t66, 168, 180, 281 
French march against Five Nations. 

34 
French privateer off Sandy Hook. 

164 
French prizes captured, 16;; 
French seize Indians in New York. 

131 
French traders prohibited but later 

taxed, 178 
French-Indian invasions of New 

York. 141, 146 
Fresh Water (Connecticut) River 

discovered by Adriaen Block, 29 
Friends' Meeting House. 206 
Friends of Liberty and Trade, 217 
Frontenac's campaign against the 

Colonies, 140, 141 
Fulton. Robert, 3i,s. 316, 317, 318. 

319. 320. d24. 426 

Funeral ceremonies for George 
A\'ashington, 308 

Gabry, Timotheus, 95 

Gadsden, Christopher, 226 

Gage, Gen., 224, 241, 2S9. 260 

Gaillard, William Eyre Gibson, 818 

Gaine, Hugh. 283. 438 

Galen, (Consul), 322 

Gallatin, Albert, 345 

Garfield, James A., 395, 397, 401 

Garrison. William Lloyd, 340 

Gary, Elbert Henry. 496 

Gas pipes first laid in New York, 

337 
Gas supply of New York, 456, 457. 

458. 459 
Gates, Gen., 286, 2S8 
Gawtry. H. E., 459 
Gawtry, L. R., <a59 
Gay life in Tory New Y'ork. 283 
Gaynor, William J., 405, 406, 421 



Gemeende (or Commonalty), 58 

General Assembly, see Assembly, 
General 

General Assembly of Province of 
New York, last meeting of, 261 

Genet, Edmond Charles Edouard, 
304. 305 , 

Gennerich, George, 856 

George I proclaimed King, 175; li- 
cense to William Wood to make 
coins, 437 

George II becomes King, 181: ap- 
proves Montgomerie Charter, 184 

George III becomes King and aligns 
himself with the Tories, makes 
Bute minister and inaxigurates 
policy of bribery and corruption, 
220; personal loyalty of colonies, 
233' 234. 235; his statue, made of 
lead, heavily gilded, set up in 
Bowling Green, 249; statue over- 
turned and melted into bullets for 
Continental Army, 272 

George, Henry, 409 

George, Henry, Jr.. 409 

German Lutheran churches, 295 

Gerritsen, Martin, 47 

Gerritsen, Wolfert, so 

Gerry, Elbridge. 326 

GibI), Arthur. 775 

Gibb. Henry Elmer, 751 

Gideon, ship. 97 

Gilbert, \\'illiam W., 262, 292 

Gildersleevc, Oliver, 650 

Gilroy, Thomas S., 403 

Gnddard, Giles. 125 

Godvn, Samuel. 42 

Goclet. Tohn. iq? 

Goelet. Peter. 262 

Goff, Tohn \y., 406 

Goforth. William, 262 

Golden Hill, battle of, 246 

Gomez, Estevan, explorer, 19, 21 

Gompard (Citizen), 305 

Good Fame of New York, ship, 105 

Goodrich, Edward Ismon, 791 

Gordon, John, (Rev.), 125 

Gorringe. Henry H.. 395 

Gouverneur, .\braham, 146, 150, 156 

Governor Morgan calls for troops, 
373 

Governor's Island, 50; Governor 
Cornbury's country seat, 164 

Grace. William R., 397 

Graham, James, 119, 127, 129, 131, 
145 

Graham. William A.. 357 

Gramercy Seat and Gramercy Park, 
origin of name, 293 

Grant and Ward failure, 398 

Grant, Frederick Dent, (Major- 
general), 426 

Grant. Hugh J., 403. 414 

Grant, I'lysses S. (General), 395* 
308, 309. 401 

Gray. William Steele, 849 

Great Britain impresses American 
seamen. 320 

Great Fire of London, lOi 

Great Gerrit, ship, 69 

Great Plague in London, tot 

Greater New York bill signed. 408 

Greater New York Cnmmission. 407 

Greater New York created. _ 4'>7 

Greater New York — population, tax- 
able property and debt at time of 
creation, 408 

Greeley, Horace. 361, 404 

Greely, Adolphus \V., 399 

Careen, Andrew H., 360^ 39'. 407 

Green, Captain John, 204 

Green, ^L, 459 

Greene. Nathaniel, General, 274. 277. 
279. 288 

Green. Warren Luqueer, 882 

Greenwich Village (formerly Sapo- 
hanican), 55 

Greveract. Isaac, 95 

Grinnell. Henry, 357. 358 

Grinnell. Moses H., 372 

"Groot River," named by Hudson, 
28, 35 

Grosjean, Florian, 73' 

Guel, S., 322 



946 



HISTORY OF XEW YORK 



Guggenheim, Daniel. Oio 
r,uine3. The, flasrsliip. 0,5 
GuiUhcr, C Godfrey, }rg 

H.nckingsacks (Indians) destroy 
plantations, 6.; 

Hajrsin, Tames Ben AH, 5^S 

Haines. John. 144 

Hale. Nathan. ;Si. 405 

Halt-Moon. Hudson's ship. 22. 2b. 
2-. 429; replica of. 4;?. 4-r, 4-S 

Hall. A. Dakey (Mayor), 3SS, 3S0. 
>oi 

Hall, Edward Hagaman (Dr.). 4-6 

H.all. (General), 354. 353 

Hall. Isaac. 63 

Hall, Thomas. 72, 73, "4, 76, 79. 94 

Hall of Fame of New York Lni- 
versitv. 413 

H.allcck. Fitz-Greene. 331 

Hallett. loscph. j?o. ;6o. 26:: 

Hallefs 'Point Rocks at Hell Gate 
blown up. 303 
' Halve Maen (see Half-Moon), 22 

Hamensen, Re\-mert, 40 

Hamilton. .Me.xander. 265. 2-4. 278. 
;q6. 305. 306. 30S. 300. 310, 311 

Hamilton.' Andrew, 106, l97 

Hamilton. Mayor. 26; 

Hamilton. (.Pohce Commissioner), 
410 

Hammond, Robert, 127 

Hampton. lohn (Rev.), 166, 167 

Hancock, lohn. 234 

HarJv. Sir Charles, governor of 
Xew York, arrives, is inautnirated 
and adds duties of Chancellor to 
those of Chief Justice DeLancey. 
215: after two years tires of gov- 
ernorship, returns to active service 
in Xavy. takes part in captvire of 
Louisbiirg and becomes vice-ad- 
miral, 216 ^^ 

Harlem, see also "New Harlem 

Harlem Heights. Battle of, 277. 27S 

Harper. James. 3.^7. 349. 3.'0 

Harrison, Eeniamtn. 401. 402. 403 

Harrison, Francis. 577, loi, 192, 

105 
Harrison, John T>. 463 
Harrison, \Vm. Henry. 326 
Hart. Eli. 34-' 
Hartford Convention, 326 
Hartford Treaty. So 
Harvey, Charles C 440 
Harvcv, Matthias, 130 
Harvey, Thomas (Father), 125, 1^5. 

Hasslacher, Jacob Pins Maria, S42 

Hathawav, (tharles. 552 

Havemeyer, William Frederick, 350, 
35 1, 372. 300. 302, 307 

Hawkins. (Colonel). 37» 

Hav. George Taber. 652 

H.a'yes. Rutlierford B., 393. 394. 395 

H.niard. Gen. Ebenezer, 296 

H.ijard. Nathaniel, 204 

Hazard, Thomas, 294 

Havden. Charles. ?74 

Heard, General. 274 

Hearst, William Randolph, 416. 4'7. 
421 

Heath, General, 274 

Heathtote, Caleb. 145, 147, 157, 174. 
177 

Heere Weg changed to Broadway. 
105 

Heeeman, Benjamin Arrowsmith. 
1r,. 692 

Hell Gate, name of East River, first 

r;.vigated hv Adriaen Bloch, 2S 
Hell Gate explosion, 303 
Helme. Benjamin, 262 
Hcndricksen, Cornelis, 29. 37 
Hendrickson. Ch,arles Le Roy. 936 
Henrv. Prince (of Prussia). 414 
Herbert. Capt,. 2S1 
Herkimer. Gen.. 2S4 
Herrman. .\u^5tine. 72. 74 , 
Hesse. John Jansen (Captain), 47 
Hewitt. .Xbram S.. 402 
Hickey, Thomas, 271 
Hicks,' Whitehead (Mayor), 229. 

244. 245. 266. 26~. 26S 
Higgins, Andrew Foster. 626 



Hii;h prices for food products 342 
Hildreth. Benjamin. 197 
Hill. David Bennett, 399 
Hill. General. 173 
Hill. James Jerome, 60S 
Hilli.ird. Tohn Gerald. 634 
Hillsborough Earl of, 241, 242, 2;o. 

2.^1 

Hind, Rev. Dr.. 272 

Hoare. John, 150 

Hobart, "Tohn Sloss (Judge), 292 

Hob.art (Colonel), 371 

Hobart. Garret -\., 40S 

Hoffman, John T.. 3S4. 3S7, 3SS 

Hoffman, Tosiah Ogden. Grand 
Sachem of Tammany, 300, 302 

Hoffman, Nicholas. 259. 262 

Holland. Edw.ard. 207, 214, 213, 21S 

Holland Henry, 43S 

Holmes, Edwin. 462 

Holmes. Stanley, 197 

Holt, Tohn. 223 

Holt, Joseph. 36S 

Home for Sick and Wounded Sol- 
diers. 373 

Hondius. Todocus. 22 

Hone. Philip. 335 

Hongers. Hans, 29 

Hood, Mr., stamp master for M.ary- 
land. 225. 231 

Hopeful, ship, 2t 

Hornblower, William Butler, 911 

Horowitz, Louis J.. 611 

Horsmanden. Daniel, 202, 206, 207, 
212. 210. 226 

Horton. Harry Lawrence. 534 

Howard. Tohri Eager. ^20 

Howe. Julia Ward fMrs.). 420 

Howe. Lord. 2-4. 27;. 2.«4 

Howe. (General Sir William. 270, 
271. 274. 27^. 276. 27S, 279 

Hubbard, James. S8. S9 

Hubbard Rev.. 164, 165 

Hudde. .-\ndreas. jr. >o. ';^ 

Hudson-Fulton Celebration Com- 
mission. 426 

Hudson-Fulton Celebration, descrip- 
tion. 424, 42;. 427. 42S. 429. 431. 

Hudson, Henry, earlier career, 20- 
21: vo\*ag^s to Spitzbergen and 
Nova Zembla, 21 : contracts with 
Dutch East India Company, seek-s 
Northeast Passage in Half-Moon. 
22: turns Westward, discovers 
New York Bav and voyages up 
Hudson River. 23-26: detained in 
England. 26: last voyage, discoy- 
erv of Hudson Bav and Strait, 
and death. 26: fruits of his re- 
port. 27 : English claim New Neth- 
erhand. because he was English, 
36; comer-stone of monument 
laid .at Spuyten Dnyvil, 431 

Hudson River, discovery of. 23 : 
bicentennial. 321, and tercenten- 
nial of discovery, 424-452; early 
history, 423, 424: royal instruc- 
tions about its navigation and 
trade. 130: its ^navigation. 42 = . 
426: bridge project. 406; names 

of. 424 

Hudson River Railroad completed 
to Albany. 3:8 

Htidson's Bav and Strait discovered. 
26 

Hughes (Archbishop). 349. .57S 

Hughes. Oiarles Evans. Governor. 
41-. 41S. 431 

Hughes. Tames M.. 202 

Huguenot (French) Church in Pme 
Street. 166. 16S. iSo: used as 
British orison. 2S1 

Huguenots in New York. 136 

Huguenots panic-stricken over 
French invasion. 141 

Hulbert. Henn- Cariton. SS; 

Hull. Is.aac (Captain). 32S 

Hull. Wm. (GencralV ^26 

Hungerford. Uri T., 717 

Hunt. Beekman, 629 

Hunt, Thomas. 197 

Hunter, Robert (General), gover- 
nor of New York, his career. 1 70 : 
his Coiir.cil. 171; colonizes the 



Palatines. 171-172: controversy 
with Rev. \Villiam N'esey, 172: 
raises troops for attack upon 
Canada, 172-173; quells Negro 
conspiracy, his excellent admin- 
istration, 174: establishes Court 
of Chancery, 174-175; concessions 
to popular rights, 175; retires 
after accession of George I. 176; 
becomes comptroller-general of 
customs for Great Britain, and 
has a literary career, becomes 
governor of Jamaica and dies 
there, 176; his ser\-ices to com- 
merce, and his report, 442 

Hurons, Indian Tribe, 31. 33: 
march against Five Nations, 34 

Hutchins. John, 162 

Hutchinson. .Anne. 39 

Hutchinson. Thomas, 253 

Huvgen. Tan, 45 

Hvde. Beniamin Talbot Babbitt. 

Hyde. Edward. \ iscount Combury, 
(see also Lord Cornburv), 163 

Imlay, J.ohn, 262 

Immigration, amount and character 

01. "346. 347. 261 
Immigration and its ertect on poll- 

ticsT 347 
Immigration falls off after panic, 

34; 
Immigration stimulated by Charter 

of Dutcll West India Company, 

Imports and exports of New York, 
444 

Inauguration of Washington as 
President. 297 

Independence League. 41 7^ 

Indian Congress in New \'"ork City, 
207 

Indian policy of Governor Burnet 
approved by .\ssenibly, iSo 

Indian trade. 17S , 

Indians, seen by Verrazano on New 
York Bay, 19: kidnaped by Go- 
mez and sold into slavery. 20 

Indians, Hudson trades with, fight 
with crew of Half. Moon, 2^: 
tribes of, east of Mississippi, 31 ; 
manners and customs of, habita- 
tions, weapons, goveniment and 
religion, 32 ; outbreak at Fort 
Orange, 41 : at war with whites, 
57-5S; treaty with, at house of 
Jonas Bronck. 56-59 : wars and 
raids of. 60: massacre of, at Pa; 
vonia, 61: retaliatorv campaign of 
open war. 61-63: Lon» Ista.-io and 
Westchester tribes. Hackingsacks 
and Tappaen Indians sign a treaty 
of peace. 62; raids and massacres 
near New .\msterdara. and at Pa- 
vonia. Stat en Island. Harlem and 
on Long Island. S7 : exchange 
seventy prisoners for powder and 
shot, ordinance a^inst Indians in 
New Amsterdam. SS : Esopus tribe 
drives Settlers out of Wiltwvck 
(Kingston), killing several, after- 
ward m.akinR a treaty, later make 
other raids but are almost wiped 
out by force of volunteers under 
Slartin Cregier, S9 
IngersoU. Tared. 326 
Ingoldesby, Richard (Major), 1+2, 

IJS. 144. 1~0. 172 

Inglis, Rev. Charles, 272, 273, 291, 
29^ 

Intercolonial Convention on Indian 
Affairs, 212 

Iroquois. Indians, 31: demand trib- 
ute from River Indians, 60 

Iroquois do not approve Oswego 
fort, 17S 

living, Washington. 360 

luersT Thomas, 202 

Ivers. Thomas. 262 

Ivins. WiUiam M., 416 

Tack-son, Andrew (General), 326, 
32S, 330, 331, 33S, 339, 340. 341, 
357. 367 



ixpnx 



947 



Jackson (Colonel), 371 

Jackson, Frank W., 732 

Jackson, General Henry, 289 

Jackson s toast to Clinton. 350 

Jacobsen, John, captain of the ship 
Three Kings. 41 

Tacohscn. Peter, alderman, 119 

Jacobus, David Schenck, 690 

James, D. Willis, 3=;" 

James. Major, 228, 229. 230 

James I, hostile to the Pilgrims, 
36; demand on States-General, 37 

James II (see also Duke of York) 
succeeds to throne, and accession 
celebrated in New York, 127 ; or- 
ders all colonies from Passama- 
quoddy to Delaware Bay to be 
consolidated in one, 132; flees to 
France, 136 

Tanewav. George, 262 

Jans, Anneke, see also Anneke Jans 
Case, 50, 51 

Jansen, Hendrick, =;S 

Jansen, Henry, 140 

Jansen, Johannes, 182 

Jansen, Machiel. 72^ yj. 

Janssen, Roeloff, 50, 51 

Tarvis. James, 294 

Jauncey, James, 240, 259 

Taures. ('Admiral). 400 

Jay, Frederick, 262 

Jay, John. 259, 261, 262, 283. 296, 
303. 305, 307* 309. 310, 316 

Jay, Peter A., 331 

Jay treaty with Great Britain causes 
excitement, ,305 

Jeannette Arctic Expedition, 399 

Jefferson, Thomas. 30;, 30J, 304. 
307, 309, 311. 321 

Jefferson's Embargo, 321 

Jenkinson (Lord Liverpool), 222 

ienningSj Robert E.. 670 

Tenny Lind visits New York, 3S7 

Tesun. Morris K.. 357 

Jewish merchants subscribe to Trin- 
ity building fund, 147 

Jewish Synagogue. 296 

Jogues, Father. 59 

Johnson. Andrew, 379 

lohnson, David, 262 

Tohnson, Sir John, 2S4 

Johnson, Samuel (Rev. Dr.), 214 

Johnson, Samuel. 292 

Tohnson, Thomas, 144, 145 
Johnson, William (later 'Sir Wil- 
liam), 206, 207, 213. 216, 217 

Tohnson. William Samuel, 226 

Johnston. David. 259 

Tchnston, John. 174, I7" 

Tohnston, Joseph E., 4m 

Toinville. (Due de), 365 
Jones, George. 390 
Jones, Richard, 182 

Tones, Samuel. 262, 312 
Jones. Thomas, 219 

Tones, Thomas (Judge). 291 

Tones, Thomas Nathaniel, 660 

Toris. Adriaen, 38 

Josephthal, Louis Maurice. 527 

Juet. Robert, Hudson's English mate, 

23, 2S, 26 
Juhring, John C, 855 
Jumel. (Madame). 310 
Jury trial established, 99 

Kalakaua. I-Cing, 303 

Kaick, Hoek (see Collect Pond), 57 

Kane, Elisha Kent (Dr.), 358 

Kearny, Phillip (General). 351 

Kearny, Stephen Watts (General), 
351 

Keene, James Robert, 926 

Kelly. John A.. 63S 

Kepner, John B.. 806 

Kempe, \Villiam, 207 

Kendall, Duchess of, 437 

Kennedy. Archibald, Captain (af- 
terward Earl of Cassilis), 219, 
224, 232, 286 

Kennedy, John A., 375, 376 

Kent, James (Chancellor), upon the 
Montgomerie Charter. 184 

Kern. Jacob S.. 418 

Keteltas, Abraham. 197 

Kateltas, Garret, 262 

Keyser, Adriaen, 70, 73 



Kidd, William, (Captain), 150, 154, 
158, 159; his backers as privateer, 
,,154 

Kieckhefer. Ferdinand, A. W., 680 
Kicft, Wilhelm, fourth director- 
general of New Netherland, com- 
missioned. 52; how he found New 
Amsterdam. 53; protests against 
Swedish settlement, 54; issues 
land patents, :;5; establishes a 
militia force, !;6 ; claims tribute 
from Indians, and precipitates In- 
dian warfare, 57. 58; anxious to 
make war, 58; controversy with 
the Twelve Men. 59; determines 
on war against Indians, 61; orders 
massacre of Indians at Pavonia, 
61 ; terrible reprisal by the In- 
dians causes him to be panic- 
stricken, he proclaims a day of 
fasting and prayer, 62- feeling 
runs high against him, and he 
asks the Commonalty for advice, 
and they elect a board of Eicht 
Men, 62, 67 ; the war continues 
with much slaughter on both sides 
64; makes treaty with Indians, 66; 
Eight ]\Ien make charges against 
Kieft. and others also complain of 
him to the Company. 63-67; his 
successor appointed, Kie'ft's fight 
with Domine Bogardus, 67; and 
ill will against Kuyter and Melyn. 
68; makes a speech. 70; curries 
favor with Stuyvesant, prefers 
charges against Kuyter and 
Melyn. and leaves for Holland, 
71 ; drowned in wreck of Prin- 
cess, 72 ; only money spent by 
him for public benefit was for 
the Church, 76 

Kies, John Clementsen, 31 

Kimball. Francis H., 898 

King. Horatio, 368 

King, John Alsop, 362, 363 

King, Peter, 145 

King. Rufus, 303, 320 

King, William R.. '358 

King. Willnrd Vinton, 542 

King's College, founded. 213: sus- 
pended and building used as hos- 
pital during Revolution, and 
changed to Columbia College after, 
295 

Kingsbridge. (village), annexed to 
New York. 383 

Kingsland. Ambrose C. 357 

Kingsley, Darwin Pearl, 622 

Kip. Hendrick Hendricksen, 72, 83 

Kip, Henry H.. 294 

Kip. Jacob, 108, 113 

Kip, Johannes, 129, 145 

Kip. John R., 204 

Kissani. Benjamin, 262 

Klipstein. August. 837 

Knight. Jolin, 129 

Kn owl ton (Colonel), 277 

J-Cnox. General. 274. 289, 292 

Knyphausen. Gen.. 279 

Koester. Grand Admiral von, 427 

Kosciuszko. General, 284 

Kriekenbeeck, Daniel, 38 

Kunhardt, Henry Rudolph, 656 

Kuyter, Jochem Pietersen^ 56, 58, 
62, 63, 70. 71, 72, 75, 86, 87 

Laboric. James (Rev.), 180 

Ladv Franklin visits New York, 

366 
La Fayette, George Washington. 

334 
La Fayette, Marquis de, 284. 294. 

334. 335* 340, 357. 393^ ,^ , 

La Fayette s visit to New York, 

334 
Laight. Edward. 2';g 
Laight, William, 262 
Lamb, John, 226. 232, 233. 244, 

24?;. 246. 2C32. 266. 274. 294 
Lambrecht. F. L.. 459 
Lamb's Artillerv removes guns from 

the Battery, 266 
Lampe, Jan, 40, 41 
La Montague, Jean (Dr.). 51, 53. 

56. 61. 66, 70. 88 
Land grants vacated. 156. i57 
Lansing. (Colonel), 371 



Lansing, (Chancellor), 310 
Lapham, Eldridge G., 397 
Lasher, John, 262 
Lawrence (Captain), 328 
Lawrence, Cornelius V'an Wyck, 

393. 340 
Lawrence. John, 66, 04, 99. 112, 125, 
^ i45j 155 

Lawrence, Jonathan, 294 
Lawrence. \Villiam. 139, 140 
Leach, Arthur Burtis', 554 
L'Ecluse, Milton Albert, 832 
Lee, (Jeneral Charles, 268, 269 
Lee, Gideon, 338 
Lee, Richard Henry, 271 
Lee, Robert E., 375, 380 
Lefaivre, M., 400 
Lefferts, Jacobus, 262 
Lefferts, Marshall (ColoneH, 371 
L'Eglise du Saint Esprit, 180 
Leisler Act. 163 

Leisler, Jacob, complains against 
Nicolaus van Rensselaer, and is 
himself arrested. 115; senior cap- 
tain of City Troop, 137; his car- 
eer. 137. 138; at request of pop- 
ular gathering takes charge of 
Fort, 138; Committee of Safety 
makes him "Captain of the fort" 
and later designates him command- 
er in chief of the province until 
instructions arrived from London, 
and New England approves, i 
asked by Committee of Safety to 
act as licutenant-Eovernor. 140; 
acts in Indian and French war 
troubles, 140; calls an Assembly, 
equips troops and a fleet against 
the French. 141 ; refuses to sur- 
render Fort to Tngoldesby. 142; 
imprisoned by Sloughter. is sen- 
tenced to be hanged and beheaded. 
143; estate_ confiscated, 144: Bel- 
lomont's view of his execution. 
153; efforts to reverse his attaind- 
er, i?3. IS4: properties restored 
to heirs by Bellomont. and bndv 
disinterred and given Christian 
burial. 156: mentioned. 162. 182 
Leisler Ian efforts against Fletcher, 

146 
Leitch. Major, 277 
Le Klercke. Daniel, 139 
T^'Enfant. ^Jajor. 206 
Lenni-Lenape. Indian Tribe. 31 ; 
subservient to Five Nations, 34 
Lenox. Capt.. 281 
T^e Pord. .^dmira1. 429 
Le Vasseur, Auguste, 334 
Leveting. Robert. 147 
Lewanoys. Indians, 31 
Lewin. John. 117. 120, 121 
Lewis, Francis, ssg. 260, 261, 262* 

283 
Lewis. Morgan. 302, 309, 310, 315 
Lexington, Battle of. stir caused by 

news. 26 T 
Lexow, Clarence, (Senator), 406, 

407 
Lierty Boys (see also Sons of TJh- 

erty), 246 
Liberty of conscience granted, 99 
IJberty Pole, 235, 236, 237, 238, 

246. 247 
Lincoln. Abraham. President. ;i66, 
367. 37". 372. 374. 37Q. 380. 418 
Lincoln's body lies in State in City 

Hall. 3fi" 
Lincoln calls for Volunteers, 371 
Lind. Jenny. 357 
Liquor consumption in Burnet's 

time. 179 
Liquor laws of Stuyvesant, 72 
Liquor ordinances. 73 
Linn. William (Dr.). 309 
Lipton, Sir Thomas. 400 
Lisman. Frederick T., 537 
Lispenard. Leonard, 226, 23S. 259. 

260, 261, 262 
Litigation over Fulton's patents, 318, 

319 

Little Fox, ship, 29 

Livingston, Brockholst. 300, 313 

Livingston. Edward. 305. 312 

Livingston. Peter H., 257 

Livingston, Peter Van Brugh, 259. 

260. 262 



948 



HISTORY OF XEJr YORK 



Livingston, I'hilip, 177 
Livingston, Philip, 207, 226. 23;. 
240, 242, 253, 257, 259, 260. 261, 
262, 283, 2g6 
Livingston. Robert, 143, 150* i5i) 

153. 154, 156, 158, I75> ^77 
Livingston Robert, Jr., 242, 261, 

283. 293 
Livingston Robert R., 219. 226, 292. 
302. 309, 316. 317. 318, 319. 33(i 
Livingston William. 223 
Livingstons. The. 314 
Lockwood. Thomas D., 46s 
Lockermans, (Covert, 72 
Lockyer, Captain, 258 
Lodowick, Charles, (Colonel). 146. 

149 
Loew, Charles E., 386 
London, (ship). 258 
Long Island, liattle of. 275, 276 
Long Island, in Ribeiro's map, 20 
Long Island — insularity discovered. 

29 
Long Island, claimed by English, 55 
Long Island Railroad, 447 
Long Island Sound, first explored 

by Adrian Block, 29 
Long Island tribes attack settle- 
ments, 63 
Long Islanders petition to be an- 
nexed to Connecticut, 106 
Lord Howe fails to find "George 

Washington. Esq.," 275 
Lott, Abraham P., 255^ 2591 260. 

262. 292, 294 
Lotteries authorized for college 
funds, 213; and for rebuilding 
Province House, 257 
Loudoun, Earl of, 217 
Louis XIV endeavors to make peace 
between England and Holland. 
100; declares war aaginst Eng- 
land, but later makes secret treaty 
of peace, 101; makes peace with 
the Netherlands, 117 
Louis XVI, 304 
Louisburg, Capture of. 216, 217 
Lounsbery, Richard Purdy. 5S6 
Love, Dutch Emigrant ship. 38 
Lovelace. Francis (Colonel), second 
Governor of New York, buys An- 
neke Jans farm, 50; comes to New- 
York. 103; Ins famil^^ and con- 
nections, and uis services to the 
Stuarts, 104; estbalishes the Mer- 
chants' Exchange, and the post to 
Boston. 105; is warned to put 
province in condition for defense. 
and he concentrates all troops at 
Fort James, 106; goes to New- 
Haven for conference with Gov- 
ernor Winthrop. and during his 
absence Fort Tames is surrendered 
107, 108; comes back to New York 
and is arrested for debts, and 
property is confiscated, the Duke 
charges him with misappropriation 
of funds, and instructs Andres 
to hold his estate; dies before 
estate is inventoried, loq 
Lovelace. John, Lord (Baron ^ of 
Hurlev). governor of New York 
and New Jersey, 168; arrives with 
wife and three sons, coming via 
Long Island Sound in Deccmbpr 
storm; after rough land journey 
over Long Island and ferry from 
Brooklyn in open boat, they land 
in New York, he and two sons 
catching cold'; from which thr-v 
never recover ; appoints new Coun- 
cil, dissolves Assembly and calk^ 
new one. 160: after wise admin- 
istration of five months, dies, his 
widow and descendants. 170 
Lovelace, Nevil (Lord), 170 
Lovelace. Thomas, 107 
Low, Abiel A.. 372 
Low, Cornelius P.. 262 
Low, Isaac. 235, 259, 260, 261, 262 
Low, Seth. 4Qg. 41.'^. 4^6 
Lower New York Bay, Hudson ar- 
rives in, 23 
Lowestoft. Battle of, 100 
Loyal Publication Society, 379 
Loyalists' estates confiscated, 291 



Luljbertsen. Frederik, 58 
Ludlow, Gabriel H., 262 
Ludlow, Gabriel W.. 259, 262 
Ludlow, George, 291 
Ludlow, (Lieutenant). 328 
Ludlow. William W'., 262 
Lupoid, Clrich. 53 
Lurtin.g, Robert. 182. 184 
Luttgen, Walther, 568 
Lusitania. steamship, 417 
Luyck, ..Egidius, 105, 106. 108, 113 
Lyons. George (Colonel). 371 

Maben. Tohn Campbell. 669 
:\IcAdoo, William G.. 418 
McAlpin, General Edwin Augustus. 

616 
McAdam, W^illiam, 259 
McCarty. Anthony J., 659 
McChesney, (Colonel), 371 
M'Cleilan. George B. (Gen.), 379- 
McClellan. George B., 370. 414. 416, 

414, 416. 417, 429, 431 
McClellan-Hearst Contest, 416 
McClellan. mayor, removes entire 

Civil Service Board, 414 
McCready- Forrest feud and result- 
ing riots, 3SI. 3'^3- 354- 3?'^ 
McCullagh. (Chief of police), 410 
McCunn. (Colonel), 371 
McCunn. John H.. 388 
McCurdy, Robert H.. 372 
McCurdy. Robert Henry, 556 
McCutchen, Charles Walter. 858 
McDonald John B., 412. 4x4 
McDougall, General Alexander, 245, 
259, 260, 261, 262, 266, 274, 295 
McDougall, James, imprisoned for 
publishing political address, and 
becomes a popular hero. 247 ; 
toasted at banquet and cheered at 
the jail. 249 ; patriotic service 
after release, 2si ; at Battle of 
White Plains. 278 
McEvers, Charles, 2^9 
McEvers, James. 224. 227, 229 
McGillvray, 300 
McKane. Tohn Y.. 405 
Mackay. George Devereux. 918 
McKean, Thomas. 226 
McKenzic, William, 808 
ATcT\inley. William. 408. 412 
McKinney, Colonel Robert Cochran, 

676 
MacMonnies. Frederick. 405 
Macready, William C, 351* 35-y 353. 

3S4. 35? 
Madison. James, 321, 3-25, ^26, 328 
^ladison's Embargo, 321 
Maerschalk, Andries. 197 
Magaw, Col., 279. 281 
Magistrates of New Amsterdam — 
their jurisdiction as fixed by Stuy- 
vesant, S3; conflict ensues, and 
magistrates appeal to the West In- 
dia Company, 84: further disputes 
with governor, 86 
Mail route to Hartford and Boston 

established — its route. 105 
Makemie, Francis, (Rev.), 166, 167 
Man. Edward, 197 

^lanhattan. first houses in, 27; Dutch 
trading post, 28; variant spellings 
and meanings. 31; families setth'l 
in. cattle brought to. 38; pur- 
chased from Indians, 40 
Manhattans. The — ^general name for 
Indians, 31, 33; overawed by Iro- 
quois. ?3 
Mann. Samuel V'ernon, Jr.. 599 
Mannlere, provost marshal, 377 
-" Manning. Tohn (Captain), 106. 107. 
108, 1 T2. T 13 
Marcy. William L.. 339 
Marest, Tean. i iq 
Marine Bank failure. 398 
Marius. Peter Jacob. 147 
JNIarkham. William, appointed deputy 

governor of Pennsylvania. 148 
Marqusee. Tulius, 87 8 
Marshall, Waldo Flail. 722 
^larston, John. 262 
Marston. Thomas. 259. 262 
Massacre of Schenectady, 141 
Mather, Increase (Rev.), 152 
Matheson. (Colonel). 372 



Matouvvacks. Indians, 31 
Matthews. David, 265, 271, 283 
Matthews, General, 279 
Mauretania, steamship, 417 
Maurice of Nassau, stadt holder. 
Mauritius River named for him, 
27 ; and Fort Nassau, 28 
Mauritius River, early name of the 
Hudson. 27 ; name soon dis- 
carded. 35 
^laverick, Samuel, 104, 105 
May, Cape, named by Cornelis Jacob- 
sen Mey, 29 
May (or Mey), Cornelis Jacobsen. 
earlv voyager, 27: discovers Cape 
Mav, aids in securing charter of 
United New Netherland Com- 
pany, 29; skipper of The Fortune. 
31; voyage in ship Glad Tidings. 
35; applies for charter, 35 
May, Cornelis, appointed captain of 
the New Netherland, 37; director 
of New Netherland. 37, 38; plants 
Colony on South River, establishes 
Fort Nassau there. 38 
Mayors of Greater (ility. Robert \'an 
Wyck, dog; Seth Low. 413: George 
B. Mc(rielan, 414, 416 ; William 
J. Gaynor, 421 
Mayor made elective by Board of 

Aldermen. 335 
Mayor made elective by people, 

339 
Mayor's Court, holds sessions m 

New Harlem. 100 
Mayors elected: Cornelius Van 
Wyck Lawrence (1834), 339; 
Aaron Clark (1S37). Isaac L. 
Varian (1839), Robert Morris 
(1S41. 1842. 1843), 346; James 
Harper (1844), 347 ; William 
Frederick ITavemeye r (1845), 
3=;o; Andrew H. Mickle (1846), 
William V. Bradv (1847). Wil- 
liam F. Havemeyer (1848), 351; 
Caleb C. WoodhuH (1849). 353: 
Ambrose C. Kingsland (1850), 
357; Tacob A. Westervelt 
(1852), "Fernando Wood (1854), 
358"; Daniel F. Tiemann 
(1857), 364 ; Fernando Wood 
(18^9), 36s ; George Opdyke 
(1S61), 373; C. Godfrey Gunther 
(1863), 379; Tohn T. Hoffman 
(i8f^=;), 384; A. Oakev Hall 
(1868), 388; William F. Have- 
mever (1872)). 392, 397: S. B. 
H. Vance (acting. 1874). 397; 
William H. Wickham (1874). 
392. 397: Smith Ely (1876). 393. 
397 : Edward Cooper (1879). 
William R. Grace (i88t). Frank- 
lin Edson (1883). William R. 
Grace (188=;). 397 : Abram .S. 
Hewitt (1886). 402; FTugh J. 
Grant (1S89). 403; Thomas F. 
Gilroy ( 1892), 403 ; William L. 
Strong (1894), 407 
Mavors elected (Greater City) : 
Robert Van Wyck (1897), 409; 
Seth Low (1901), 413; George 
B. McClellan (1903), 4^4; 
George B. McClellan (i905)» 
416; William J. Gaynor (1909), 
421 
Meany, General Edward P., 9^4 
Meetings in the Fields. 244. 260 
Meetings in the Stadt Huis^ and the 
complaints they made. 84, 85; 
meetings pronounced illegal by 
Stuyvesant. and delegates ordered 
to disperse. 85 
Megapolensis, Johannes ( Domine) . 

77, 82, 94. 105 
Melyn, Cornelis, 54. 56> 63, 70, 7i» 
72, 75' 76, 77. 80, 87 sr 

Mengwes (Iroquois or Five Nations) 

Indians, 31 
Merchants' Coffee House, meeting 

at, 259 

Merchants' Exchange established by 

Governor Francis Lovelace, 105 

Merchants' Exchange Building, 

(first), 208; Exchange later lo- 



IXDEX 



949 



cated in Tontine Coffee House; 
New Exchange built, 337; burned, 
341 

Merntt, John. 145 

Merritt. William. 145, 147 

Methodist Church in John Street, 
296 ; first body to make approval 
of Washington's inaugural ad- 
dress. 2gy 

Metropolitan Board of Health or- 
ganized. 38:; 

Metropolitan Elevated Railway, 394 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 413 

Metropolitan Police Board created, 
362 ; Mayor Wood resists, 262. 
263 

Mexican War. New York in. 351 

Mey. Cornelis, (see "May") 

Michaelius, Jonas (Domine), 44, 45 ; 
first regularly ordained clergyman 
in Xew Netherland, his letters, 
44: death of his wife, his minis- 
trations, establishes church con- 
sistory still in existence, 45 

Mickle, Andrew H.. 3=;i 

Middle Dutch Church completed, 
1S6: used as British prison. 281 

Milborne, Jacob, 115, 140, 143, 144, 
i=;2, 162 

Miles, Col.. 281 

Military depot of supplies at New 
York for French and Indian War, 
217 

Mil'tia organized by Kieft and the 
Eight Men. 63 

Miller, Eleazar, 262 

Miller, Captain Jacob W.. 42S 

Miller. Lewis. 46; 

Miller. Samuel (Rev. Dr.), 313. 3JI 

Miller. Warner, -^o- 

Milliken. Seth Mellen. 782 

Minerva, ship. 230 

Ministerial Act, ifi; 

Minuit Peter, first director-general 
of New Netherland appointed. 3S : 
his voyage and arrival, 39 ; pur- 
chases Manhattan Island from In- 
dians, scarcity of archives of, two 
important documents found, 40 ; 
conveys patroonship on Delaware, 
correspondence with Governor 
William Bradford, 41; complaints 
made against him, and he is re- 
called, 43: detained by English in 
Plymouth Harbor, but finally re- 
leased, 44; plants Swedish Colonv 
in Delaware. 44, 54; efficient ad- 
ministration, encourages shipbuild- 
ing. 44; social conditions during 
his administration, 44, 45 ; elder 
in Dutch Church, 45: records car- 
ried to Amsterdam, leads Swedish 
Colony to South River, 54 
■kMinvielle, Gabriel, 128, 143, I44' 
i4^j 154 

Mitchill. Samuel Latham (Dr.), 313 

3/1 
Mohawks. Indians, 31 
Mohicans, Indians, 31, 34 
Molenaar, Abram Pietersen, 58 
Mompesson, Roger, 166, 169, 171, 

1-4 
Monckton, Robert (General), gover- 
nor general of New York, 217; 
his career, 219; received with en- 
thusiasm and given freedom of 
city, soon after leaving to com- 
mand expedition to Martinique, 
leaving Colden in charge^, returns 
victorious from capture of Mar- 
tinique, and governs the Province 
for a year, then goes to England. 
219; his views about taxing the 
colonies, resigns the governorship. 
225; waived moiety clause in com- 
mission, 250 
Monroe, James. 329, 330 
Montauks. Indians. 31, 32 
Montcalm. General, surrenders, 217 
Montgomerie. John (Colonel), gov- 
ernor of New York, 181; his an- 
tecedents, 182; calls Indian chiefs 
together; also an Assembly, which 
he finds tractable; issues a new 
charter to the City of New York, 
183; dies soon after, 184 



Montgomerie Charter, 1S3; its pro- 
visions and Chancellor Kent's 
opinion of it, 1S4 

Montgomery. (Colonel), 372 

Montgomery, Richard (Major-gen- 
eral), reinterment in St. Paul's 
Church, and his cenotaph. 333 

Montgomery. Richard Malcolm, S25 

Moodv, Ladv Deborah 60 

Moody, Sir'Henry. 88 

Moore, Rev. Dr. Benjamin, 295 

Moore. Charles Arthur. 662 

!Moore, Sir Henry, governor of New 
York. 225; arrived and is received 
with great rejoicing and presented 
with freedom of the city, 130: 
declares his purpose to "let the 
stamps sleep." 231; wears home- 
spun because of the agreement, 
and refuses to permit impress- 
ment of soldiers, 233; prorogues 
the Assembly, 237; dissolves the 
Assembly and calls new one, 242; 
soon after dies, 243; buried in 
Trinity Church. 244; mentioned, 
249, 250 

Moore, John E., 259. 262 

Moore. William Henry, 604 

Moravian Church in Fair (now Ful- 
ton) Street. 208 

Moravian Church, 296 

Morgan, General Daniel, 2SS 

Morgan, Edwin D., 360, 373 

Morgan, John Pierpont, 426, 470 

Morgan, Samuel Tate, 860 

Morgenthau. Maximilian, 831 

Morris. George P., 348 

Morris, Gouverneur, 265, 272, 2S3, 
308. 322 

Morris, Lewis. 124, 172, 174, 175, 
180, 190, 191, 193. 197, 200, 203, 
211 

Morris. Lewis, Jr., (Colonel), 200, 
203, 261 

Morris. Robert, 346 

Morris, Robert Hunter, 1 72 

Morris, Colonel Roger, 291 

Morris, Thomas, 350 

Morris. William, 147 

Morrisania. 56; its settlement and 
owner, 172; annexed to city, 383 

Morrisen, Simon, 29 

Morse, Samuel F. B., 462 

Morton, John. 262 

Morton. Levi Parsons, 401, 426, 482 

Moston. Captain, 155 

Mott, Jordan L.. 4.50 

Mott. Mrs. Valentine, 373 

Moulinars, J. J. (Rev.), 180 

Mount Morris Park, site of. 51 

Muhlenberg, \\'illiam A. (Rev.). 
356 

Mulford, Samuel, 125 

Mulligan, Hercules, 262 

Municipal Police Act, 349 

Murphy, Edwin Jr.. 410 

Murray, John, 313, 314 

Murray, Joseph. 209 

Murray, Lindley. 261. 262 

Muscovy Company employs ?Tenry 
Hudson. 21 

Nancy, (ship). 258 

Nan fan. Bridges. 1^4 

Nanfan, John, lieutenant governor, 
161. 162, 163 

Napoleon's Decrees. 321 

Narrows, The, mapped as "Rio de 
Sanct Antonio." 20 

Nast. Thomas. 390 

National Arbitration and Peace Con- 
gress, 417 

National debt paid off by Jackson. 

341 
Naturalization of Dutch inhabitants 

legalized. 175 
Nautical Congress at Badaios. ig 
Navesinks. seen by Hudson. 23 
Navesinks, Indians, raids of. 63 
Navigation laws restrict commerce, 

106 
Negro Plot. The. 201. 202 
Negro slaves conspire agJnSt whites 

and several are executed. 173. t74 
Negro slaves, principal owners of, 

173 



Negroes as merchandise, 179 

Neilson, William. 292 

Nelson, Horatio (Captain). 287 

New Amersfoot (see also Flatlands), 
50 

New Amsterdam, former name of 
^ New York, 53 

New Amsterdam, view of. 46 

New Harlem (see also Harlem) 
made part of City of New York, 
titles in confirmed ; town charter 
granted and town court estab- 
lished, 100 

New Haven Inlet, 29 

New Tersey, granted bv D\ike of 
York to Sir George Carteret and 
Lord Berkeley, reason for the 
name, 100; ; divided into two 
parts. 117 (see also "East Jersey" 
and West Tersey") 

"New Netherland on early Dutch 
maps. 28; granted a seal, 38; sur- 
rendered to Colonel Richard 
Nicolls and becomes New York, 
97; again takes name when New 
York is captured by Dutch, but 
surrendered to Governor .\ndros 
after Treaty of Westminster, and 
again becomes New ^'o^k, 109 

New Netherland, ship from Hol- 
land, goes up North River. 37: 
foes south to Delaware (then 
outh) River, 38 

New Netherland, commercial origin 
of, 39 

New Netherland, hindrance to settle- 
ment, and scarcity of food, 39 

New Netherland, ship, 44 

New Orange, 108, no 

New Orleans, Battle of. 326 

New Sweden, Colony on South 
(Delaware) River. 54; surrenders 
to Dutch, 87 

Newton, Brian, 70 

Newton, John (General). 393 

New York and Harlem Railroad, 

339, 448 . . , T 

New \ork Association for Improv- 
ing the condition of the poor. 3S.6 

New York at the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion. 3Q3 

New York Bridge Company, 382 

New York Central and Hudson 
River Railroad, 446 

New York Central Railroad collision, 
413 

New York Charter Revision Com- 
mission. 412 

New York, Chicago and St. Louis 
Railroad, 448 

New York, City created by Governor 
Nicolls. 90 

New York Free Academy (now Col- 
lege of the City of New York) es- 
tablished. 3!;s 

New York Gazette (Bradford's). 
149, 182: William L. Stone quoted 
on Its first issue. 182; sides with 
Cosbv, 19" 

New York Gazette and Weekly Mer- 
cury (Hugh Gaines'). 283 

New 'York Ga?:ette and Weekly Post 
Bov (Holt's). 223, 226. 23r, 234 

New York Gazatteer office wrecked 
267 

New York Harbor, its extent, 423 

New York in Revolution, as seen 
by Tory eyes, 272. 273 

New York in Spanish-American 
War. 410 

New York Tournal (Holt's), a no- 
mad during the Revolution. 283 

New York Juvenile Asylum, ,^-,6 

New York Militia on Emergency 
ser\'ice in Pennsylvania. 375 

New York Police Commissioner 
Bill, 412 

New York, Province. New Nether- 
land becomes; given to England by 
Treatv of Breda. 10 1; becomes 
New Orange, 108. and agin New 
York. 109; becomes a Royal pro- 
vince on accession of James. 127; 
made part of New England, 13J. 
132 



950 



HISTORY OF XEir YORK 



Xew York Rapid Transit Tunnel. 
412 

New York Stock Exchange. 444 

New York thrilled by news from 
Sumter. 370 

New York Troops to the front. 3-1 

New York under British military 
rule. 280 

New York Weekly Journal, 191, 192 
194, 195, 200, 283 

Newspaper, first published in New 
York, 149. 182 

Niagara, French erect fort at. 180 

Nicholson. Francis, lieutenant gov- 
ernor of New England, ordered 
to New York; fact that he is a 
Catholic makes him unpopular, be- 
cause of the pro-Catholic policy 
of King Tames, 13s; after Revolu- 
tion declares himself loyal to 
William and Mary, hut is mis- 
trusted. 138; when Leisler takes 
possession of the Fort he demands 
the public funds, but is refused; 
leaves for England. 139 

NicoU. Charles. 259 

Nicoll. William. 169. 235 

NicoUs. Matthias. 97, 104, 1 11, 112. 
125. 127. 154 „. , , 

NicoIIs, Colonel Richard, commis- 
sioned deputy governor of terri- 
tory in the Duke of York's grant 
from Charles 11 also member of 
Commission appointed by Charles 
to inquire into the state of New 
England. 92; takes fleet to Bos- 
ton and thence to New York. 93: 
receives delegation from Stuyves- 
ant but demands surrender, makes 
public his patent at Gravesend. 
94: finallv receives capitulation 
of Governor Stuyvesant, 95: first 
English governor. 97; temporarily 
retains Dutch city oflicials, scope 
of his commission. 98; protests 
against dismemberment of pro- 
vince. 100; prepares New York 
against attack. loi; his administra- 
tion is popular, asks recall and 
request is granted. 102: sails 
for England. 103 

Nicolls. William. 12;. 143. 144. '45 

Nightingale (ship). 29 . 

Nine Men (The) selected, 72: their 
meeting, new members and con- 
test with Stuyvesant, 74; com- 
plain to States-General about 
Stuyvesant and send the "Peti- 
tion." "Remonstrance" and "-\d- 
dltional Observations" to Hol- 
land. 76: dislianded on organiza- 
tion of burgher government. 83 

Nixon, Gen.. 274 

Noell, Thomas, 162 

Nonexportation .\ct of Continental 
Congress, 260 

Nonimportation .\ct of Continental 
Congress. 260. 261 

Nonimportation agreement (first), 
228; (second). 240: rescinded, ex- 
cept as to tea. 249 
North, Edwin, 459 
North. Lord. 249. 288 
North Dutch Church erected. 24^; 
used as prison in Revolution, 281 
Northeast Passage to Cathay, 

search for, 21 
North River, name of the Hudson, 

Northwest Passage, search for, 21; 
Hudson seeks, 23 

Notelman, Conrad. 47, ^0 

Nova Caesarea (see New Jersey) 
created, too 

Noyes. Charles F.. 821 

Nucclla. John Petor (Domine). 148 

Nugent. Robert (Colonel). 374 

Nut (or Nutten) Island (also Gov- 
ernor's Island), 50, 164 

Oakham, Walter G., 544 . 

Oath of allegiance required of all 

inhabitants by .-\ndros, 113; 

eight burghers demur, 113 
Oath of obedience, taken by Dutch, 

99 



O'llrien. H. T. (Colonel). 377. 37»- 
390, 391 ,. . 

O'Callaghan, historian, documents 
collated by, 40 

O'Connor, Charles, 369. 390, 391 

Odell, Benjamin B. (Governor), 
406, 412 

O'Gorman, Richard, 390 

Ogden, Aaron, 226 

C) Keefe, deputy marshal, 2S1 

Olcott, Eben Erskine, 424, 425, 6o3 

Olmsted, Frederick Law, 360 

Oneidas, Indians, 31 

Onondagas, Indians, 31 

Onrust, first vessel built in Man- 
hattan, 28; voyage of Adriaen 
Block, in, 28, 29; Cornells Hend- 
ricksen takes command, 29 

Op Dyck, Gisbert, 66 

Opdyke, George, 373, 377 

Opera House Riots, 351-355 

(Dppenheim, Ansel, 582 

Orange Tree, Dutch emigrant ship, 
38 

Orford, Lord, one of Kidd's back- 
ers, 154 

Orson, Indian. 27, 28 

(Dsborn, Sir Danvers, governor of 
New York, 207; his career and 
arrival in New York, 209; re- 
ceives call from Governor Clin- 
ton and freedom of the city, and 
is inaugurated ; commits suicide 
and is buried two days after^ in- 
auguration, 210; his instructions 
from England, 211 

Osgood, Samuel, 313 

Oswego, trading post at, 178 

Otis, James, 226 

Paauw, Michael, 43 
Paine, Thomas, 302, 303, 304 
Paine's Age of Reason, 302 
Pakenham, (General), 326 
Palatines — brought to New York by 

Governor Hunter; refugees from 

persecutions by Louis XI\'; settle 

at Highlands of the Hudson ; 

their working contract and land 

grants, 1 71-172; some of their 

troubles, 174 
Palmer, John^ 131 
Palmer, S. S.. 459 
Panics— (1826) 337, (1837) 342, 

344; (1857) 364, (1873) 392.303; 

(189s) 404 
Paris. John \V., 828 
Park Theatre burned, 333 
Parker, Alton B., 426 
Parker, Tames, 247 
Parker, "Robert Meade, S80 
Parker. Willard, 385 
Parkhurst. Charles A. (Rev. Dr.). 

403. 406 
Parsons. John E., 426 
Passavant, Oscar von, 756 
Patroons, privileges and restrictions 

of. 42. 43 , 

Patroonship on Delaware granted 

by Minuit, 41 
Patroonships established, 42, 43 
Patterson, Colonel, 275 
Pattison, General James, 283 
Patriot army enters New York, 280 
Paulding. William (Mayor), 334. 

335- 33S ,, , , TT 1 

Pavonia. colony at Hoboken-Hack- 

ing. 43; lapsed. 55 
Pavonia, massacre of Indians at, 

61 ; Indian raid at, 89 
Peabody, George, 358 
Peace of Breda proclaimed at Stadt 

Huis, 103 
Pearsall, Thomas, 2;q. 313 
Pearson, Henry (_!., 463 
Peartree, William, 169 
Peary, Robert Edwin (Commander, 

U. S. N.), reaches the North 

Pole, 420 
Pease. L. M. (Rev.). 356 
Pelgrom. PauUis. 29 
Pell. Thomas, 88 
Pellissier, ((leneral), 400_ 
Pemaquid taken from New York 

and added to New England, 130. 

13' 



Penal Code revised, 307 
Pendleton, George, 379 
Penitentiary built in New York, 

307 
Pennsylvania Railroad, 446, 447 
Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels, 421 
Pennsylvania Terminal Station in 

New York, 421 
Percy, Lord, 279 
Perkins, Benjamin D., 314 
Perry (Commodore), 326 
"Peter Hasenkliver's Iron Works," 

225 
Peters, Ralph, 614 
"Petition" and "Remonstrance" 

against Stuyvesant, y6 
Petrosino, Lieutenant, assassinated 

at Palermo, Sicily, 420 
Phelps, Royal, 372 
Philadelphia and Reading Railway, 

447 

Philipse, Adolph, 169, 171, I77, 
iSo, 181, 190, 207 

Philipse, Frederick, iii, 112, iiq, 
121, 124, 127, 131, 137, 139. 
142. 143. T44, 145. 154 

Philipse. Frederick (widow of). 173 

Philipse. Frederick. 193 

Phillips. David Lewis. S24 

Phillips, (police commissioner). 410 

Phinps. Sir \\'illiam. governor oi 
Massachusetts, controversy with 
Governor Fletcher. 146 

Phoenix. Daniel. 262. 292. 294 

Pierce. Franklin. 33S. 359 

Pierrepont. Edwards. 372 

Pietersen, Abraham. 63 

Pilgrims and I'nited New Nether- 
land Company. 36: denied pas- 
sage to New Netherland by 
States-C^eneral. 36 : sail on 
Speedwell and reach Plymouth 
Rock, 37 

Pincknev, Charles Cotes, 300. 383 

Pinckney, Joseph C. (Colonel), 371 

Pine Street Meeting. 369 

Pinhorne. William. 127. 144. 145, 
154. 15=;, 157 

Pintard. John. 300. 302 

Pintard, Lewis. 262 

Pintard & Williams and the Medi- 
terranean passes. 232 

Piracy and privateering. 84. T50, 
i^i. 153. 1^4. 155- 1=8. 159 

Pitcher. Nathaniel. 3^8 

Pitt. William (later Earl of Chat- 
ham). 217. 220. 234. 238, 239, 
2JI. 249 

Pitt's statue set un at Wall and 
Cross (now William) Streets, 
249 

Planck, .^b^am (see Ver Planch) 
55. 58. 61 

Plat. Teremiah, 262, 294 

Piatt. Thomas. (Senator). 305. 39' 

Plowman. I^Tatthias. 138. 139 

Poe. Edgar Allen. 418 

Police Department reorganized. 350 

Police Riot. 362. 364 

Polk. Tames K.. 350 

Pollv. 'British stamp brig. 232 

Polly, tea ship to Philidelphia. 256 

Pond. William A. (Captain). 355 

Poor. Edward E., 758 

Poor. Tames Harper. 752 

Poor. Ruel Whitcomb. 594 

Pope. Henry W.. 464 

Pope, Mrs. (actress). 353 

Pope. Tames Edward. 718 

Popplei secretary of New Jersey, 

175 
Population, changed character after 

Revolution, 291 
Population (1749). 267: (1790), 

303; (1800), 312; (1820. 1830), 

317; (1850, i860), 359; (1910). 

468. 
Portents of War, 367 
Porter, General Horace, 426 
Pos, Simon Dircksen. 40 
Potter, Orlando Bronson, 491 
Poulson, Niels. 698 
Bow-is, Sir Thomas, 150 
Pratt, Benjamin, 218 
Pratt, (Colonel), 371 



IXDEX 



951 



Prentiss, Henry, 901 

Presbyterian Church building, first 

in New York, 175 
Presbyterian churches., 295 
Presbyterian clergymen imprisoned 

for preaching, 166 
Presbyterian church in Wall street, 

20S 
Presbyterian manse turned over to 

Episcopalians, 163 
Presidential elections: (iSoo), 309; 

(1804), 314; (1808), 321; (1812), 

326; (1816), 329; (1820), 330; 

(1824), 338; (1S32), 339; (1844). 

350; (1852), 358; (i860), 366; 

(1864), 379; (1876), 393; (1880), 

395; (1884), 397; (1888), 401; 

(1892), 403; (1896), 408; 

(1900), 412; (190S), 418. 
Press of New York, its great power 

in ante-bellum days, 361 
Prevost, Theodosia (Mrs.). 308 
Prince Henry of Prussia visits New 

York, 414 
Prince of Wales (late Edward 

VJI), visits New York 
Prince Thomas, 80 
Princess, ship, 69. 72 
Prinz, John, governor of New 

Sweden, 54 
Private tokens used as coins, 438 
Privateers in War of 1812, 329 
Proctor (General), 326 
Provincial bills and Continental 

"shin-plasters," 438 
Provisional Order of West India 

Company concerning government 

of New Netberland, 78 
Provoost, David. 73 
Provoost, Rev. Dr. Samuel, 29,;. 

297 
Provost. David. 171 
Public school system begun, 313 
Public Utilities Commission, 417 
Pulaski. 284 
Putnam. General Israel, 269, 274, 

275< 277 
Pyne, Percy Rivington, 2d, 560 

Quackenbos, Walter, 245 

Quaker affirmation made equivalent 
to oath, 194 

Quaker oath refused, 193 

Quarantine established at Fire Is- 
land, 405 

Quarantine riots, 365 

Quarantine station on Staten Island, 
334 

Queen Anne, confirms Cornbury's 
commission. 163; proclaimed in 
New York, 163 ; grants the 
Queen's Farm and Queen's Gar- 
den to Trinity Church in fee 
simple, 167; provides a bell for 
Palatine Church, 171 ; dies, 175, 
441 

Queensborough Bridge opened, 421 

Queen's Cup won by the America, 
yacht (see America's Cup). 360 

Queen's F^arm deeded to Trinity, 

^167 , 

Queen s Garden deeded to Trinity, 
167 

Quidagh Merchant, Kidd's prize, 
1 58 

Quincy (Colonel), 371 

Quincy, Josiah. 325. 337 

Radcliff. Jacob, 315. 329. 331 

Raet, ship, 6g 

Rahl, General, 279 

Railroads of New York. 446-448 

Raines Liquor Law. 408 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, Carolina Set- 
tlement of, 21 

Ramsay, Colonel, 281 

Randall, Thomas, 259. 260, 262, 
292. 294 

Randolph, Edmund, 303 

Rapelje, Joris. =;8 

Rapid transit in New York, 449. 
453 

Raritans. Indians, 31 

Raritans (Indian) raid DeVne's 
plantation, 57 ; and otlier planta- 
tions, 63 



Raven, Anton Adolph, 630 

Rawling, Colonel, 279 

Ray, Cornelius, 294 

Ray, Robert, 262 

Raymond, Henry Jarvis, 361 

Rea, Samuel, 612 

Read, George Rowland, 816 

Reade, John, 227, 262 

Real estate speculation, 1867 to 

1S69, 3S6 
Ream, Norman Bruce, 589 
Reckgawawanes, Indians, 31 
Records, see Documents 
Reed (Lieutenant), 376 
Reeve. Tappan, 30S 
Reform campaign of 1872, 392 
Reform campaign of 1901, 413 
Reformed Dutch Church in Man- 
hattan, first, 45 
Reichhelm. Edward Paul, 70S 
Reid, Whitelaw. 403 
Religion and Colonial Settlement, 

36 
Religious denominations in New 

York in 1687, 130 
Religious tolerance in early New 

York. 106 
"Remonstrance and Petition of the 
Colonies and Villages in this New 
Netherland Province," presented 
to Stuyvesant and Council, 8s 
"Remonstrance of New Netherland 
to the States-General of United 
Netberland," 76 ; another "Re- 
monstrance." 78 
Remsen Henry. 259, 262 
Rensselaerswyck. only successful 
patroonship, surrenders to Eng- 
lish. 43. 55. 98 , ^ , 
Republican factions in and after the 

Garfield campaign, 39 s 
Restraints by Holland and England 

on Colonial trade, 439 
Resumption after the panic of 1837, 

344 
Revere. Paul, 259 
Revival of shipping and trade after 

War of 1812. 3-'8 
Revolution, later events of. 28S. 

2S9 
Revolutionary forces formed in the 

city. 263-264 
Revolutionary troops occupy the 

citv. 268-277 
Revolutionary War, movements of 

1777, 284. 2S6 
Rhinelander. Philip. 335 
Ribeiro's map. founded on voyage 

of Gnmez, 20 
Richard. Paul. 201, 206, 207 
Richard. The, fired into by the 

British frigate Leander, 320 
Richards. A. C. 37- 
Richmond falls. 370 
Riedesel, General. 287 
Riedesel, Madame de. on New York 

under British occupation, 287 
Riker, Tohn Jackson. 838 
Riker. Richard. 331 
Rio de Sanct Antonio — early Span- 
ish name for The Narrows. 20 
Rising. Governor of New Sweden, 
turns Dutch out of Fort Casimir. 
86 
Ritzema. Rudolphus. 262, 266 
Rivington. Tames. 267. 268 
Robertson, William H., 395. 397. 

401 
Robinson. John, and flock settle in 
Levden and seek transportation to 
New Netherland. 36; request re- 
fused. 36 
Robinson, John, 129 
Robinson, Lucius. 395 
Rockefeller, John Davison, 486 
Rockefeller. William. 459 
Ridder. Herman. 426. 431 
Rockingham. Lord. 288 
Roebling. John A.. 382 
Roebling. Washington L., 382 
Roelantsen, Adam, 47 
Roelofse. Theunis. 139 
Rogers. Jacob S.. 413 
Rogers, Robert. 714 
Rogers, Colonel. 372 



Roman Catholic priests, laws 

against, 159 
Rombouts, F'rancis. 144 
Roosevelt, Alice, 414 
Roosevelt, Cornelius, 229 
Roosevelt, Hilborne L., 463 
Roosevelt, Isaac, 261. 262. 294 
Roosevelt, Nicholas, 229, 261, 262 
Roosevelt, Theodore. 410, 4:2 
Roosevelt (steamer), 432 
Rou. Louis (Rev.), 180 
Rowland, William, 646 
Rowley. Henry, 830 
Royal Americans. 220 
Royal Gazette (Rivington's), 2S3 
Royalists who left when Revolution 

triumphed, 291 
Ruggles, General Timothy, 226 
Russell. Charles H., 360," 372 
Russell, Samuel, 313 
Rutgers, Henry (Colonel), 314 
Rutledge, John, 226 
Rut. John, explorer, 21 
Rutgers, Hermanas. 197 
Rutherford, John. 322 
Ruttenber, Edward Manning, on 

the word "Manna-hata," 31 
Ryle, \\'illiam, 770 

Sackett, Henry W. (Colonel), 426 

Sage, Russell, 403 

St. Clair. General Arthur, 28S 

St. George's Chapel at Cliflt and 

Beekman Streets. 208 
St. Leger. Lieutenant Colonel, 284 
St. Luke's Hospital, 356 
St. Paul's Church erected, 243 
St. Tammany Society, or C!olum* 

bian Order. 299 
Salingburgh. Peggy, 202 
Salomon, \\'illiam. 528 
Sanderson, Henry, 578 
Sandford. Charles W. (General). 

354. 355. ,■^63. 377 
Sands, Comfort. 262, 294 
Sandy Hook, 20 
Sanhikans. Indians, 31 
Sanitary Fairs in New York and 

Brooklyn. 379 
Sanitary reforms accomplished by 

Colonel Waring. 410 
Sanlen. Lucas, 124 
Sapohanican. early name of Green- 
wich Village, 55: granted by 
Kieft to Wouter van Twiller, 55 
Schaats. Gideon (Domine), 115 
Schaukirk. Ewald Gustav, 280. 287 
Schenck. Wessel, 29 
Schenectady. massacre and de- 
struction of. 141 
Schiff Tacob Henry. x,i6 
Schley, "Winfield S. (Rear Admiral). 

399. 410 
Schmitt. Wilham P.. 4U 
Schmittberger, Inspector. 406 
Schniewind. Heinrich Ernst. Jr., 

798 
School, first in Manhattan. 47 
School, Free Grammar, act to es- 
tablish. i6s 
Schouts-fi-^cal of New Netherland. 

duties nf. 40 
Schultz. Jackson S., 385 
Schuvler, Brandt. 145 
Schuvler. Charles Edward, 822 
Schuvler. Peter. 129. i39. U5. u6. 
1^6, 157. 169. 170. 171. 172, 177- 
180. 206 
Schuvler. Peter. Jr.. 178 
Schuyler. Philip (General). 261. 

■^02 
Schwarzwaelder. C. (Colonel). 371 
Scott. John (Captain). 90, 91. 92- 93 
Scott. John Morin, 222, 251. 262. 

26<; 
Scott. Winfield (General). 357 
Sea Mew, ship, and passengers, 39 
Seal granted to New Netherland, 38 
Sears. Isaac. 226. 232. 235. 236. 
244. 245. 259, 260, 262. 267, 293 
Selden, Dudley. 3^0 
Seligman. Isaac Newton, 426, 524 
Sells. Elijah Watt. 895 
Selyns, Henricus ( Domi ne) , 124- 
125, 148. 160 



952 



HISTORY OF XliW YORK 



Senecas, Indians, 31 

Seton, William, 262 

Settling Act. 147 

Seven Years AVar. 220 

Seventh Regiment in Opera House 
Riots, 354 ; in Police Riot, 363 ; 
first to front in Civil War. 371 ; 
its new armory, 394; brief his- 
tory. 394 

Seward, Clarence A., 401 

Seward. Frederick \^^, 426 

Seward, William H. (Governor), 
348 

Sewell, Arthur, 408 

Seymour, Sir Edward Hobart. G. 
C. B., 427, 429 

Seymour, Horatio, 374. 378 

Shannon and Chesapeake, battle be- 
tween. 32S 

Sharp. Jacob, 401 

Sharp, John (Rev.). 166 

Sharp. Richard, 259. 262 

Shaw, Charles. 259 

Shepard. Edwin M.. 413 

Shelburne, Lord, 237 

Sherbrooke. Miles, 259 

Sherman. James S.. 418 

Sherman, John Taylor, 766 

Sherman. William T. (General), 
399. 400, 403 

Sherwood. E. F., 466 

Siijpbuilding at New York, ids 

Shipping, loss of, caused by the 
Civil W^ar, 381 

Shrewsbury, Lord, one of Kidd's 
backers, 154 

Shumway, Henry C. (Captain), 355 

Slnite, Henry, 292 

Siegbert, Louis, 804 

Simmons. Charles Herbert, 709 

Simon. Herman, 776 

Simpson. C. C. 459 

Six Nations. Indians, 31 

Sixteenth Regiment soldiers, out- 
breaks bv. 24s 

Sjostrtim, P. Robert G., 7S6 

Slave market in Wall Street. 173 

Slavery abolished in New York. 307 

Slavery question in politics, 361 

Sloan, Samuel. 372 

Sloan, Samuel. 4 so 

Sloat (Commodore), 351 

Sloughter, Henry (Colonel), Gov- 
ernor of New York, 142, causes 
arrest of Leisler, Milborne and 
companions, and they are exe- 
cuted. 143; appoints a Council, 
calls an Assembly, and establi'^hes 
a Supreme Court; his sudden 
death, 144 

Smith. Edward, 249 

Smith, Francis Marion. 846 

Smith. George Car^-on, 902 

Smith. George Theodore. ^90 

Smith, James. 190, 192, 196, 197 

Smith, Lenox. 694 

Smith, Melancthon. 302 

Smith, Richard. 66 

Smith, Thomas, 262 

Smith, William. 144, 141;. 1-5^ 1^5^ 
173» 174. 194- 20-7. 212. 2tV 

Smith, William (the younger), 174, 
227,, 291, 292 

Smith's History quoted, 162 

Smyth. Chief Justice 162 

Snow, Elbridge Gerry, 495 

Snowstorm, severest in history of 
city. 400; another severe blizzard, 
416 

Society of the Cincinnati, 299 

Social life in New York in Gov- 
ernor Purnet's time, 178 

Soldiers and citizens fight in streets, 
232. 236, 237. 238 

Somers, Lord, one of Kidd's back- 
ers, 154. 159 

Sons of Liberty, 222, 224, 225, 228, 
231, 232, 234, 242, 244, 246, 247 

Sooy smith, Charles, 743 

Sound Money Parades, 408, 412 

Soutberg. ship, and its passengers, 
47; captures a sugar-laden Span- 
ish caravel, 47 



South River, voyage of Hendrick- 
sen to, 37 ; Walloon Settlement 
on, 38 

Southern sentiment in New York, 

^ 367 

Speiden, Clement Coote, Jr., 844 

Spencer, General, 274 

Speyer, Tames, S20 

Sphynx (H. M, S.), 215 

Spiegelberg, William I., 805 

Spinets owned in New York, 179 

Spragge. John. 124 

Spreckels, Claus August, 866 

Spuyten Duyvil Creek, 23 

Staats, Samuel (Dr.). 140, 156, 
163, 171 

Stadt Huis, meeting in, 84 

Stakes, Captain, 297 

Stamp Act. The. 222, 223; repealed, 
234; anniversaries of repeal cele- 
brated, 238. 240, 252. (See also 
"Anti-Stamp") 

Stamp Act Congress in New York. 
2251; the Colonies represented and 
some of the members, 22^-226 

Stamps seized by Sons of Liberty, 

Stanhope, Earl of. 31.=; 

Stanton. Edwin M., 368 

Stanton. John Robert, 90S 

Stark. General, 286 

State Customs tariff law. 294 

State government organized at 
WHiite Plains. 273 

States-General of L'uited Nether- 
lands offers reward for success 
in Artie Exploration, 21, 22 : 
grants United Netherland Char- 
ter, 29 ; charters West India 
Company. 35: disputes with Eng- 
land, 36; refuses request of the 
pilgrims. 36; vovages licensed by, 
37 ; summons Stuyvesant to an- 
swer, and issues mandamus. 7^;. 
confirms charter of West India 
Company and asks Charles Ilto 
define boundaries bv confirming 
the Hartford treaty, 92 : hears 
defense of Stuyvesant, 102: makes 
treaty of alliance with England. 
116 

Steam ferry-boats introduced, 320 

Steam navigation, beginnings of, 

315 
Steenwyck, Cornelis. 104, 113, 120, 

127 
Stein wav. Charles Herman. 741 
Pteinw^ay. Henry Engelhard, 734 
Steinway, William, 738 
Stephens, Alexander H.. 370 
Sterling. J. W., 459 
Sterling, Colonel, 279 
.Stetson, Francis Lynde. 426 
Stettinius. Edward R.. 904 
Steuben, Tlarnn. 2S4, 294 
Stevens. John C. (Commodore). 

360 
Stevens, Samuel, 341 
Stevensen. C^Inff. 66. 74. 87 
Stevenson, Adlai E., 403, 412 
Stevenson. John. 448 
Stewart, Alexander T., 372, 394 
Stiles. John W. (Colonel), 371 
Stilson, Arthur Theodore. 706 
Stirling, Lord, his English patent to 

Long Island. 73 
Stochr. P. R.. Eduard. 778 
Stoffelsen. Jacob. 58. 66 
.Stoll, Ensign. 138 
Stone, Isaac Frank, 843 
Stone, John O.. 385 
Stone, W. L. (Colonel). 3,^6, 349 
Stoutenburgh, Isaac, 202 
Stranahan, James S. T., ;i62 
Street Railways in New York, 449 
Straus, Oscar S., 426 
Strike of 1872, 392 
Strong. William L.. 407, 410 
Sturhahn, Carl F., 637 
.Stuyvesant, Nicholas, 127 
Stuyvesant. Pieter. confirms An- 

neke Jans grant, 51; Governor of 



Cura(;oa, appointed director-gen- 
eral of New Netherland, 67; 
biography, his voyage. 69; his re- 
ception, and his unpopular ap- 
pointments, 70; laws made by 
him. favors Kieft, sentences 
Kuyter and Melyn, 7:; orders 
election of eighteen representa- 
tives from whom he selects the 
Nine Men, 72; complaints 
against, 73, 75 ; summoned to an- 
swer before States-General, 75; 
tears seals from mandamus of the 
States-General, 76 ; his unpopu- 
larity increases, 76-77 ; charges 
against him in the ''Petition," 
"Remonstrance" and "Additional 
Observations" of the Nine Men, 
77 ; he disregards the "Provi- 
sional Order" of the West India 
Company 78 ; has support from 
English settlers, 79; appoints two 
Englishmen to settle boundary, 
and signs Hartford Treaty, which 
he does not report to Holland, 
arrests Melyn. and confiscates and 
sells his property in Manhattan, 
So; arrests English expedition to 
South River, pulls down Fort 
Nassau and erects Fort Casimir, 
south of Swedish settlement, dis- 
pute with Governor Prinz of New 
Sweden, and with Van Schlecten- 
horst. director of the patroonship 
of Rensselaerswyck, Si; ordered 
to organize "Suitable" burgher 
government, ordered to The 
Hague, but order rescinded, his 
seal, 82; appoints burgher gov- 
ernment and is soon in conflict 
with magistrates. 83, S6; seizes a 
Swedish ship. 86; goes to Bar- 
badoes and is caught in embargo, 
86-87; heads expedition against 
New Sweden, which he captures 
and ends Swedish dominion in 
America, 87: meets Governor 
Winthrop, but reaches no agree- 
ment, 93; goes to Fort Orange to 
quell Indian troubles, but is 
called back to Manhattan as Eng- 
lish fleet approaches, and sets 
about improving the city's de- 
fenses. 93; is notified to sur- 
render the city, but favors resist- 
ance, though urged by the 
burghers to yield, 92; finally after 
written remonstance and petition 
of the most prominent officers 
and burghers, signs and ratifies 
articles of capitulation, goes to 
Holland on call of States-(^eneral, 
then returns to New York, where 
he resides until he dies; estimate 
of his character, 94-96; explains 
his surrender, 97; takes oath of 
obedience, 99; goes to Amster- 
dam to defend liis acts before 
States-General, and after Treaty 
of Breda becomes resident of 
New York, 102, 103 

Stuyvesant, widow of Pieter, 173 

Subways, 414, 451, 453 

Sucki (black wampum), Indian 
currency, 32 

Sullivan, General, 274, 275, 276 

Sullivan, Owen. 438 

Sulzberger, Ferdinand, 916 

Sumner, Major, 292 

Supreme Court of United States, 
Centennial of, 402 

Surrender, Articles of, 99 

Sutherland, William A., 406 

Suvanoys, Indians, 31 

Swanendael. patroonship on Dela- 
ware River, colony planted there, 
but exterminated by Indians, 43 

Swedish colony (New Sweden) 
planted on tlie Delaware by Peter 
Minuit and Samuel Bloemart, 44, 
54 

Sweeny, Lawrence, 225 



INDEX 



953 



Sweeney. Peter B., 3S7. 3SS, 3S9, 

390. 391 
Sweertsen, Earent, 29 
Swits, Claes Cornellisen, 57 

Taft, William H., 418 
Talbott (Captain). Mark, 126 
Tallmadge (Recorder). 354 
Tallmadge, Frederick A., 340 
Tammany establishes a museum, 

302; bolts the Clinton ticket, 325; 

denounced by Dr. Parkhurst, 405 
Taney. Roger Brooke, 342 
Tankitekes, Indians, 60; attack boats 

on Hudson, 62 
Tarleton. General, 288 
Tartar (H. M. S.). 201 
Tate, Joseph. 577 
Tawasentha River. 37 
Taxes on British imports. 175 
Taxes (British) on the Colonics, 

Taylor, Moses, 372, 459 

Taylor. William H., 906 

Tea ship Nancv, Captain Lockyer, 

^^58 . .' 

Tea tax agitation, 249, 252, 256 

Tea-water pump, 179 

Tecumseh, 326 

Telegraph extended to New York, 

350, 462 
Telegraph service in New York. 463 
Telephone service in New York, 

history and development, 463, 465, 

466. 468 
Templeton. Oliver. 262 
Tener, Hampden Evans. 563 
Ten Eyck. Tliomas. 292 
Tennyson, Alfred, 418 
Tesla, Nikola. 724 
Test Act passed, 144 
Teunissen. lessee of farm, 55 
Tew, Thomas, 1 50 
Thalmann, Ernst. f^T,o 
Thames. Battle of The, 326 
Thaw, Harry K., 417 
Thomas, Setli Edward. 890 
Thomas. Philip P.. 368, 369 
Thomas, General. 270 
Thompson, A. K., 46=; 
Thompson, Jacob. 36S 
Thomson, William, 461 
Throgmdrton, Rev., and his colony, 

59 
Throop, Enos T., 338 
Thurber. H. F.. 466 
Thurman, Allen G., 401 
Thurman, John, 23?^, 245, 259 
Ticonderoga. captured, first by 

French and later by British, 217 
Tiemann. Daniel F., 364 
Tiger, the (Adriaen Block's ship) 

voyage of, 27; destroyed by fire, 

28 
Tilden, Samuel J., 369. 390, 391. 

393^ 394 
Tilden-Haves election, 393 
Tilford, Frank, S52 
Timmer's Kill on South (Delaware) 

River, fort built at, 38 
Tobacco, duty on removed. 82 
Tod. Andrew Kinnaird, 894 
Tomlins, William Maddox, Jr., 86=; 
Tompkins, Daniel D., 313, 325, 329, 

334 
Tompkins, George W. (Colonel), 

371 ■ . , 

Tonnage duties on foreign vessels, 

175 
Tonneman. Peter, 90, 95 
Tontine Coffee House. 337 
Topping. John Alexander. 672 
Tories take refuge at Bedloe's 

Island. 269 
Tories flock to New York, 280 
Tory exodus from New York, 289 
Tothill, Jeremiah. 147 
Totten, Toseph. 262 
Towne. Henry R.. 686 
Townley. Richard, 145 
Townsend, John. 66 
Townshend, Charles. 221, 239, 241 
Tracy, Benjamin F. (General). 409 
Tracy. IMarquis de. viceroy, loi 



Trade Statistics (1717-1727), 179 

Trade with Indians in early days, 
its character, 433 

Treaty of Breda signed, loi 

Treaty of Ghent, 328 

Treaty of Nimeguen, 117 

Treaty of Paris, 220 

Treaty of Utrecht, 173 

Treaty of Westminster restores 
Province of New York to the 
English. 108 

Trinity Church, building fund, 147; 
land lease, first rector and his in- 
duction, church opened, 14S; de- 
stroyed by fire, 28 1 ; corner-stone 
of new church laid. 295 ; conse- 
crated, 2QQ ; bicentennial cele- 
brated, 408 

Tryon (Miss). 256 

Tryon, William, transferred from 
governorship of North Carolina to 
be governor of New York, 251 ; 
his previous record, 251-252; re- 
ception in New York, address to 
Assembly recommends formation 
of militia, and twenty-six regi- 
ments and eleven troops of light 
horse, 252: loses i>ersonal effects 
in destruction of Province House, 
256; but is reimbursed by Assem- 
bly. 257; prorogues Assembly and 
goes to England. 258; is sent back 
by Lord Dartmouth, 263: finds 
himself practically without author- 
ity. 266 ; expresses fear for per- 
sonal safety in letter to Mayoi 
Hicks, who tries to reassure him. 
but moves with family aboard H. 
M. S, Asia, 267; calls on Lord 
Howe, 27 1 ; return to city with 
British troops. 280 

Tucker, Thomas, 294 

Tudor, Captain, 281 
/Turner, Thomas Morgan, 764 

Tuscaroras, Indians, 31 

Tweed (H. M. S.). 250 

Tweed Ring, its formation, its pecu- 
lations and its collapse, 387, 388, 
389. 390, 391. 392 

Tweed. William Marcy, 387, 388. 
389. 390, 391, 392 

Tweenhuysen, Lambrecht van, 29 

Twelve Men, appointed by Com- 
monalty, controversy with Kieft. 
demand reforms, 58 ; prohibited 
from meeting, 59 

Underbill. John, 63 

Union Defense Committee, 372 

Union Defense Fund Bonds voted. 

370 . 

Union League Club organized, 379 
Union Square Mass Convention, 

370 
United New Netherland Company 

organized — charter members. 29; 

charter expires, members continue 

trade to Manhattan. 35 
United States, frigate, captures the 

British frigate Macedonian, 326 
United States Sanitary Commission, 

373 
Upper New York Bay discovered, 23 
Urquhart, William (Rev.), 164 
Ury, John. 202 
Utrecht, peace of, 173 
Vail, Theodore Newton, 463, 465, 

466, 510 
Valentine and Orson, Indians, taken 

to Holland. 27 
Van Borsom, Egbert. 197 
Van Brugh, Johannes, 99, 108, 113. 

129 
Van Buren, Martin, 332, 33?, 33^- 

341 
Vance, S. B. H., 397 
Van (Torlaer, Jacob. 50, 51 
Van (Tortlandt. Jacobus, 174 
Van Cortlandt. John, 262 
Van Cortlandt. Oloff Stevensen, go. 

99 
Van Cortlandt, Pierre. 292 
Van Cortlandt. Robert B., 532 
Van Cortlandt. Stephanus. iii, 112, 



116, 119. 124. 131, 137. 14-. 143. 
144, 145, 146, 154. 156 
Van Cortlandt, Widow, 173 
Van Couwenhoven, Jacobus Wol- 

fertsen, 72, 77, 78 
Van Couwenhoven. Peter, 82 
Van (Hurler, Arent, 141 
Van Dam, Anthony, 262 
Van Dam, Claes Ripse, 185 
Van Dam, Rip, appointed to Coun- 
cil, 163, 169, 171. 173, 177; presi- 
dent of Council and governor 
pro tern, 184; biography, 185; his 
peaceful administration, and his 
census, 186 ; remains in Council, 
189; Governor Cosby demands 
half his salary, which he refuses, 
and is unsuccessfully sued, 190; 
his friends inform the home au- 
thorities. 197; absents himself 
from Council and is secretly de- 
posed. 198 
Vandeput, Captain, 266 
Vanderbilt. William H.. 395. 398 
Vanderburgh, Cornelius. 147 
Van der Donck. Adriaen, 66, 74, 

75. 76, 77, 79. 80, 81 
Van der Grist, Paulus Leendertsen, 

70. 83, 95 
Van der Horst. Myndert, 56 
Van der Huyghens, Cornelis, 53, 66, 

Vanderlip,. Frank Arthur, 459, 540 
Vanderpoel, 375 
Vanderspeigle. Laurens, 108 
Van Dincklagen. Lubbertus. 50, 5^. 

53. 69. 75. 76. 77> 79. 81 
Van Dyck, Hendrick. 69. 79. So, 87 
Van Gelden, Abraham, 292 
Van Gheel, ^Maximilian. 83 
Van Hardenburgh, Arnoldus, 72, 76 
Van Hattem, Arendt, 83 
Van Hnrne, Abraham, 177. 178 
Van Home, Anna Maria (Mrs. 

Burnet). 177 
Van Home, Augustus, 262 
Van Home, David, 259 
Van Lvbergen, Arnolt, 20 
Van Nieuwenhuysen, Wilhelmus 

(Domine), 106, 115 
Van Remund. Jan, 47 
Van Rensselaer, Hendrick. 116 
Van Rensselaer. Jan Baptist. 116 
Van Rensselaer, Jeremias, 116 
Van Rensselaer. Johannes, 114 
Van Rensselaer. Kiliaen, 43, 51, 54. 

78 
Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen (son of 

Jan Baptist), 1 16 
Van Rensselaer. Kiliaen (son of 

Jeremias), fourth patroon, 116, 

*^63' 171 

Van Rensselaer, Nicolaus (Rev.), 
114, 115, 1 16 

Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler, 
quoted. 45. 47 

Van Rensselaer (General), 326, 336 

Van Rensselaer. William B.. 426 

Van Ruvven, Cornelis, 8.s. 99. 103 

Van Schaack, Peter William, 259. 
262 

Van Schlectenhorst. 81 

Van Tienhoven, Cornelis, 47, 53> 
^ 56. 61. 70. 74. 77. 79. 83 

Vantilburgh's slave. 173 

Van Twiller, Wonter. third di- 
rector-general of New Netherland, 
and nephew of Kiliaen van Rens- 
selaer, arrives in ship Southerg, 
47; buys land in Connecticut from 
the Indians. 49; builds a church 
in the fort, and makes several 
improvements, his habits, takes 
large grants for himself, buys 
land from Indians on Long 
Island. 50: his qualities and char- 
acter, '51-52: receives letter of re- 
call. 52: returns to Holland a year 
later. 53; carries records to Am- 
sterdam. 54; get^ grant at Sapo- 
hanican, 55: attacks West India 
Companv for neglect of Rensse- 
laerswyck. 78; trade during his 
administration. 439 



954 



HISTORY OF XEIV YORK 



Van Vaurk, James, 244 

Van Voorhees, Jacob, 262 

Van Wyck. Robert, 409, 410, 412, 

413. 414 

Van Zandt, Jacobus, 244, 259, 260, 
262. 294 

Van Zandt, Viner, 294 

Varian, Isaac L., 346 

Varick. Domine, 142 

Varick, Richard, 292, 293. 305. 
312 

Vaux. Calvert, 360 

Vauxiiall wrecked by anti-stamp 
mob, 229, 231 

Veit, Richard Charles, 607 

Verbulst, William, 3S 

Vermilyc. Ashbel G. (Rev.), 153 

Vermilye. Johannes. 139, 140 

Vernon, Edward (Admiral), 201 

Ver Plunck, Abraham Isaacksen, 55 

Verplanck, Geleyn, 108 

Verplanck, Gillian. 2S7 

Verplanck. Gulian C, 339 

Verplanck. Samuel, 262, 438 

Vcrrazano, Giovanni, visits San 
Germano (New York) Bay. iS. 
19; lands on Staten Island, dis- 
coveries Luisa (Block) Island, 19 

Vesey street. 148 

Vesey, William (Rev.), 148, 157, 
164. 167, 170, 172 

Vespiicius, Amcricus. 17 

Victoria (Queen), 365, 366 

\'ietor. George Frederick, 754 

Vinje, Jan, first white child born in 
Manhattan. 58. 87 

Vlissingen (Flushing), English col- 
ony established at. 66 

Volckertsen, Cornelis, 31 

Volckertsen, Thys (Captain), 27, 29 

Volunteer fire system, 383 

Volunteer regiments organized, 371 

Volunteer system in war, its in- 
equalities. 374 

Von Steinwehr (Colonel), 372 

Vosburgh. A. S (Colonel). 371 

Vredendael, plantation, 56 

Vriesendall, plantation, 56 

Wadsworth, James S. (General), 
372. 374 

Wakeman (Postmaster). 377 

Walker, Robert J., 371 

Wallace, Alexander, 259 

Wallace, Hugh. 24 

Walloons, settle in New Netherland. 
settle at Fort Orange on North 
River, 37 ; and Fort Nassau on 
South River. 38 

Walrath ("Colonel).' 371 

Walters, Robert. 156, 163. 177, 181 

Walton, Abraham, 259, 260, 262 

Walton, Jacob. 240 

Walton. William. 2-;9. 262, 442 

Wampam, Indian currency, adopted 
by Dutch and English settlers — 
standard of value. 32. 433 

Wapanachki, an Algonquin tribe of 
Indians. 31 

Wappingers, Indians, attack boats 
on Hudson, 62 

War between England and France 
(1711-1713). 172-173 

War between England and Holland, 
82: peace declared. 86; war again 
declared. 106; peace by Treaty of 
W'estminster. 108 

War of 1812 and its efltect on com- 
merce. 325-328 

Ward. Ferdinand. 398. ; 19 

Ward. Stephen, 292 

Waring, George Edward (Colonel). 
410 

Warren, Sir Peter, 205, 206, 216, 
286 

Washington, Gen. George, 263, 265. 
268, 269. 270, 271, 273' 275, 276. 
277, 27S. 282, 2S4, 289, 293, 294, 
296, 297. 3"6, 307. 308. 402, 

Washington Memorial Arch. 402 

Washington's retreat from Long Is- 
land. 277 

Wasp (The)), captures The Prolic. 
3:^6 



Wassermann, Edward^ 567 

Watson, James, 389. 390, 391 

Watson, William, 235 

Watts, John, 220, 286, 302 

Watts. Stephen (General), 351 

Weaver. James B., 403 

Weaver, Robert, 150. 159. 162 

Weaver, Samuel, 197 

Webb, Charles, 281 

Webb, James Watson, 361 

Weber. Wolfert, 129 

Webster. Daniel, 319 

Weckquaesgecks, Indians, raids by. 
57; murder Anne Hutchinson and 
her household, 63. 

Weed, Thurlow, 336, 397 

Weidmann, Jacob, 800 

Wells, Edward Hubbard, 688 

Wells in John Street and Spring 
Garden, 207 

Welsh visitors to America, 17, 21 

Wendover, Hercules, 197 

Wenham, Thomas, 163, 169 

Werdcn, Sir John, instructions to 
Andros, 1 14 

Wessels, Dirk. 1 57 

West, Benjamin, 315 

West, John, 119, 120, 127, 129, 

West. Major, 281 

Westchester settled by English^ who 
are compelled to swear allegiance 
by Stuyvesant, 88 

West Farms annexed to city, 383 

West India Company, backs Stuy- 
vesants' view against appeals from 
New Netherland to the States- 
General, but is overruled, 75; 
attacked by Van Twiller for ne- 
glecting Rensselaerswyck ; issues 
Provisional Order for "suitable 
burgher government," 78; tries 
to settle boundary on South 
River, 81; tries to procure boun- 
dary settlement, 89; asks States 
General to get boundaries de- 
fined, and company's title is con- 
firmed by States-General, 92: 
property on Broadway consficated 
by Governor Xicolls, 105 

West Jersey given to Duke of York 
to Lord Berkeley, by patent 
which is later revoked. 100. 117; 
Andros tries to assert authority 
over it, but is overruled on ap- 
peal to England, and Jersey is 
entirely separated from New 
York. 117 

West Shore Railroad. 448 

West Riding of Yorkshire, division 
of Long Island, 98 

Westervelt, Jacob A., 354. 3S8 

Westminster, Treaty of, 108 

Weston, Edward, 930 

Wetmore. Prosper M., 372 

Wheeler, Joseph (General). 410 

Whelan. Father, 296 

Whig Club, 823 

Whig Party organized in New York, 

Whitby (Captain). 320 

White, Henry, 235, 255 

White, John. 262 

Wliite, Stanford, 402, 417 

White Plains. Battle of, 278, 279 

Whitely, Benjamin, 459 

W'hiting, Colonel, 172 

Whitman. Clarence, 748 

Wickham, William H., 392, 397, 

450 
"Wild-cat" money. 341 
Wildcat speculation, 337 
Wiley, patriot committeeman, 232 
Wiley, C A.. 465 
Wilkes. John. 247, 249 
Willcox. William Goodenow, 515 
Willett. Marinus (Colonel), 314, 

315. 325 
Willett, Marinus, 265, 271. 292. 

293. 300 
Willett, Thomas, first mayor of 

New York, 80, 93, 94, 99. 104. 

144. 145. 146. i=;5. 314 
William and Mary crowned, how 

New York received the news. 



136; proclaimed at the Fort and 
City Hall, 139; letter to Nichol- 
son, 140 

William, The, English ship, ar- 
rives ofT Fort Amsterdam, claims 
English sovereignty and defying 
protest goes up Hudson River, is 
pursued, brought back and re- 
lieved of its cargo, 48-49; her 
owners complain to English Gov- 
ernor, 49 

Williams, Erasmus, 244 

Williams, George, 356 

Williams, Major, 281 

Williams, Thomas, 139 

Willson. Ebenezer, 147 

Wilson, Alexander, 145 

Wilson, Captain. 281 

Wilson (Colonel), 371 

Wilson, James Grant (General), 
41, 403. 426 

Wilson, Samuel, 119 

Wilton, Joseph. I^ndon sculptor. 
240 

Winder, Samuel, 119 

Windom. William, secretary of 
Treasury, dies at banquet in his 
honor. 403 

Wing. John D., .834 

Winthrop. John, governor of Con- 
necticut, 89. 93, 94 

Wisner, Henry, 261 

Wissinck, Jacob Elbertsen, 40 

Wistar, Caspar, 245 

Witssen, Gcrrit Jocobz. 29 

Witssen. Jonas, 29 

Witthaus.* Rudolph A., 372 

Wolfe. General, 217 

Wolfertscn. Gerrit. 63 

Wolsey, Joris, 73 

Women, condition of in the In- 
dian tribes, 32 

Wood (Lieutenant), 377 

Wood (Colonel), 371 

Wood, Fernando, 358. 362. 365. 369 

Wood, Leonard (Major General), 
410, 431 

Wood. William, 437 

Woodbury. Levi, 344. 345 

Woodford, General Stewart L., 426 

Woodhull, Caleb S., 353 

Woodruff. Timothy L., 408 

Woodward, of Tweed Ring. 391 

Wool, Jeremiah. 292 

Wool (General). 377 

Worth (General). 351 

Wright, Joseph H.. 792 

Wright, Wilbur, 432 

Yankee (The), fishing smack, cap- 
tures British sloop-of-war Eagle, 
328 

Yates, Richard, 259, 262 

Yates. Robert (Judge), 292 

Yellow fever in New York (1702), 
163; (1795), 306; (1708). 306; 
(1819. 1822, 1823), 333 , 

Yonkers. how it was settled and 
named, 66 

York, Duke of. patroon of Royal 
African Company, receives from 
Charles II charter covering all 
New Netherland and other por- 
tions of America, 92; appoints 
Richard NicoU deputy governor 
of his new colony, who starts 
out on expedition, 92 

Yorkshire, name given to Long IS; 
land. 98 

Young, George Washington, 585 

Young (Governor), 394 

Young. Hamilton. 259. 262 

Young, John (Captain), 94^ ii9. 
124, 145- . . 

Young Men*s Christian Association, 
organized, 356, 357 

Zedwitz, Herman (Major), 266 

Zegendall, Kuyter's grant, 56 

Zenger. John Peter, and the fight 
for a 'free press, 191* 192, i93' 
104. 195. 196. 197. 206 

Zia. Youssef (Pasha), 429 

Zwol. ship, 69 



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